| W86 nuclear warhead | |
|---|---|
 W86 warhead casing after drop testing | |
| Type | Nuclear weapon |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Designed | 1975 to 1980 |
| Produced | n/a |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 184 kg (406 lb) |
| Diameter | 170 mm (6.7 in) |
| Blast yield | Publicly estimated to be 5 or 10 kilotonnes of TNT (21 or 42 TJ) |
The W86 was an American earth-penetrating ("bunker buster") nuclear warhead, intended for use on the Pershing II intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). The W86 design was canceled in September 1980 when the Pershing II missile mission shifted from destroying hardened targets to targeting soft targets at greater range. The W85 warhead, which had been developed in parallel with the W86, was used for all production Pershing II missiles.[1]
Development work for the W86's penetrator case began in 1975 at Sandia National Laboratories. The weapon was intended to allow for the destruction of hardened structures and the cratering of runways while using smaller yields.[2]
- ^ Sublette, Carey (12 June 2020). "Complete List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons". Nuclear weapon archive. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
- ^ A History of Exceptional Service in the National Interest (PDF). SAND97-1029. Sandia National Laboratories. 1997. pp. 200–201. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-02-04. Retrieved 2022-02-05.