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W84
The W84 is an American thermonuclear warhead initially designed for use on the BGM-109G Gryphon Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM). History The weapon was designed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory beginning in September 1978 for the Ground Launched Cruise Missile program. Production engineering began in December 1980 and first production began in June 1983 with full-scale production starting in September 1983. Though the exact number is disputed, either 350 or 530 warheads were produced. The warhead suffered post-deployment design issues after the weapon produced an unexpectedly low yield in a simulated ageing test. This issue was corrected without redesign of the nuclear explosive sub-assembly. One test of the weapon was 2 August 1984 shot Fusileer Correo at a depth of , producing a yield of less than . With the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) in 1987, the GLCMs that carried the W84 were destroyed and the warheads put into the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GLCM
The BGM-109G Gryphon ground-launched cruise missile, or GLCM, was a ground-launched variant of the Tomahawk cruise missile developed by the United States Air Force in the last decade of the Cold War and disarmed under the INF Treaty. Overview The BGM-109G was developed as a counter to the mobile MRBM and IRBM nuclear missiles ( SS-20 Saber) deployed by the Soviet Union in Eastern Bloc European countries. The GLCM and the U.S. Army's Pershing II may have been the incentives that fostered Soviet willingness to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF treaty), and thus possibly reduced the threat of nuclear wars in Europe. GLCM is also a generic term for any ground-launched cruise missile. Since the U.S. deployed only one modern cruise missile in the tactical role, the GLCM name stuck. The GLCM was built by General Dynamics. History Design and employment A conventionally configured cruise missile, the BGM-109 was essentially a small, pilotless flying machine, powe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Nuclear Weapons
This is a list of nuclear weapons listed according to country of origin, and then by type within the states. The United States, Russia, China and India are known to possess a nuclear triad, being capable to deliver nuclear weapons by land, sea and air. United States American nuclear weapons of all types – bombs, warheads, shells, and others – are numbered in the same sequence starting with the Mark 1 and () ending with the W91 (which was cancelled prior to introduction into service). All designs which were formally intended to be weapons at some point received a number designation. Pure test units which were experiments (and not intended to be weapons) are not numbered in this sequence. Early weapons were very large and could only be used as free fall bombs. These were known by "Mark" designators, like the Mark 4 which was a development of the Fat Man weapon. As weapons became more sophisticated they also became much smaller and lighter, allowing them to be used in many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
B61 Family
The B61 Family is a series of nuclear weapons based on the B61 nuclear bomb. B61 nuclear bomb Initial development The B61 bomb was developed by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL; now Los Alamos National Laboratory) starting in 1960. The intent was to develop an aircraft bomb which was high yield (over 100 kilotons) and yet was small enough and had low enough drag to carry under the wing of a fighter or fighter-bomber type aircraft. One major feature was Full Fuzing Option, allowing various air and ground burst usage options; free fall air burst, parachute retarded air burst, free fall ground burst, parachute retarded ground burst, and laydown delivery. The B61 project started in 1960 with a study contract analyzing the potential of such a weapon. The official development program was funded in 1961, and the weapon was designated TX-61 (Test/Experimental) in 1963. The first TX-61 free fall ballistic test was held at Tonopah Test Range on August 20, 1963. The first War Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
W80 (nuclear Warhead)
The W80 is a low to intermediate yield two-stage thermonuclear warhead deployed by the U.S. enduring stockpile with a variable yield ("dial-a-yield") of . It was designed for deployment on cruise missiles and is the warhead used in all nuclear-armed AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) and AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile (ACM) missiles deployed by the US Air Force, and in the US Navy's BGM-109 Tomahawk. It is essentially a modification of the widely deployed B61 weapon, which forms the basis of most of the current US stockpile of nuclear gravity bombs. The very similar W84 warhead was deployed on the retired BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile. It was designed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Dimensions The W80 is physically quite small: the physics package itself is about the size of a conventional Mk.81 bomb, in diameter and long, and only slightly heavier at about . History Early development The Los Alamos National Labor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BGM-109 Tomahawk
The BGM-109 Tomahawk () Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an American long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, Subsonic flight, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship and submarine-based land-attack operations. Developed at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University under James H. Walker near Laurel, Maryland, the Tomahawk emerged in the 1970s as a modular cruise missile first manufactured by General Dynamics. The Tomahawk aimed to fulfill the need for a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile with diverse capabilities. Its modular design allows for compatibility with a range of warheads, including high-explosive, submunitions, and bunker-busters. The Tomahawk can use a variety of guidance systems, including Global Positioning System, GPS, Inertial navigation system, inertial navigation, and TERCOM, terrain contour matching. Over a dozen variants and upgraded versions have been developed since the original desi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Fusileer
