W87
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The W87 is an American thermonuclear missile warhead designed for use on the MX or Peacekeeper ICBM.
Description
The W87 was designed starting in 1982 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It started production in 1986. [University of California 1989 nuclear weapons labs status report] The weapons were refurbished for an extended lifespan by the National Nuclear Security Administration's Life Extension Program. [Scientists spruce up nation's oldest nukes]The W87 design includes all modern safety features, including insensitive high explosives LX-17 and PBX-9502 (primary component TATB), a fire resistant pit, and advanced arming and fuzing safety features.
The W87 has a design yield of 300 kilotons, but has the announced ability to be upgraded to a yield of 475 kilotons, presumably by using more HEU in the fusion secondary stage tamper. It is not known if that upgrade was completely tested or merely designed and ready to implement.
The exact dimensions of the W87 are unknown, but it fits inside the Mk. 21 Reentry vehicle, which is a cone with base diameter of 22 inches and 69 inch length. The W87 is believed to weigh between 200 and 272 kilograms (440 and 600 pounds).
Variants
In addition to the higher yield upgrade option described above, a specific variant W87-1 entered Phase 3 development engineering and was assigned its type designation in November 1988. U. Cal report op cit. This variant was intended for the MGM-134 Midgetman small ICBM missile and was intended to have the full 475 kiloton yield. The Midgetman and W87-1 were cancelled in January 1992.See also
External links
References
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