W58
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The W58 was an American thermonuclear warhead used on the Polaris A-3 submarine launched ballistic missile. Three W58 warheads were fitted as multiple warheads on each Polaris A-3 missile.
The W58 was 15.6 inches in diameter and 40.3 inches long, with a basic weight for the warhead of 257 pounds. The yield was 200 kilotons.
The W58 design entered service in 1964 and the last models were retired in 1982 with the last Polaris missiles.
Researcher Chuck Hansen claims based on his US nuclear program research that the W55 and W58 warheads shared a common Primary or fission first stage, and that this design was nicknamed the Kinglet primary Hansen 2001.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Allbombs.html list of all US nuclear warheads at nuclearweaponarchive.org
