W38 (nuclear warhead)
American thermonuclear warhead
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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.
| 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 | 3.75 megatonnes of TNT (15.7 PJ) |
| References | [1][2] |
Statistics
Origins
The W38 was the first thermonuclear ICBM warhead developed by the University of California Radiation Laboratory (UCRL), which was renamed the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1981.[4]
