W68
| W68 | |
|---|---|
 A W68 warhead in a Mk3 reentry Body. See image below for scale. | |
| Type | Nuclear weapon |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1971-1991 |
| Used by | United States. |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
| Produced | June 1970 - June 1975 |
| No. built | 5250 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 367 pounds (166 kg) |
Detonation mechanism | Contact, airburst |
| Blast yield | 40 to 50 kilotons of TNT (170 to 210 TJ) |
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The W68 warhead was the warhead used on the UGM-73 Poseidon SLBM missile. It was developed in the late 1960s at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Specifications
The W68 weighed 367 pounds (166 kg) and had a design yield of 40–50 kilotons of TNT (170–210 TJ)
The design was revolutionary and impacted many following systems with its achievements in warhead miniaturization.[1]
Production and deployment
A total of 5,250 W68 warheads were produced, the single largest production run of any American nuclear weapon model. It was manufactured starting in June 1970 and ending in June 1975. Each Poseidon missile could carry up to 14 warheads; at the peak deployment, there were 41 US Poseidon submarines with 16 missiles each, for a total of 656 deployed missiles, at a density of about 10 warheads per missile.
Safety issues and later service
Aging of the LX-09 Plastic Bonded Explosive used in the W68[2][3][4][5][6] led to decomposition of the explosive, separating the binder and plasticizer,[4] which then caused deterioration of the detonators. This required the whole production run to be retired or remanufactured with LX-10 and LX-10-1 as new explosives from November 1978 through 1983; about 2,000 units were retired starting in 1977 rather than rebuilt.[7]
The remaining 3,200 warheads remained in service longer, with the last units retired in 1991.[7]
See also
References
- ^ LLNL improvements in the 1970s
- ^ "W68 warhead". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2006-05-03.
- ^ "Warhead Accidents". Banthebomb.org. Retrieved 2006-05-03.
- ^ a b Carey Sublette (1999-02-20). "4.1.6.2.2.5 Explosives". 4. Engineering and Design of Nuclear Weapons: 4.1 Elements of Fission Weapon Design. Retrieved 2006-05-03.
- ^ "LLNL explosives accident training web page". Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Retrieved 2006-05-03. [dead link]
- ^ "Relatives of 3 Killed in Blast At Nuclear Plant Lose Suit". New York Times. AP. 1981-10-03. Retrieved 2006-05-03.
- ^ a b Carey Sublette (2006-10-04). "Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons: W-68". Retrieved 2006-05-03.