| W80 nuclear warhead | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:W80_nuclear_warhead.jpg) A W80 nuclear warhead | |
| Type | Nuclear weapon |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Los Alamos National Laboratory (W80-0,1), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (W80-2,3,4)[1][2] |
| Designed | June 1976 |
| Produced | January 1979 |
| No. built | 2117 |
| Variants | 5 |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 290 lb (130 kg) |
| Length | 31.4 inches (80 cm) |
| Diameter | 11.8 in (30 cm) |
| Blast yield | 5 or 150 kilotonnes of TNT (21 or 628 TJ) |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:W80_Mod_1.jpg)
&sq=&lang=&file=File:W80_Mod_4_warhead.png)
The W80 is a low to intermediate yield two-stage thermonuclear warhead deployed by the U.S. enduring stockpile with a variable yield ("dial-a-yield") of 5 or 150 kilotonnes of TNT (21 or 628 TJ).
It was designed for deployment on cruise missiles and is the warhead used in all nuclear-armed ALCM and ACM missiles deployed by the US Air Force, and in the US Navy's BGM-109 Tomahawk. It is essentially a modification of the widely deployed B61 weapon, which forms the basis of most of the current US stockpile of nuclear gravity bombs. The very similar W84 warhead was deployed on the retired BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile.
It was designed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
- ^ "Fusion of lab efforts on W80 work". Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 20 April 2001. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022.
The W80 Life Extension Program to refurbish these warheads is now assigned to Livermore and Sandia laboratories, which will be responsible for the modified design. These laboratories will be responsible for assuring the safety, reliability and performance of the refurbished W80 warheads, Mods 2 and 3, as well as any potential future mods — Mod 2 will be the refurbished Navy warhead and Mod 3 the Air Force version.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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