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The B61 nuclear bomb is the primary thermonuclear gravity bomb in the United States Enduring Stockpile following the end of the Cold War.It is a low-to-intermediate yield strategic and tactical nuclear weapon featuring a two-stage radiation implosion design.
The overall B61 bomb is 13.3 inches (340 mm) in diameter and 141 inches (3,600 mm) long, and weighs approximately 700 pounds (320 kg) across most mods. The nuclear device within the outer B61 envelope is probably the same overall dimensions and weight as the W80 warhead, which is 11.8 inches (300 mm) in diameter, 31.4 inches (800 mm) long and ...
Some variable yield nuclear warheads such as the B61 nuclear bomb have been produced in both tactical and strategic versions. Whereas the lowest selectable yield of a tactical B61 (Mod 3 and Mod 4) is 0.3 kilotons (300 tons), [ 19 ] modern PAL mechanisms ensure that centralized political control is maintained over each weapon, including their ...
The components of a B83 nuclear bomb used by the United States. This is a list of nuclear weapons listed according to country of origin, and then by type within the states. . The United States, Russia, China and India are known to possess a nuclear triad, being capable to deliver nuclear weapons by land, sea and
A B83 casing. The B83 is a variable-yield thermonuclear gravity bomb developed by the United States in the late 1970s that entered service in 1983. With a maximum yield of 1.2 megatonnes of TNT (5.0 PJ), it has been the most powerful nuclear weapon in the United States nuclear arsenal since October 25, 2011 after retirement of the B53. [1]
Examples of variable yield weapons include the B61 nuclear bomb family, B83, B43, W80, W85, and WE177A warheads. Most modern nuclear weapons are Teller–Ulam design type thermonuclear weapons , with a fission primary stage and a fusion secondary stage that is collapsed by the energy from the primary.
The W81 went through several design iterations, starting with an enhanced radiation model, then a pure fission model and cancelled in 1986. [1]Characteristics are not known in detail, but the B61 it is derived from has a physics package (bomb core) of about 12 inches (30 cm) diameter with length of 32 inches (81 cm), weighing around 300 pounds (140 kg) (see the W80, another B61 derived design).
Weapons Storage and Security System vault in raised position holding a B61 nuclear bomb.The vault is within a Protective Aircraft Shelter General Roger Brady being shown a dummy nuclear weapon in a Weapons Storage and Security System at Volkel Air Base