W9 (Nuclear Missile)
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- For the French television channel see W9 (television)
Description
The W9 was 11 inches in diameter, 55 inches long, and weighed 850 pounds. It had an explosive yield of 15 kilotons.The W9 was a gun-type nuclear weapon, utilizing around 50 kilograms of highly enriched uranium in one large rings assembly and one smaller "bullet", which was fired down a tube by conventional explosives into the rings assembly to achieve critical mass and detonate the weapon.
The W9 units which were retired in 1957 were recycled into lower yield T-4 Atomic Demolition Munitions. These were the first (semi) man-portable nuclear weapons.
Tests
The W9 is only the second gun-type nuclear weapon known to have been detonated; the first was the Little Boy nuclear weapon used in World War 2.The W9 artillery shell was test fired once, in Upshot-Knothole Grable on May 25, 1953. Yield was the expected 15 kilotons.
Subsequently, the W33 nuclear artillery shell was test fired twice during its development process. These four detonations are the only identified gun-type bomb detonations.
See also
External links
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