Nuclear Expansion

Nuclear Expansion

The 1970s introduced advanced digital electronics to nuclear weapons technology. Also with the switch in tactics from high-altitude to low-level supersonic weapons delivery, parachute design was highly refined at New Mexico’s Sandia National Laboratories.

Also, parachute technology, supersonic low-altitude delivery, and the laydown concept (delayed detonation) were refined during this era. 

The W53 was a high-yield thermonuclear warhead. The Titan II Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile deployed it, and it was housed inside the Mk 6 re-entry vehicle. 

Length: 8 feet 8 inches
Diameter: 36.5 inches
Weight: 6,500-7,000 pounds
Stockpiled: 1962-1987
Yield: Megaton range

The Mark 6 was designed to be shot into space. The MK 6 RV, manufactured by General Electric, was built to sit on top the Titan II ICBM and carry the W-53 multi-megaton warhead. The MK 6 was 122.27 inches long, 57.27 inches in diameter at its base, and weighed 2,076 pounds. The spherical-nose of the RV was composed primarily of aluminum honeycomb internal structure to which was bonded an ablative phenolic heat shield.

B57
The B57 was a lightweight, multi-purpose nuclear depth charge and bomb.

Mk 2 Re-entry Body
In 1958 military planners were concerned about Soviet anti-ballistic missile defense systems. Clustered Atomic Warheads-later known as Multiple Re-entry Vehicles (MRVs) were designed to overwhelm such defenses.

Mk 5 (RV)
This is the Minuteman Mk 5 re-entry vehicle for the W59 thermonuclear warhead. The recovered RV on display was shot into outer space in the 1960s to test its heat shield.

Short Range Attack Missile (SRAM)
The Air Force SRAM is a supersonic air-to-surface missile. It contains a W69 warhead and can be launched from B-52 and FB-111 bombers. The SRAM and W69 are no longer in the weapons stockpile.

SUBROC
The SUBROC, a submarine-launched missile, contained the W55 nuclear warhead. Ejected from a standard torpedo tube of a submerged submarine, a solid-fuel motor ignited when the SUBROC broke the water surface. The SUBROC then flew at supersonic speed toward its target.

Thor
The Dominic I Thor instrument pod contained instruments that collected nuclear test data. A flotation bag kept it afloat until it could be recovered from the sea.