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129-594: On 31 March 1956, the Skywarrior entered squadron service with the Navy. Initially used in the nuclear-armed strategic bomber role, the emergence of effective ballistic missiles led to this mission being deprioritized by the early 1960s. Throughout the majority of its later service life, the Skywarrior was tasked with various secondary missions which included use as an electronic warfare platform, tactical reconnaissance aircraft, and high-capacity aerial refueling tanker. It

258-513: A misnomer , as their energy comes from the nucleus of the atom, just as it does with fusion weapons. In fission weapons, a mass of fissile material ( enriched uranium or plutonium ) is forced into supercriticality —allowing an exponential growth of nuclear chain reactions —either by shooting one piece of sub-critical material into another (the "gun" method) or by compression of a sub-critical sphere or cylinder of fissile material using chemically fueled explosive lenses . The latter approach,

387-665: A policy of deliberate ambiguity , it does not acknowledge having them. Germany , Italy , Turkey , Belgium , the Netherlands , and Belarus are nuclear weapons sharing states. South Africa is the only country to have independently developed and then renounced and dismantled its nuclear weapons. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons aims to reduce the spread of nuclear weapons, but there are different views of its effectiveness. There are two basic types of nuclear weapons: those that derive

516-403: A US Air Force program decided to modify an A-3 for F-15 radar tests, and the only available airframe was stored at Naval Air Station Alameda since the fleet shutdown. Hughes added that aircraft to the bailment, and ferried the aircraft to Van Nuys for modifications. An entire nose section was removed from a stricken F-15B at AMARC at Davis-Monthan AFB , Arizona and grafted onto the front of

645-579: A carrier the size of the Essex class . The resulting calculations showed that the effect would be a reduction of air group size—the resulting ship would have an air group of 64, compared to 90–100 for the standard Essex -class fleet carriers. As it progressed, the design also became heavily influenced by the wartime experience of the Royal Navy 's armored carriers: As a result of study of damage sustained by various British carriers prior to our entry into

774-600: A combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb ), producing a nuclear explosion . Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter . The first test of a fission ("atomic") bomb released an amount of energy approximately equal to 20,000 tons of TNT (84  TJ ). The first thermonuclear ("hydrogen") bomb test released energy approximately equal to 10 million tons of TNT (42 PJ). Nuclear bombs have had yields between 10 tons TNT (the W54 ) and 50 megatons for

903-696: A conference—called for in the manifesto—in Pugwash, Nova Scotia , Eaton's birthplace. This conference was to be the first of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs , held in July 1957. By the 1960s, steps were taken to limit both the proliferation of nuclear weapons to other countries and the environmental effects of nuclear testing . The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) restricted all nuclear testing to underground nuclear testing , to prevent contamination from nuclear fallout, whereas

1032-556: A contract for the production of two flight-capable prototypes and a single static airframe to the company. Douglas sourced significant portions of the aircraft, including responsibility for the turbojet engines, radar , tail-mounted turret , electrical generators and various other secondary systems, from the Westinghouse Electric Corporation ; this heavy reliance on Westinghouse allegedly caused some discomfort to Douglas. In particular, development of

1161-421: A crew of three: pilot, bombardier/navigator (BN) and crewman/navigator (aka: third crewman). An unusual cockpit configuration was incorporated with the three crew sitting under a framed canopy. In the raised compartment, the pilot and bombardier/navigator sat in a side-by-side arrangement with the pilot's station on the port side having full flight controls. On initial variants, a third crew member, who also acted as

1290-458: A faster and less vulnerable attack, the development of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) has given some nations the ability to plausibly deliver missiles anywhere on the globe with a high likelihood of success. More advanced systems, such as multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), can launch multiple warheads at different targets from one missile, reducing

1419-614: A few nations possess such weapons or are suspected of seeking them. The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons—and acknowledge possessing them—are (chronologically by date of first test) the United States , the Soviet Union (succeeded as a nuclear power by Russia ), the United Kingdom , France , China , India , Pakistan , and North Korea . Israel is believed to possess nuclear weapons, though, in

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1548-555: A fission bomb to initiate them. Such a device might provide a simpler path to thermonuclear weapons than one that required the development of fission weapons first, and pure fusion weapons would create significantly less nuclear fallout than other thermonuclear weapons because they would not disperse fission products. In 1998, the United States Department of Energy divulged that the United States had, "...made

1677-469: A former A-3 bombardier/navigator himself, made the final decision to retire the type. Being the heaviest aircraft to take off from a carrier, the Skywarrior was prone to accidents. "Ultimately, of 283 Skywarriors of various models built, around 120 (42%) were destroyed or crippled in accidents and combat. In 67% of accidents, at least one crew member died." Of these losses, 7 were in Vietnam, of which 2 were

1806-421: A fusion weapon as of January 2016 , though this claim is disputed. Thermonuclear weapons are considered much more difficult to successfully design and execute than primitive fission weapons. Almost all of the nuclear weapons deployed today use the thermonuclear design because it results in an explosion hundreds of times stronger than that of a fission bomb of similar weight. Thermonuclear bombs work by using

1935-459: A gunner for the twin tail-mounted 20mm cannon that briefly equipped the original bomber version of the A3D/A-3A (removed and replaced by ECM equipment), sat behind the pilot in an aft-facing seat. The third crewman station had the sextant for celestial navigation and the defensive electronic counter measures equipment. Later electronic reconnaissance variants could accommodate a crew of seven with

