Nuclear Weapons (aka 'Instant Sunshine')

[Matt Wiser]

Throw in the F-14: the AIM-54 was tapped in the early 70s to have a nuclear option. The design was never really proceeded with and it was cancelled in the mid 1980s. No W-number assigned. Also, the AGM-84 Harpoon (A-6, F/A-18, P-3, Nimrod) also had studies for a nuclear option, but it never got going. Navy and Marine F-4s were nuclear-certified, but rarely trained for it because of their fleet defense/ACM role in the Navy, and the mixed ACM-CAS mission in the USMC.
Regarding the Rita: Wings magazine back in the early '80s had an article on the plane and the USAAF crew that flew it back to the U.S. and did the FE (Foreign Evaluation) at Wright Field. It was intended to preserve the plane for incorporation into the future USAF Museum, but the plane was scrapped instead....Most of the Axis aircraft there are from the FE program in 1945-46.

[Howard of Effingham]

iirc, the one of the earliest RN a/c that was nuke capable was the scimitar. it could
carry 'red beard'. which was euphemistically described as a 'target marker' in the
jargon of the time. famously [depending on your viewpoint] there was a blanket
ban on landing back on board a RN carrier carrying a 'red beard' in peacetime. it
was apparently a 'sensitive package'.

'red beard' has been done in model form. several years back belcher bits released
a british nuclear weapons set in 1/72 which included one, as does airfix's TSR2.

it dates from the early 1960's.

trevor

[Brian]

Don't forget the B-71: a bomber version of the SR-71 Blackbird. Kelly Johnson had the plans, and they were submitted to the AF, for an aircraft with four B-43 class
gravity bombs and a 6-round launcher for the SRAM missile. The MiG-25 was meant to counter the B-70 and this aircraft. F-12s for escort (with nuke-armed AIM-47s) to clear the way and the B-71s for the penetration and strike. There were drop tests of a B-43 shape with ablative coating (from a B-58) to see how the heat at Mach 3.2 would affect the bomb as it fell to its detonation altitude. (Why the F-12s? Simple. Not only escort, but to kill any Soviet bombers they encounter on the way, and then kill Foxbats and Tu-128 Fiddlers as you penetrate Soviet Airspace)Two versions of the AIM-47, one conventional and one nuclear. Yield unknown, as the nuclear warhead was cancelled, along with the rest of the F-12/AIM-47 program. The AIM-54 was considered for a nuclear warhead, but nothng was proceeded with.

Aahh ... not so ... The 25 kiloton W-54 nuclear warhead intended for the GAR-11 (later AIM-47) was not cancelled. It was intended for a smaller AAM than the nuclear-armed Genie, because Genie was too large for the F-102A interceptor. The life of these aircraft was unexpectedly extended for budgetary reasons and a suitable nuclear-armed AAM was sought for them. Enter the GAR-11 with the W-54 warhead. The smallest US nuclear warhead deployed. Also used for the US Army's battlefield front-line infantry mortar. Now there was a weapon to strike fear into the US Army's friends-in-arms!

Approx 1000 - 2000 were manufactured between July '67 and Apr '72 for USAF use on the F-102A. Deployed on 200-225 F-102A's. A fuller account is given by Chuck Hansen's Swords of Armageddon. v.1. A verbatim reproduction can be found here at http://nuclear-weapons.info/images/w51-w54-from%20swords.PNG and http://www.nuclear-weapons.info/vw.htm#Wee%20Gwen

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Anyone got a giant mushroom?? Useful for display purposes

I always liked the idea of using Champagne Corks for the mushroom clouds on board games, it got the point across with that signature mushroom shape and allowed you to enjoy an adult beverages in the process. 

There is a source for 1/32nd and 1/48th scale models of the B61 and the Mk28 nuclear weapon shapes on-line.  A company called MyStands.com has these things for sale.  The price is a bit steep, but considering the only other source for a 1/48th scale and 1/32nd scale B61 shape is in the Testors/Italeri F-117 Stealth kits, It might be more cost effective to purchase these things instead.  The price listed is for a pair of these shapes in each scale.  This company also sells display stands and display bases for a variety of modeling subjects (link on the main page for these items).

Mike Belcher of Belcher Bits has recently released a set of 1/48th scale resin French AN-52 Tactical nuclear bombs listed under product No. BB30 for $16.99.  According to the product description you get the following:
(Image courtesy of Belcher Bits)

This set provides two AN-52 tactical nuclear weapons as carried by Mirage IIIEs and Jaguar As of the French Air Force, and Super Etendards of the French Navy. The AN-52 was a medium-yield tactical weapon, used until 1991 when replaced by the ASMP missile. This set also includes the special pylons used by the three aircraft listed.

Prior to the AN-52 release, Belcher Bits did have a Red Beard TMB and Mk7 with ground handling equipment available but it appears to have been removed from the Belcher Bits page at this time.  Anyone know what happened to it?

[Jeffry Fontaine]

What is a Permissive Action Lnk (PAL)?

