A TECHNICAL HISTORY OF AMERICA’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS: VOLUME II – DEVELOPMENTS FROM 1960 THROUGH 2020 – SECOND EDITION

That is the Second Version of A Technical Historical past of America’s Nuclear Weapons: Quantity II –Nuclear Developments From 1960 Via 2020. Quantity II takes up the place Quantity I ends. It’s written in the identical easy, simple to know, method as Quantity I. American nuclear weapons and supply programs are offered in a tough chronological order with some weapons handled individually and others in purposeful or household groupings. Like Quantity I, Quantity II combines growth histories with engineering descriptions as an instance the efficiency traits of every weapon described and the design challenges that confronted their builders. Primary information about weapon operation, supply programs, and deployments are additionally included. A lightweight modifying job on the fabric that beforehand comprised the First Version has allowed room for 2 further chapters and an afterword. These chapters concentrate on the nuclear weapon programs beneath growth that can type the brand new Triad. The weapon programs embody the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, the Floor Based mostly Strategic Deterrent ICBM, and the Columbia SSBN. The closing chapters draw closely on data supplied within the First Version, for the reason that New Triad depends closely on beforehand developed know-how. The afterword discusses some unclear elements of the alternatives made for the brand new Triad. Just like the First Version, this Second Version is lavishly illustrated with a whole bunch of pictures. Quantity II: 1) Makes use of official Army Attribute (Elements) Numbers for elements the place accessible, a really useful gizmo for web searches 2) Discusses second technology multi-megaton hydrogen bombs together with the three-stage, 25-megaton MK 41, America’s strongest weapon 3) Outlines the evolution of jet-powered, medium and heavy, strategic bombers•Discusses the continued growth of tactical nuclear bombs and their supply programs 4) Explains the mechanism of Dial-a-Yield, used within the B61 and B83 bombs 5) Follows the evolution of liquid and strong gasoline ICBMs, which now type the core of the nuclear triad – based mostly in silos and on-board Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines 6) Describes the evolution of A number of Independently-targetable Reentry Automobiles (MIRVs) that allowed Moscow to be focused with 4 hundred thermonuclear warheads 7) Takes up the event of tactical nuclear missiles the place Quantity I left off 8) Describes the event of Enhanced Radiation or “neutron” weapons to attenuate casualties within the European Theater 9) Outlines how tactical nuclear missiles and nuclear artillery had been mixed to offer “Terrain Hearth”, wherein 1000’s of overlapping nuclear bursts to depths of fifty or 100 kilometers alongside an adversary’s border would annihilate its ahead forces leaving tens of millions of lifeless 10) Follows the event air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, together with the W61 warhead, which used gold to supply extraordinarily excessive depth radiation to be used within the vacuum of area 10) Discusses the B-21 Raider, GBSD ICBM, and the Columbia Class SSBN that type the brand new Nuclear Triad 11) Evaluations the Russian “doomsday” Poseidon torpedo and different new weapons and their implications for American deterrence 12) Considers the implications of the termination of The New START Treaty