Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2009
- Messages
- 9,560
- Reaction score
- 1,748
BTW, in this video you will see the instrumentation package they are mounting in place of the W28 warhead's "physics package," the actual nuclear warhead. Because of the need to mount in the same spot, that instrumentation carrier approximates the size and shape of the physics package. I've found that images of US physics packages from the 50s and 60s were far more protected than they are these days with modern warheads. However, the UK wasn't as careful:
Red Snow was a British thermonuclear weapon. Its physics package was apparently similar, if not identical, to that of the United States W28 nuclear warhead used in the B28 nuclear bomb and AGM-28 Hound Dog missile, with an explosive yield of approximately 1 megaton.
The Red Snow warhead was developed after a September 1958 decision to adopt the US warhead for British use, following the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement. It entered service in 1961, remaining in use until 1972, when it was replaced by the WE.177 bomb. Perhaps 150 were produced.
Red Snow was used as both a free-fall bomb and as the warhead of the Blue Steel missile. In the gravity bomb role, it was fitted into the casing of the Yellow Sun weapon, even though the Red Snow warhead was considerably smaller than that of the original Yellow Sun bomb.
Red Snow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Snow
AGM-28 Hound Dog video
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-28_Hound_Dog
In service: September 13, 1960
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
Unit cost: $690,073
Produced: April 1959
Mass: 10,147 pounds (4,603 kg).
Length: 42 feet 6 inches (12.95 m).
Height: 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m).
Diameter: 28 inches (710 mm).
Warhead: 1,742 pounds (790 kg) W28 Class D nuclear warhead.
Detonation: Airburst or Contact
Engine: Pratt & Whitney J52-P-3 turbojet; 7,500 lbf (33 kN).
Wingspan: 12 feet 2 inches (3.71 m).
Operational range: 785 miles (1,263 km).
Flight ceiling: 56,200 feet (17,100 m).
Flight altitude: 200 to 56,000 feet (61 to 17,069 m).
Speed: Mach 2.1.
Guidance system: Astro-inertial guidance
Beginning in 1972 the Hound Dog was replaced by the AGM-69 SRAM, and in 1976 the last AGM-28 was retired from USAF service [a HECK of a lot later than I'd have guessed! - W]. Between 1959 and 1963, North American had built more than 700 Hound Dog missiles, with a peak deployment level of about 600 in 1963.
The Mk28 was produced from 1958 through 1966. It used the W28 lightweight, Class D warhead (also shared with the TM-76 Mace surface-to-surface missile and the GAM-77 Hound Dog air-launched cruise missile). After 1968 it was redesignated B28.
The range of explosive yields was:
Mod 1 — 1.1 megaton TNT equivalent
Mod 2 — 350 kiloton TNT equivalent
Mod 3 — 70 kiloton
Mod 5 — 1.45 megaton
The fuze mechanism on a B28 could be set for an air burst or ground burst detonation. A total of 4,500 B28s were produced. The last weapons in use were retired in 1991.
Red Snow was a British thermonuclear weapon. Its physics package was apparently similar, if not identical, to that of the United States W28 nuclear warhead used in the B28 nuclear bomb and AGM-28 Hound Dog missile, with an explosive yield of approximately 1 megaton.
The Red Snow warhead was developed after a September 1958 decision to adopt the US warhead for British use, following the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement. It entered service in 1961, remaining in use until 1972, when it was replaced by the WE.177 bomb. Perhaps 150 were produced.
Red Snow was used as both a free-fall bomb and as the warhead of the Blue Steel missile. In the gravity bomb role, it was fitted into the casing of the Yellow Sun weapon, even though the Red Snow warhead was considerably smaller than that of the original Yellow Sun bomb.
Red Snow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Snow
AGM-28 Hound Dog video
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-28_Hound_Dog
In service: September 13, 1960
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
Unit cost: $690,073
Produced: April 1959
Mass: 10,147 pounds (4,603 kg).
Length: 42 feet 6 inches (12.95 m).
Height: 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m).
Diameter: 28 inches (710 mm).
Warhead: 1,742 pounds (790 kg) W28 Class D nuclear warhead.
Detonation: Airburst or Contact
Engine: Pratt & Whitney J52-P-3 turbojet; 7,500 lbf (33 kN).
Wingspan: 12 feet 2 inches (3.71 m).
Operational range: 785 miles (1,263 km).
Flight ceiling: 56,200 feet (17,100 m).
Flight altitude: 200 to 56,000 feet (61 to 17,069 m).
Speed: Mach 2.1.
Guidance system: Astro-inertial guidance
Beginning in 1972 the Hound Dog was replaced by the AGM-69 SRAM, and in 1976 the last AGM-28 was retired from USAF service [a HECK of a lot later than I'd have guessed! - W]. Between 1959 and 1963, North American had built more than 700 Hound Dog missiles, with a peak deployment level of about 600 in 1963.
The Mk28 was produced from 1958 through 1966. It used the W28 lightweight, Class D warhead (also shared with the TM-76 Mace surface-to-surface missile and the GAM-77 Hound Dog air-launched cruise missile). After 1968 it was redesignated B28.
The range of explosive yields was:
Mod 1 — 1.1 megaton TNT equivalent
Mod 2 — 350 kiloton TNT equivalent
Mod 3 — 70 kiloton
Mod 5 — 1.45 megaton
The fuze mechanism on a B28 could be set for an air burst or ground burst detonation. A total of 4,500 B28s were produced. The last weapons in use were retired in 1991.
