The Tsetse was a small American
nuclear bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
developed in the 1950s that was used as the
primary in several US
thermonuclear bomb
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
s and as a small stand-alone weapon of its own.
The Tsetse had a boosted composite core which used 2.25 kg Pu-239, 1.4kg U-235 and 6g tritium. The nominal yield was 10
kilotons
TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a m ...
. The design was shared with the UK where the anglicised version was known as Tony. The difference between Tsetse and Tony was in the high explosives used. The UK considered the
PBX 9404 too shock sensitive and replaced it by EDC-11. This reduced the nominal yield to 8.5 kilotons.
The Tsetse primary was used in the US
B43 nuclear bomb
The B43 was a United States air-dropped variable yield thermonuclear weapon used by a wide variety of fighter bomber and bomber aircraft.
The B43 was developed from 1956 by Los Alamos National Laboratory, entering production in 1959. It entered ...
,
W44 nuclear warhead,
W50 nuclear warhead,
B57 nuclear bomb
The B57 nuclear bomb was a tactical nuclear weapon developed by the United States during the Cold War.
Entering production in 1963 as the Mk 57, the bomb was designed to be dropped from high-speed tactical aircraft. It had a streamlined casing ...
, and
W59 nuclear warhead, according to researcher Chuck Hansen.
After deployment of the B43 two problems were identified in the primary. In 1961 Los Alamos scientists concluded that the primary was not
one point safe under all conditions. A long series of tests was needed to develop a safe version. The second problem was related to tritium aging. To investigate a lifetime extension of the B43 an aged B43 was fired. The test resulted in half the yield. This was quite a shock as it affected not only the B43 but all similar weapons. The solution was to more frequently replenish the tritium supply.
This problem was apparently shared by the
Python primary
According to researcher Chuck Hansen, the W34 Python was a gas-boosted fission primary used in several designs of American thermonuclear weapons.
Hansen's research indicates that the W34 Python primary was used in the US B28 nuclear bomb, W28, ...
designs.
Characteristics of these weapons are:
Based on this information it can be assumed that the Tsetse design itself corresponds to the size of the W44 warhead, diameter and long, with a weight of around .
See also
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List of nuclear weapons
This is a list of nuclear weapons listed according to country of origin, and then by type within the states.
United States
US nuclear weapons of all types – bombs, warheads, shells, and others – are numbered in the same sequence starting wi ...
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Teller-Ulam design
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
*
Python primary
According to researcher Chuck Hansen, the W34 Python was a gas-boosted fission primary used in several designs of American thermonuclear weapons.
Hansen's research indicates that the W34 Python primary was used in the US B28 nuclear bomb, W28, ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
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{{United States nuclear devices
Nuclear bombs of the United States