Lab Completes Flight, Drop Tests on W88 Nuclear Warhead
NS&D Monitor
10/31/2014
Sandia National Laboratories has successfully completed flight and drop tests for a new variation of the W88 nuclear warhead, the lab said this week. The flight and drop tests for the W88 ALT 370 were conducted to validate designs, improve computer modeling and update component specifications, the lab said. The Critical Radar Arming and Fuzing Test (CRAFT) was conducted on the prototype radar for the warhead, assessing how it performs as it speeds through plasma generated by the hypersonic speeds the warhead reaches during reentry.
The warhead was launched from a Navy submarine on a Trident II missile in June. A month later, Sandia officials conducted a drop test of a W88 ALT 370 warhead to imitate a drop involving a crane accident. An unarmed reentry body was dropped onto concrete at the lab’s 185-foot Drop Tower Facility to mimic an unexpected accident. The lab will use vibration and shock measurements from the test to update component specifications and validate computer models that simulate other drop scenarios. The W88 hadn’t had an abnormal drop-test since it was originally qualified in 1987. “The weapon is not required to function after that, just to stay safe,” Tim Edwards, the manager for the program’s technical basis and qualification activities, said in a statement.
