W62
Encyclopedia
The W62 is an American thermonuclear warhead designed in the late 1960s and manufactured from 1970 to 1976, used on some Minuteman III
ICBMs and retired in 2010.
The exact dimensions of the W62 are classified, but it fits within the Mark-12 reentry vehicle which is 22 inches in diameter and 72 inches long. The weight of a fully loaded Mark-12 is 800 pounds; the weight of the W62 is stated as 253 lb.
The yield of the W62 is 170 kilotons TNT, which is considerably less than earlier W56
's 1.2 megatons
.
A total of 1,725 W62 warheads have been produced during its production run. These are now retired, with 610 units in service until 2010 on board 200 Minuteman III ICBMs (3 per missile, plus some spares).
The W62 has been retired because it lacks Enhanced Electrical Isolation, Insensitive High Explosives, a Fire Resistant Pit, a Command Disable System and a Code Management System.
LGM-30 Minuteman
The LGM-30 Minuteman is a U.S. nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile . As of 2010, the version LGM-30G Minuteman-III is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States...
ICBMs and retired in 2010.
The exact dimensions of the W62 are classified, but it fits within the Mark-12 reentry vehicle which is 22 inches in diameter and 72 inches long. The weight of a fully loaded Mark-12 is 800 pounds; the weight of the W62 is stated as 253 lb.
The yield of the W62 is 170 kilotons TNT, which is considerably less than earlier W56
W56
The W56 is an American thermonuclear warhead produced starting in 1963 which saw service until 1993, on the Minuteman I and II ICBMs.The W56 was manufactured in a series of models, all the same rough size and 1.2 megaton yield. The Mod-1, Mod-2, and Mod-3 variants weighed 600 pounds, with the...
's 1.2 megatons
TNT equivalent
TNT equivalent is a method of quantifying the energy released in explosions. The ton of TNT is a unit of energy equal to 4.184 gigajoules, which is approximately the amount of energy released in the detonation of one ton of TNT...
.
A total of 1,725 W62 warheads have been produced during its production run. These are now retired, with 610 units in service until 2010 on board 200 Minuteman III ICBMs (3 per missile, plus some spares).
The W62 has been retired because it lacks Enhanced Electrical Isolation, Insensitive High Explosives, a Fire Resistant Pit, a Command Disable System and a Code Management System.