W54

It was a compact implosion device containing plutonium-239 as its fissile material,[1] and in its various versions and mods it had a yield of 10 to 1,000 tons of TNT (42 to 4,184 gigajoules).

This was because it was felt that the higher acceleration experienced by the warhead in Davy Crockett service would make certification of parts more challenging.

[2] It was hoped during development that the same warhead for both applications could be used, but the requirements for the environmental sensing device - used to detect if the weapon was in its correct military environment and in turn disable weapon safing devices - for each application was quite different.

[2] Sandia reported the problem in May 1959, stating that if Falcon warheads had the greater priority, an interim environmental sensing device could be developed.

The Air Force subsequently accelerated the availability date for the Falcon missile and Sandia design released the warhead without an environmental sensing device in October 1959.

However, revisions were issued in December before warhead production began with a suitable environmental sensing device for Falcon use.

[2] A single environmental sensing device for both systems was abandoned at this time and development on the XW-54-X1 and XW-54-X2 for Davy Crockett use began.

Sandia were against the development of the XW-54-X2 as simply disconnecting the adaptation kit would disable the weapon's safeties.

[2] The Department of Defense cancelled the requirement for the XW-54-X2 (now called the Mk 54 Mod 1) in July 1960 after parts manufacturing slippage delayed production of the warhead.

[2] The proposal noted that the existing atomic demolition munition (ADM), the T-4 Atomic Demolition Munition, was based on the Mark 9 gun-type artillery shell and that transport required four men, each carrying a 40-pound (18 kg) section of the weapon.

The weapon would also have a waterproof housing, have a pack for carrying in the field and a shock-mitigating container for parachute delivery.

The weapon was 12 inches (305 mm) diameter, 18 inches (457 mm) long and weighed 58.5 pounds (26.5 kg), and included the warhead, fuzing and firing system with a mechanical timer, ferroelectric firing set and a sealed housing.

The body was constructed with aluminium forgings and moulded fibreglass, and foam-rubber insulation was used between the warhead and case.

[2] Official documents give the yield as 20 tonnes of TNT (84 GJ) when configured in the XM388 round for the Davy Crockett.

[10] After the AIM-26 Falcon was retired, 300 units were rebuilt into an improved configuration with a higher yield and redesignated the W72.

These warheads were then used to produce a number of nuclear versions of the AGM-62 Walleye television-guided glide bomb system.