W38 (nuclear warhead)

W38
Type	Nuclear warhead
Service history
In service	May 1961 - May 1965
Used by	United States
Production history
Designer	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Designed	1956 to 1961
No. built	180
Specifications
Mass	3,080 pounds (1,400 kg)
Length	82 inches (2,100 mm) (127 inches (3,200 mm) in RV)
Diameter	32 inches (810 mm)
Detonation mechanism	Contact, airburst
Blast yield	4,500 kilotonnes of TNT (19,000 TJ)
References	[1][2]

The W38 was an American thermonuclear warhead used in the early to mid-1960s as a warhead for Atlas E and F, and LGM-25 Titan I ICBMs. It was first built in 1961 and was in service from 1961 to 1965. 70 were deployed on Titan I missiles and 110 on Atlas missiles. It used the Avco Mark 4 reentry vehicle.

The W38 was 32 inches (81 cm) in diameter and 82.5 inches (2 m) long. It weighed 3,080 pounds (1,400 kg) and had a design yield of 3.75 megatons with an airburst or contact fuze.^[3]

The W38 was the first thermonuclear ICBM warhead developed by the UCRL (University of California Radiation Laboratory), which is now known as the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The W38 was superseded by the Titan II missile family with a W53 warhead and 9 megaton payload.

See also

• List of nuclear weapons

References

1. Chuck Hansen (2007). Swords of Armageddon. Vol. VI. p. 262-265. ISBN 978-0-9791915-6-5.
2. History of the Mark 38 Warhead (Report). Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA). January 1968.
3. "List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons".

External links

• List of all US nuclear weapons