Variable yield

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Variable yield, or dial-a-yield, is an option available on most modern nuclear weapons. It allows the operator to specify a weapon's yield, or explosive power, allowing a single design to be used in different situations. For example, the Mod-10 B61 bomb had selectable explosive yields of 0.3, 5, 10 or 80 kilotons, depending on how the ground crew set a dial inside the casing when it was loaded onto an aircraft.

Technology

Variable yield technology has existed since at least the late 1950s. Examples of variable yield weapons include the

WE177A
warheads.

Most modern nuclear weapons are

Teller–Ulam design type thermonuclear weapons, with a fission primary stage and a fusion
secondary stage which is collapsed by the energy from the primary. These offer at least three methods to vary yield:

All current

British nuclear warheads incorporate variable yield technology as standard.[2]

A dial-a-yield device is featured in the plot of the thriller novel Diablo Mesa.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ 4.1.8.2 External Neutron Initiators (ENIs), Nuclear Weapons FAQ, accessed 2009-06-17
  2. ^ Summary of UK Arsenal report
  3. ^ Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Diablo Mesa, Grand Central Publishing, February 15, 2022 [1]