The W86 was an American
earth-penetrating ("bunker buster")
nuclear warhead
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
, intended for use on the
Pershing II
The Pershing II Weapon System was a solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the Pershing 1a Field Artillery Missile System as the United States Army's primary nuclear-capable thea ...
intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). The W86 design was canceled in September 1980 when the Pershing II missile mission shifted from destroying
hardened targets to targeting soft targets at greater range. The
W85 warhead, which had been developed in parallel with the W86, was used for all production Pershing II missiles.
Development work for the W86's penetrator case began in 1975 at
Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...
. The weapon was intended to allow for the destruction of hardened structures and the cratering of runways while using smaller yields.
Design
The warhead was developed from Los Alamos nuclear artillery shell technologies.
A 2005 study by the
National Research Council National Research Council may refer to:
* National Research Council (Canada), sponsoring research and development
* National Research Council (Italy), scientific and technological research, Rome
* National Research Council (United States), part of ...
that examined a number of nuclear earth penetrating weapon proposals, described the W86 as being in diameter and weighing . The study calculated that such an EPW could penetrate into medium strength rock, into low strength rock and into silt or clay, assuming a peak allowable deceleration of .
The study cites the development report for the W86 warhead for its figures.
In the National Research Council study, they refer to the "low-yield weapon" (W86) as having a yield of less than or less than .
A 1979 article in Sandia's monthly Lab News magazine describes a test unit penetrating into the
Tonopah Test Range
The Tonopah Test Range (TTR, also designated as Area 52) is a highly classified, restricted military installation of the United States Department of Defense, and United States Department of Energy ( nuclear stockpile stewardship) located about ...
lake bed, striking the ground at . Development called for approximately 20 tests of the penetrator into various mediums.
The weapon was an
implosion-type weapon.
Gallery
See also
*
List of nuclear weapons
This is a list of nuclear weapons listed according to country of origin, and then by type within the states.
United States
US nuclear weapons of all types – bombs, warheads, shells, and others – are numbered in the same sequence starting wi ...
*
B61 nuclear bomb
The B61 nuclear bomb is the primary thermonuclear gravity bomb in the United States Enduring Stockpile following the end of the Cold War. It is a low to intermediate-yield strategic and tactical nuclear weapon featuring a two-stage radiation im ...
*
Pershing II
The Pershing II Weapon System was a solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the Pershing 1a Field Artillery Missile System as the United States Army's primary nuclear-capable thea ...
References
* ''W86 Warhead Status Report (U)'', SAND 83-1642, RS 3151/83/033, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.Mex. 1983
{{United States nuclear devices
Nuclear technology
Nuclear warheads of the United States