W78
Encyclopedia : W : W7 : W78 : W78
The W-78 thermonuclear warhead is the warhead used on most of the US LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM, along with the Mk-12A reentry vehicle which carried the warhead. Minuteman III's initially deployed with the older W62 warhead, the W-78 was deployed starting in December 1979 onto 300 missiles, 3 warheads per missile. Declassified US records indicate a total of 1,083 W-78s were produced.
The W-78 was designed at Los Alamos National Laboratory starting in 1974. The design is thought to combine the secondary (fusion) stage design of older ICBM warheads such as the W50 with a more modern primary stage (see Teller-Ulam design for more details).
The W-78 has a publicly announced yield of 335-350 kilotons.
Dimensions of the W-78 are unknown, but it fits within the Mk-12A reentry vehicle, which is conically shaped, 21.3 inches in diameter at its base and 71.3 inches long. The W-78 is estimated to weigh 7-800 pounds.
The W-78 does not use Insensitive High Explosives (explosives primarily based on TATB, which is very resistant to accidental detonation due to shock or fire or impact). As a result, it is considered a somewhat dangerous warhead, and cannot be transported by air unless there is no other safe option.
See also
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.