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Drawing of the Mark 12 re-entry vehicle that houses the W62 warhead. The W62 was an American thermonuclear warhead designed in the 1960s and manufactured from March 1970 to June 1976. Used on some Minuteman III ICBMs, it was partially replaced by the W78 starting in December 1979, and fully replaced by W87 warheads removed from MX Peacekeeper ...
W78 warheads are contained inside the MK12-A reentry vehicles of the LGM-30G Minuteman III. Drawing of the Mark 12A re-entry vehicle that houses the W78 warhead. The W78 is an American thermonuclear warhead with an estimated yield of 335–350 kilotonnes of TNT (1,400–1,460 TJ), deployed on the LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and housed in the Mark 12A reentry ...
4. About 180 seconds after launch, the third-stage thrust terminates and the post-boost vehicle (D) separates from the rocket. 5. The post-boost vehicle maneuvers itself and prepares for re-entry vehicle (RV) deployment. 6. While the post-boost vehicle backs away, the RVs, decoys, and chaff are deployed (this may occur during ascent). 7.
These were delivered in the Mark 12A reentry vehicle. A small, unknown number of the previous Mark 12 RVs were retained operationally, however, to maintain a capability to attack more-distant targets in the south-central Asian republics of the USSR (the Mark 12 RV weighed slightly less than the Mark 12A).
Unit cost: US$70,000,000 (equivalent to $194,571,949 in 2023): Specifications; Mass: 87,750 kg 193,460 lb [3]: Length: 21.8 m 72 ft [3]: Diameter: 2.34 m 7.7 ft [3]: Warhead: Up to 11 Avco Mk21 re-entry vehicles each carrying a 300 kt W87-0 warhead (though in practice, only 10 were carried); or 12 GE Mk12A re-entry vehicles each carrying a 335–350 kt W78 warhead (never deployed) [4] plus decoys
Exploded diagram of the Mk21 reentry vehicle for the W87 [clarification needed]. The W87 is an American thermonuclear missile warhead formerly deployed on the LGM-118A Peacekeeper ("MX") ICBM. 50 MX missiles were built, each carrying up to 10 W87 warheads in multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), and were deployed from 1986 to 2005.
The path of the reentry vehicle is the upper streak of light, with the booster tanks immediately below. Lights from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific can be seen in the lower right corner. The Advanced Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle (AMaRV) was a prototype MARV built by McDonnell Douglas.
The warhead was initially manufactured from 1978 to 1987 and designed by Los Alamos National Laboratory.It was initially fitted to the Trident I SLBM system, but after the Rocky Flats plant where its successor the W88 was being made was shut down in 1989 after a production run of only 400 warheads, it was decided to transfer W76 warheads to Trident II.