This article was first published in the September 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online
Here's a bombshell for you: stockpiled US nuclear missiles are making their return. This unarmed bomb was fired from a cannon-like Davis gun into a pool of water in a test carried out in New Mexico earlier this year. Conducted by Sandia National Laboratories, a research centre working for the US Department of Energy, the test is part of the US Nuclear Life Extension Program, where Sandia develops, tests and upgrades the structure of existing weapons so there will be no need to build new ones.
The blast pictured on this page is the first in a series of three experiments to test the B61-12, a new type of nuke that will consolidate and replace four models of missiles currently in the US stockpile. Sandia engineers wanted to test how the B61-12's nose would respond when hitting a soft target -- in this case, a pool containing 5,000 litres of water. "The nose assembly is mechanically identical to the real thing," explains the experiment's lead engineer, Tyler Keil. "This is attached to an impact body that mimics the mass properties of the rest of the B61 assembly to make the test as realistic as possible."
The pool was fitted with viewports to allow cameras to capture the bomb's behaviour underwater so Keil can reassess its design before the next launch. We expect it to make another big splash.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
