W25 (nuclear warhead)

W25 (nuclear warhead)

The W25 was a small nuclear warhead developed by the United States Air Force and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for air-defense use. It was a fission device with a nominal yield of 1.7 kT. Development of the weapon began in 1954 at the behest of Douglas Aircraft for use against enemy bombers.

The W25 was used for the MB-1 "Ding Dong", an unguided air-to-air rocket used by the F-89 Scorpion, F-101B, and F-106 interceptor aircraft. The MB-1 entered service in 1957, and was eventually redesignated the AIR-2 Genie. Limited numbers were still used for Air National Guard F-106 aircraft until December 1984.

Description

The W25 is 17.4 inches in diameter and 26.6 inches long, with a reported weight of 218-221 pounds. [ [http://www.nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/Allbombs.html List of all U.S. Nuclear Weapons] at [http://www.nuclearweaponarchive.org nuclearweaponarchive.org] . Accessed Sept 2, 2007] As noted above, yield was a relatively low 1.7 kilotons.

The W25 was described as a composite pit (utilizing both Uranium and Plutonium), unboosted, and the first US "sealed pit" design. A sealed pit means that a solid metal barrier is formed around the pit or nuclear material components inside a nuclear weapon, with no openings. This protects the nuclear materials from environmental degradation and helps reduce the chances of their release in case of an accidental fire or minor explosion.

The Genie was still active at Active Duty AFB in 1985 (K.I. Sawyer AFB Mi. 87 Fighter Intercepter Squadron

ee also

* List of nuclear weapons

*W53 - the warhead used on the Titan II ICBM
*W54 - very small yield warhead, one of the smallest warheads built
*W61 - the basis for most US weapons today
*W80 - warhead which armed nuclear cruise missiles
*W81 - development of the W61 for the Navy's Standard missile
*W84 - similar development for the Air Force's aborted GLCM missile
*W85 - similar development for the Army's Pershing II missile
*W88 - warhead for the Trident missile

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • W25 — or W.25 may refer to : * W25 (nuclear warhead) * Hansa Brandenburg W.25, a …   Wikipedia

  • Tactical nuclear weapon — U.S. officials view a W54 nuclear warhead (with a 10 or 20 ton explosive yield) as used on the Davy Crockett recoilless gun. The unusually small size of this tactical nuclear weapon is apparent A tactical nuclear weapon (or TNW) refers to a… …   Wikipedia

  • List of nuclear weapons — This is a list of nuclear weapons ordered by state and then type within the states.United StatesNote: US nuclear weapons of all types (bombs, warheads, shells, and others) are numbered in the same sequence starting with the Mark 1 and (as of… …   Wikipedia

  • AIR-2 Genie — The Douglas Genie (MB 1 Ding Dong, AIR 2) was an unguided air to air rocket with a 1.5kt W25 nuclear warhead. It was deployed by the United States Air Force (from the late 1950s) and the Canadian Forces Air Command (from 1 February 1968 to the… …   Wikipedia

  • AIR-2 Genie — AIR 2A Genie на транспортной тележке MF 9 в Аэрокосмическом музее Хилла[en] …   Википедия

  • Anti-ballistic missile — An anti ballistic missile (ABM) is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (a missile for missile defense). A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory.… …   Wikipedia

  • AIM-26 Falcon — The AIM 26 Falcon was a larger, more powerful version of the AIM 4 Falcon air to air missile built by Hughes. It is the only guided U.S. air to air weapon with a nuclear warhead, though the unguided AIR 2 Genie was also nuclear… …   Wikipedia

  • Armes nucléaires aux États-Unis — Armes nucléaires des États Unis Armes nucléaires des États Unis Pays États Unis Date où le programme nucléaire a été lancé 21 octobre 1939 Premier test d arme nucléaire 16 juillet 1945 Premier test de bombe H 1er novembre 1952 Dernier test d arme …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Armes nucléaires des Etats-Unis — Armes nucléaires des États Unis Armes nucléaires des États Unis Pays États Unis Date où le programme nucléaire a été lancé 21 octobre 1939 Premier test d arme nucléaire 16 juillet 1945 Premier test de bombe H 1er novembre 1952 Dernier test d arme …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Armes nucléaires des États-Unis — États Unis Arsenal nucléaire Programme Date de lancement 21 octobre 1939 Premier essai nucléaire 16 juillet 1945 …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”