The W-50 or W50 thermonuclear warhead was a nuclear bomb used on the MGM-31 Pershing intermediate range nuclear missile.

There were two major variants produced (Mod 1, Mod 2), in three yield options (the Y1 with 60 kiloton yield, Y2 with 200 kiloton yield, and Y3 with 400 kiloton yield).

All variants were 15.4 inch (0.39116 m) in diameter and 44 inches (1.1 m) long, weighing 410 pounds (186 kg).

The W50 used the Tsetse primary

Tsetse primary

The Tsetse was the common design nuclear fission bomb core for several Cold War designs for American nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, according to researcher Chuck Hansen....

 design for its first fission stage, along with several mid and late 1950s designs.

The W50 is thought to have been the source of the W78

W78

The W78 thermonuclear warhead is the warhead used on most of the United States LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles , along with the MK-12A reentry vehicle which carried the warhead. Minuteman III's initially deployed with the older W62 warhead; the W78 was deployed starting...

warhead's fusion second stage design.

The W50 was manufactured from 1963 through 1965, with a total of 280 being produced. They were retired from service starting in 1973 with the last units retired in 1991.

External links

• Allbombs.html list of all US nuclear weapons at nuclearweaponarchive.org
• Beware the old story by Chuck Hansen, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2001 pp. 52-55.