A TECHNICAL HISTORY OF AMERICA'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS: VOLUME II - WEAPON SYSTEMS FROM 1960 TO THE PRESENT
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A TECHNICAL HISTORY OF AMERICA'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS: VOLUME II - WEAPON SYSTEMS FROM 1960 TO THE PRESENT
Nuclear publications prior to the e-book, A Technical History of America’s Nuclear Weapons – Their Design, Operation, Deployment, and Delivery, have concentrated mostly on specific topics such as weapon physics, testing, warheads, delivery systems, deployments, or doctrine. A Technical History of America’s Nuclear Weapons was intended to provide “one stop shopping†with a broad treatment of the subject. In providing a wide scope, some depth was sacrificed in order to produce a volume of manageable size. In republishing the e-book as a paperback, it was necessary to divide it into two volumes due to limitations of the printing process. While unfortunate that the book had to be published in two volumes, it allowed the author to lavishly illustrate each chapter of the book.A Technical History of America’s Nuclear Weapons: Volume II –Weapon Systems From 1960 to the Present takes up where Volume I ends. Volume II is written in the same straightforward, easy to understand, manner as Volume I. American nuclear weapons and delivery systems are presented in a rough chronological order with some weapons treated individually and others in functional or family groupings. Like Volume I, Volume II combines development histories with engineering descriptions to illustrate the performance characteristics of each weapon described and the design challenges that faced their developers. Basic data about weapon operation, delivery systems, and deployments are also included. Volume II:•Has about 500 technical references, grouped into related categories•Uses official Military Characteristic (parts) Numbers for components where available, a very useful tool for internet searches•Discusses second generation multi-megaton hydrogen bombs including the three-stage, 25-megaton MK 41, America’s most powerful weapon •Outlines the evolution of jet-powered, medium and heavy, strategic nuclear bombers•Discusses the continued development of tactical nuclear bombs and their delivery systems•Explains the mechanism of Dial-a-Yield, used in the B61 and B83 bombs,•Follows the evolution of liquid and solid fuel ICBMs, which now form the core of the nuclear triad – based in silos and on-board Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines (FBMSs).•Describes the evolution of Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs) that allowed Moscow to be targeted with four hundred thermonuclear warheads•Takes up the development of tactical nuclear missiles where Volume I left off•Describes the development of Enhanced Radiation or “neutron†weapons to minimize casualties in the European Theater•Outlines how tactical nuclear missiles and nuclear artillery were combined to provide “Terrain Fireâ€, in which thousands of overlapping nuclear bursts to depths of 50 or 100 kilometers along an adversary’s border would annihilate its forward forces leaving millions of dead•Follows the development air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, including the specially tailored W61 waread, which used gold to produce extremely high intensity radiation for use in space
