The W52 was a thermonuclear warhead developed for the MGM-29 Sergeant

MGM-29 Sergeant

The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Activated by the US Army in 1962 to replace the MGM-5 Corporal it was deployed overseas by 1963, carrying the W52 nuclear warhead or alternatively one of high explosives...

 short-range ballistic missile

Short-range ballistic missile

A short-range ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a range of about 1,000 km or less. They are usually capable of carrying nuclear weapons. In potential regional conflicts, these missiles would be used because of the short distances between some countries and their relative low cost...

 used by the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 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. A total of 300 W52 warheads were produced.

Researcher Chuck Hansen claims based on his research into the US nuclear program that the thermonuclear W52 and (fission-only) W30

W30

The W30 was an American nuclear warhead used on the RIM-8 Talos surface to air missile and the Tactical Atomic Demolition Munition .The W30 was 22 inches in diameter and 48 inches long, weighing 438, 450, or 490 pounds depending on the version....

 warheads both use a common Primary or fission first stage, and that this design was nicknamed the Boa primary 

Reliability controversy

Three models of the W52 were produced, the Mod 1, Mod 2, and Mod 3. A warhead test was performed in 1963, which failed, showing that the Mod 1 and Mod 2 versions of the W52 were essentially duds. The Mod 3 was subsequently redesigned to work properly.

The design failures of the Mod 1 and 2 W52, along with early problems with the W45

W45

The W45 was a multipurpose American nuclear warhead developed in the early 1960s, first built in 1962 and fielded in some applications until 1988. It had a diameter of 11.5 inches , a length of 27 inches and weighed 150 pounds . The yields of different W45 versions were 0.5, 1, 5, 8, 10, and 15...

 and W47

W47

The W47 was an American thermonuclear warhead used on the Polaris A-1 sub-launched ballistic missile system. Various models were in service from 1960 through the end of 1974...

warheads, are still an active part of the debate about the reliability of the US nuclear weapons force moving into the future, without ongoing nuclear testing (see for example Nuclear Weapons: The Reliable Replacement Warhead program, Jonathan Medalia, 2005, Congressional Research Service).

External links

• Allbombs.html list of all US nuclear weapons at nuclearweaponarchive.org