Here are some links that should give you the answer(s):

Google Search Results for PAL

Permissive Action Link (From Wikipedia)

Principles of Nuclear Weapons Security and Safety

Permissive Action Links, Nuclear Weapons and the History of Public Key Cryptography, Steven M. Bellovin, Columbia University/url]

[url=http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Permissive-Action-Link]NationMaster - Encyclopedia - Permissive Action Link

Bruce Blair's Nuclear Column,  Keeping Presidents in the Nuclear Dark (Episode #1: The Case of the Missing "Permissive Action Links")

[Geoff]

The question: "What is a Permissive Action Lnk (PAL)?"

The answer     

Not fitted to Brit nukes - Oh perfidious Albion.

[pyro-manic]

Bicycle locks are just as good.

[TsrJoe]

via a heads up by Geoff, thanks 'Thorvic', just recieved a set of 1/32 resin Soviet Type 244H tactical nuclear bombs with their associated BDZ.56 pylon, for use on the Mig.21,Su.7,Su.17, etc. 2 supplied in the box, cleanly moulded with minimal cleanup too (also ideal for making the 'shapes' for training carried by a Finnish MiG.21F)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-32-Soviet-nuclear-bomb-244H-Limited-edition_W0QQitemZ120512587529QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0f1c2709

on a similar note...

hmm, now this def looks different, at a foot long prob a bit big for my usage tho ... (hmm wheres that scrap 'fat man' casting!)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RDS-1-Joe-1-Soviet-Nuclear-Bomb-Desktop-Wood-Model-Big_W0QQitemZ120511859022QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0f11094e

cheers, Joe

[sagallacci]

The new book "Soviet Strategic Aviation" by Yefim Gordon has a bunch of great snaps of Tu4s and various Soviet nukes.

As for the bomber SR-71, according to Paul F. Crickmore's "Lockheed SR-71, the Secret Missions Exposed", the airframes we now know as SR-71s were originally built as "B-12"(Lockheed in-house designation) nuke strike machines, but the funding for the warheads was not released and they were reconfigured for reccon. The B-12 would carry four SRAM-type weapons in the fuselage chines.

A further bomber version was not mentioned, but if it was to carry a rotary launcher, it would need a major redesign, mostly in length, I'd guess, to make up for all the fuel volume lost. The only area of the fuselage that the launcher could be fitted would be where the main fuel tank is. If you went without chine weapons bays, I'd guess that volume might be used for fuel?

[GTX]

The new book "Soviet Strategic Aviation" by Yefim Gordon has a bunch of great snaps of Tu4s and various Soviet nukes.

As for the bomber SR-71, according to Paul F. Crickmore's "Lockheed SR-71, the Secret Missions Exposed", the airframes we now know as SR-71s were originally built as "B-12"(Lockheed in-house designation) nuke strike machines, but the funding for the warheads was not released and they were reconfigured for reccon. The B-12 would carry four SRAM-type weapons in the fuselage chines.

A further bomber version was not mentioned, but if it was to carry a rotary launcher, it would need a major redesign, mostly in length, I'd guess, to make up for all the fuel volume lost. The only area of the fuselage that the launcher could be fitted would be where the main fuel tank is. If you went without chine weapons bays, I'd guess that volume might be used for fuel?

I think these might be the drawings you refer to:




Regards,

Greg

[Weaver]

Hmm.... I remember reading as long ago as the early 1980s the confident assertion that the Blackbird had a nuclear capability. I think what was mentioned at the time was a centreline hardpoint capable of carrying a single, unspecified nuclear weapon, presumably in a specially designed "shape" of suitably heat-proof titanium.

[KJ_Lesnick]

Evan,

That's actually a very logical idea, having an F-12 with a mix of AIM-47's and AGM-76's

You know, how the YF-12 had a center weapon bay (In addition to the four chine-bays, in which the forward right bay had test equipment and such in there IIRC)?  Well with the AIM-47B's and the fact that their bays would be thinner, I think it might have been do-able to squeeze two AIM-47 bays in between the rear left and right chine-bay bringing up the missile total to six. 

[TsrJoe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design

a pretty good synopsis and primer, note the Swedish nuclear weapon too!

[KJ_Lesnick]

The US detonated it's first nuke in 1945, the Soviets in 1949.  When did the Brits and other nuclear powers detonate their first nukes, and thermonuclear weapons?

[jcf]

The US detonated it's first nuke in 1945, the Soviets in 1949.  When did the Brits and other nuclear powers detonate their first nukes, and thermonuclear weapons?

Timeline of the Nuclear Age:
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Timeline/Time1950.shtml

1952 : October 3 - First British atomic bomb, "Hurricane," was tested at Monte Bello Islands, Australia, with a yield of 25 kilotons.

1957: November 8 - Britain's first truly successful thermonuclear bomb test. The bomb had a yield of 1.8 megatons.

1960: February 13 - The first French nuclear test occurs at Reganne, Algeria, in the Sahara Desert. It has a yield of 60-70 kilotons.

1964: October 16 - China explodes its first atomic bomb at the Lop Nur test site. It was an uranium 235 implosion fission device named
                              "596" and has a yield of 22 kilotons.

1968: August 24 - France tests its first hydrogen bomb at Fangataufa Atoll in the South Pacific. It has a yield of 2.6 megatons.