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The W9 was an American
Allbombs.html list of all US nuclear weapons models at nuclearweaponarchive.org
{{United States nuclear devices W09 W09 Nuclear artillery Military equipment introduced in the 1950s
The W9 was an American nuclear artillery
Nuclear artillery is a subset of limited- yield tactical nuclear weapons, in particular those weapons that are launched from the ground at battlefield targets. Nuclear artillery is commonly associated with shells delivered by a cannon, but in ...
shell fired from a special howitzer. It was produced starting in 1952 and all were retired by 1957, being superseded by the W19.
Description
The W9 was in diameter, long, and weighed . It had an explosive yield of . The W9 was a gun-type nuclear weapon, using around ofhighly enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...
in one large rings assembly and one smaller ''bullet'', which was fired down a tube by conventional explosives into the rings assembly to achieve critical mass
In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fi ...
and detonate the weapon.
The W9 units which were retired in 1957 were recycled into lower yield T-4 Atomic Demolition Munition
The T4 Atomic Demolition Munition (ADM) was a nuclear weapon derived from the American W9 nuclear artillery shell.
History
The T4 was produced in 1957 from recycled W9 fissile components and was in service until 1963, when it was replaced with W ...
s. These were the first (semi) man-portable nuclear weapons.
Tests
The W9 is only the second gun-type nuclear weapon known to have been detonated; the first was theLittle Boy
"Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...
nuclear weapon used in World War II.
The W9 artillery shell was test fired once, fired from the "Atomic Annie" M65 Atomic Cannon, in ''Upshot-Knothole Grable
Upshot–Knothole ''Grable'' was a nuclear weapons test conducted by the United States as part of Operation Upshot–Knothole. Detonation of the associated nuclear weapon occurred 19 seconds after its deployment at 8:30am PDT (1530 UTC) on May ...
'' on May 25, 1953 at the NTS. Yield was the expected 15 kilotons.
Subsequently, the W33 nuclear artillery shell was test fired twice (not in a gun) during its development (shots Nougat
Nougat ( , ; ; az, nuqa; fa, نوقا) is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are common), whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. ...
/Aardvark and Plumbbob/Laplace). These four detonations are the only identified gun-type bomb detonations.
See also
*Nuclear artillery
Nuclear artillery is a subset of limited- yield tactical nuclear weapons, in particular those weapons that are launched from the ground at battlefield targets. Nuclear artillery is commonly associated with shells delivered by a cannon, but in ...
* 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 ...
External links
Allbombs.html list of all US nuclear weapons models at nuclearweaponarchive.org
{{United States nuclear devices W09 W09 Nuclear artillery Military equipment introduced in the 1950s