W80 (nuclear weapon)

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A W80-1 explosive device

The W80 is a small thermonuclear warhead of the United States of America with a variable explosive force between 5 and 150 kilotons of TNT equivalent .

Developed as a tactical explosive device for cruise missiles , it is the warhead of the ALCM, AGM-129 ACM and R / UGM-109A Tomahawk Block 1 TLAM-N cruise missiles. Like many other American nuclear weapons, it is a variation of the B61 bomb .

Technical specifications

The W80 is relatively small for nuclear warheads. It weighs 130 kg, has a diameter of 30 cm and is 80 cm long. Its explosive power is adjustable between 5 and 150 kT TNT.

history

The Los Alamos National Laboratory began development of the W80 warhead in June 1976 to replace the worn-W61 warhead. Production of the W80-1 began in January 1979 to arm the ALCM cruise missile. The first ALCMs were assembled in 1981.

In March 1982 work began on developing a less radioactive variant of the W80 warhead for the R / UGM-109A Tomahawk. The model W80-0 uses an alloy that is composed of more than 95% Plutonium -239 (Pu-239) and a small amount of Pu-240. In the US, this alloy is known as Supergrade . The first W80-0 warheads were delivered in December 1983. Full production started in March 1984 and ended in September 1990. A total of 1750 W80-1 and 367 W80-0 warheads were delivered. 1000 W80-1 were used on the ALCM, another 400 on the ACM and 350 W80-0 on the R / UGM-109A Tomahawk.

According to the START II treaty, several cruise missiles were later equipped with conventional instead of thermonuclear explosives. Nevertheless, there are over 1000 W80 explosive devices in readiness for action.

credentials