Los Alamos National Laboratory
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The W78 Lives On
Joint Test Assembly flight tests evaluate the health of the Minuteman III and its aging warhead.
December 1, 2016
An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (Photo: U.S. Air Force)
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- Managing Editor
- Clay Dillingham
The key to a JTA is that it uses a mock nuclear warhead: surrogate materials have replaced all of the nuclear materials inside.
The W78 warhead, which was designed by Los Alamos and is one of the two types used to arm Minuteman III ICBMs, will turn 40 in 2019. One way to evaluate the health of the aging W78 is by Joint Test Assembly (JTA) flight tests.
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IN THIS ISSUE
- Welcome to this Issue of National Security Science
- Nevada National Security Site Celebrates 65 Years
- Nuclear Test Readiness
- Do Subcritical Experiments Help?
- Why the Nuclear Triad?
- Smells like Alert
- The Minuteman Takes Flight
- The W78 Lives On
- The Dragon is Alive
- Stratofortress Statistics: Anatomy of a B-52
- B61 Life Extension Program Advances
- Fixing Fukushima
- What is Muon Vision?
- Muon Vision for U.S. National Security
- Ask Me Anything
- Secret City App Now Available
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