W30
Encyclopedia
The W30 was an American nuclear warhead
used on the RIM-8 Talos
surface to air missile and the Tactical Atomic Demolition Munition
(TADM).
The W30 was 22 inches in diameter and 48 inches long, weighing 438, 450, or 490 pounds depending on the version.
The Talos missile variants were produced from 1959 to 1965, and used until 1979. A total of 300 were produced as missile warheads. The W30 Mod 1, 2, and 3 for Talos all had yields of 5 (sometimes more precisely reported as 4.7) kilotons.
The TADM warhead was produced from 1961 and saw service until 1966. There were two variants, the W30 Mod 4 Y1 with 0.3 kiloton yield (300 tons TNT) and the W30 Mod 4 Y2 with 0.5 kiloton (500 tons TNT) yield. 300 TADM W30s were produced, between the two versions.
A yield of 19 kilotons is given in some references for an unspecified version, possibly a not-deployed high yield test only unit.
The W30 is stated by nuclear researcher Chuck Hansen
to have been one of two weapons using a common fission bomb core design, the Boa primary; the other weapon using the Boa is claimed to have been the 200 kiloton W52
thermonuclear warhead.
The W30 and W31
warheads used simple 3-digit lockout controls on their arming components, and could not be made safe by environmental sensing devices due to their use profile. Other warheads could use sensors to decide whether they had actually been through re-entry or sudden deceleration, prior to arming the weapon.
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
used on the RIM-8 Talos
RIM-8 Talos
The Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile, and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semiactive radar homing for terminal guidance...
surface to air missile and the Tactical Atomic Demolition Munition
Tactical Atomic Demolition Munition
The Mk 30 Mod 1 Tactical Atomic Demolitions Munition was a portable atomic bomb, consisting of a Mk 30 warhead installed in a X-113 case. The X-113 was 26 inches in diameter and 70 inches long, and looked like corrugated culvert pipe. The whole system weighed 840 pounds...
(TADM).
The W30 was 22 inches in diameter and 48 inches long, weighing 438, 450, or 490 pounds depending on the version.
The Talos missile variants were produced from 1959 to 1965, and used until 1979. A total of 300 were produced as missile warheads. The W30 Mod 1, 2, and 3 for Talos all had yields of 5 (sometimes more precisely reported as 4.7) kilotons.
The TADM warhead was produced from 1961 and saw service until 1966. There were two variants, the W30 Mod 4 Y1 with 0.3 kiloton yield (300 tons TNT) and the W30 Mod 4 Y2 with 0.5 kiloton (500 tons TNT) yield. 300 TADM W30s were produced, between the two versions.
A yield of 19 kilotons is given in some references for an unspecified version, possibly a not-deployed high yield test only unit.
The W30 is stated by nuclear researcher Chuck Hansen
Chuck Hansen
Chuck Hansen compiled, over a period of 30 years, the world's largest private collection of documents on how America developed the atomic bomb. These documents were obtained through the U.S...
to have been one of two weapons using a common fission bomb core design, the Boa primary; the other weapon using the Boa is claimed to have been the 200 kiloton W52
W52
The W52 was a thermonuclear warhead developed for the MGM-29 Sergeant short-range ballistic missile used by the United States Army from 1962 to 1977. The W52 is 24 inches in diameter and 57 inches long, and weighed 950 pounds. It had a yield of 200 kilotons...
thermonuclear warhead.
The W30 and W31
W31
The W31 was an American nuclear warhead used for two US missiles and as an atomic demolition munition.The W31 was produced from 1959, with the last versions phased out in 1989....
warheads used simple 3-digit lockout controls on their arming components, and could not be made safe by environmental sensing devices due to their use profile. Other warheads could use sensors to decide whether they had actually been through re-entry or sudden deceleration, prior to arming the weapon.
External links
- Beware the old story by Chuck Hansen, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2001 pp. 52-55 (vol. 57, no. 02), accessed April 13, 2006
- Historical Nuclear Weapons list at globalsecurity.org, accessed April 15, 2006
- Allbombs.html list of all US nuclear weapons at nuclearweaponarchive.org
- Nuke-Fuze on Cryptome.org Extensive discussion of nuclear weapons arming and fusing techniques and engineering considerations.