thumb|The W54 nuclear warhead was used in the man-portable [[Davy Crockett (nuclear device)|M-388 Davy Crockett projectile. The unusually small size of the warhead is apparent.]]

thumb|The SADM (B54) demolition charge version of the W54 in its carry bag

thumb|SADM hard carrying case

thumb|A [[United States Army Special Forces|U.S. Army Special Forces paratrooper with the Green Light Teams conducts a high-altitude low-opening military freefall jump with a MK54.]]

The W54 (also known as the Mark 54 or B54) was a tactical nuclear warhead developed by the United States in the late 1950s. The weapon is the smallest nuclear weapon in both weight and yield to have entered US service. It was a compact implosion device containing plutonium-239 as its fissile material, The weapon was initially developed by the University of California Radiation Laboratory at Livermore under the XW-51 designation, but in January 1959 the development of the weapon was transferred to Los Alamos National Laboratory and redesignated the XW-54. which descended from the Gnat device. Scarab was also used as a primary stage in the thermonuclear weapon test Dominic Nambe.

Warhead

Configured in the Davy Crockett role, the weapon contained two sets of fuzes: a radar based fuze set for a airburst and a capacitance based fuze set for airburst. These fuzes represented the high and low airburst modes of the weapon. The device contained of high explosives.

Some sources give the yield for the Mod 0 as and the Mod 2 as , Though never put into production, Wee Gwen was to contain of plutonium and uranium.

Special Atomic Demolition Munition

Yield is estimated to be .

The B54 SADM included a Field Wire Remote Control System (FWRCS), a device that enabled the sending of safe/arm and firing signals to the weapon via a wire for safe remote detonation of the weapon by troops. This system was tested for its resistance to electromagnetic radiation in February 1964.

Variants

W54 mod numbers overlap between the warhead and SADM weapon. Weapons of the same mod number but in different applications are not the same weapons.

W72 warhead <span class="anchor" id="W72"></span>

After the AIM-26 Falcon was retired, 300 units were rebuilt into an improved configuration with a higher yield and redesignated the W72. These warheads were then used to produce a number of nuclear versions of the AGM-62 Walleye television-guided glide bomb system. The W72 variant had a yield of around 600 tons of TNT. The 300 W72 units were produced between 1970 and 1972 and were in service until 1979.

See also

  • List of nuclear weapons

References

  • List of all US Nuclear Weapons at Nuclear Weapon Archive
  • W54 at GlobalSecurity.org