Operation Fusileer was a series of 16 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1983–1984 at the Nevada Test Site. These tests followed the '' Operation Phalanx'' series and preceded the ''Operation Grenadier Operation Grenadier was a series of 16 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1984–1985 at the Nevada Test Site. These tests followed the ''Operation Fusileer'' series and preceded the ''Operation Charioteer'' series. Reference ...'' series. References {{US Nuclear Tests Explosions in 1983 Explosions in 1984 1983 in military history 1984 in military history Fusileer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polymer-bonded Explosive
Polymer-bonded explosives, also called PBX or plastic-bonded explosives, are explosive materials in which explosive powder is bound together in a matrix using small quantities (typically 5–10% by weight) of a synthetic polymer. PBXs are normally used for explosive materials that are not easily melted into a casting, or are otherwise difficult to form. PBX was first developed in 1952 at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as RDX embedded in polystyrene with diisooctyl phthalate (DEHP) plasticizer. HMX compositions with teflon-based binders were developed in 1960s and 1970s for gun shells and for Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) seismic experiments, although the latter experiments are usually cited as using hexanitrostilbene (HNS). Potential advantages Polymer-bonded explosives have several potential advantages: * If the polymer matrix is an elastomer (rubbery material), it tends to absorb shocks, making the PBX very insensitive to accidental detonation, and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. Nuclear bombs have had yields between 10 tons (the W54) and 50 megatons for the Tsar Bomba (see TNT equivalent). Yields in the low kilotons can devastate cities. A thermonuclear weapon weighing as little as can release energy equal to more than 1.2 megatons of TNT (5.0 PJ). Apart from the blast, effects of nuclear weapons include firestorms, extreme heat and ionizing radiation, radioactive nuclear fallout, an electromagnetic pulse, and a radar blackout. The first nuclear weapons were developed by the Allied Manhattan Project during World War II. Their production continues to require a large scientific and industrial complex, pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permissive Action Link
A permissive action link (PAL) is an access control security device for nuclear weapons. Its purpose is to prevent unauthorized arming plug, arming or Nuclear chain reaction, detonation of a nuclear weapon. The United States Department of Defense definition is: The earliest PALs were little more than locks introduced into the control and firing systems of a nuclear weapon, designed to prevent a person from detonating it or removing its Nuclear weapon design, safety features. More recent innovations have included Encryption, encrypting the firing parameters it is programmed with, which must be decrypted to properly detonate the warhead, and anti-handling device, anti-tamper systems which intentionally mis-detonate the weapon if its other security features are defeated, destroying it without giving rise to a nuclear explosion. History Background Permissive action links were developed in the United States in a gradual process from the Nuclear weapons testing, first use of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Weapon Design
Nuclear weapons design are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three existing basic design types: # Pure fission weapons are the simplest, least technically demanding, were the first nuclear weapons built, and so far the only type ever used in warfare, by the United States on Empire of Japan, Japan in World War II. # Boosted fission weapons are fission weapons that use nuclear fusion reactions to generate high-energy neutrons that accelerate the fission chain reaction and increase its efficiency. Boosting can more than double the weapon's fission energy yield. # Staged thermonuclear weapons are arrangements of two or more "stages", most usually two, where the weapon derives a significant fraction of its energy from nuclear fusion (as well as, usually, nuclear fission), . The first stage is typically a boosted fission weapon (except for the earliest thermonuclear weapons, which used a pure fission ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permissive Action Link
A permissive action link (PAL) is an access control security device for nuclear weapons. Its purpose is to prevent unauthorized arming plug, arming or Nuclear chain reaction, detonation of a nuclear weapon. The United States Department of Defense definition is: The earliest PALs were little more than locks introduced into the control and firing systems of a nuclear weapon, designed to prevent a person from detonating it or removing its Nuclear weapon design, safety features. More recent innovations have included Encryption, encrypting the firing parameters it is programmed with, which must be decrypted to properly detonate the warhead, and anti-handling device, anti-tamper systems which intentionally mis-detonate the weapon if its other security features are defeated, destroying it without giving rise to a nuclear explosion. History Background Permissive action links were developed in the United States in a gradual process from the Nuclear weapons testing, first use of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insensitive Munition
'Insensitivity' (sensi'tivitē) refers to a lack of sensitivity (human), sensitivity for other's feelings. It may also refer to: * Insensitive (song), "Insensitive" (song), a 1995 song by Canadian singer Jann Arden * Insensitive (House), ''Insensitive'' (House), an episode of the TV series ''House'' * Culturally insensitive See also * Insensibility (other) * Senseless (other) * {{disambig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