2064-540: A hangar deck consisting of two courses of 40-pound STS between frames 36 and 192. Although none of the CVB Class carriers were completed in time to take part in war operations, the effectiveness of armored flight decks against Kamikaze attacks was demonstrated by various carriers attached to the British Pacific Fleet ... The concept went to finding a larger carrier that could support both deck armor and

2193-587: A manner that hampered landing operations. The follow-up Forrestal -class featured a deeper hull that had more freeboard and better seakeeping. In contrast with the earlier Lexington , Yorktown and Essex -classes, the beam (width) of the Midway -class carriers meant that they could not pass through the Panama Canal . Although they were intended to augment the US Pacific fleet during World War II,

2322-472: A nation's economic electronics-based infrastructure. Because the effect is most effectively produced by high altitude nuclear detonations (by military weapons delivered by air, though ground bursts also produce EMP effects over a localized area), it can produce damage to electronics over a wide, even continental, geographical area. Research has been done into the possibility of pure fusion bombs : nuclear weapons that consist of fusion reactions without requiring

2451-537: A new nuclear strategy, one that is distinct from that which gave relative stability during the Cold War. Since 1996, the United States has had a policy of allowing the targeting of its nuclear weapons at terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction . Robert Gallucci argues that although traditional deterrence is not an effective approach toward terrorist groups bent on causing a nuclear catastrophe, Gallucci believes that "the United States should instead consider

2580-425: A nuclear war between two nations would result in mutual annihilation. From this point of view, the significance of nuclear weapons is to deter war because any nuclear war would escalate out of mutual distrust and fear, resulting in mutually assured destruction . This threat of national, if not global, destruction has been a strong motivation for anti-nuclear weapons activism. Critics from the peace movement and within

2709-411: A nuclear weapon from another country by threatening nuclear retaliation is known as the strategy of nuclear deterrence . The goal in deterrence is to always maintain a second strike capability (the ability of a country to respond to a nuclear attack with one of its own) and potentially to strive for first strike status (the ability to destroy an enemy's nuclear forces before they could retaliate). During

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2838-465: A nuclear weapon is a gravity bomb dropped from aircraft ; this was the method used by the United States against Japan in 1945. This method places few restrictions on the size of the weapon. It does, however, limit attack range, response time to an impending attack, and the number of weapons that a country can field at the same time. With miniaturization, nuclear bombs can be delivered by both strategic bombers and tactical fighter-bombers . This method

2967-409: A nuclear weapon to its target is an important factor affecting both nuclear weapon design and nuclear strategy . The design, development, and maintenance of delivery systems are among the most expensive parts of a nuclear weapons program; they account, for example, for 57% of the financial resources spent by the United States on nuclear weapons projects since 1940. The simplest method for delivering

3096-433: A nuclear weapon with suitable materials (such as cobalt or gold ) creates a weapon known as a salted bomb . This device can produce exceptionally large quantities of long-lived radioactive contamination . It has been conjectured that such a device could serve as a "doomsday weapon" because such a large quantity of radioactivities with half-lives of decades, lifted into the stratosphere where winds would distribute it around

3225-421: A policy of expanded deterrence, which focuses not solely on the would-be nuclear terrorists but on those states that may deliberately transfer or inadvertently leak nuclear weapons and materials to them. By threatening retaliation against those states, the United States may be able to deter that which it cannot physically prevent.". Graham Allison makes a similar case, arguing that the key to expanded deterrence

3354-495: A provision for twelve 4,500  lbf (20  kN ) thrust JATO bottles. The aircraft had a largely conventional semi- monocoque fuselage, with the engines in underwing nacelles. Flight controls were hydraulic, and for storage below deck, the A-3's wings folded outboard of the engines, lying almost flat, and its vertical stabilizer was hinged to starboard. Capacious internal fuel tanks provided long range. The early A-3 variants had

3483-485: A requirement to develop a long-range, carrier-based attack plane that could deliver either a 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) bomb load or a nuclear weapon . The envisioned aircraft was intended to be operated from the planned United States -class " supercarriers ," which were significantly larger than the USN's existing carriers, thus the specification set a target loaded weight of 100,000 lb (45,000 kg). Additionally,

3612-447: A significant portion of their energy from fission reactions used to "trigger" fusion reactions, and fusion reactions can themselves trigger additional fission reactions. Only six countries—the United States , Russia , the United Kingdom , China , France , and India —have conducted thermonuclear weapon tests. Whether India has detonated a "true" multi-staged thermonuclear weapon is controversial. North Korea claims to have tested

3741-498: A similar mission. The EA-3B carried a crew of seven, with flight crew of three in the cockpit and an Electronic Warfare Officer and three electronic systems operators/evaluators in the converted weapons bay. It offered unique electronic reconnaissance capabilities in numerous Cold War-era conflicts and the Vietnam War. A handful of EA-3Bs remained in service long enough to participate in the first Gulf War in 1991 . The Skywarrior

3870-550: A substantial investment" in the past to develop pure fusion weapons, but that, "The U.S. does not have and is not developing a pure fusion weapon", and that, "No credible design for a pure fusion weapon resulted from the DOE investment". Nuclear isomers provide a possible pathway to fissionless fusion bombs. These are naturally occurring isotopes ( Hf being a prominent example) which exist in an elevated energy state. Mechanisms to release this energy as bursts of gamma radiation (as in

3999-460: A sufficiently large air group. The weight-savings needed to armor the flight deck were achieved by removing the planned cruiser-caliber battery of 8-inch (203 mm) guns and reducing the 5-inch antiaircraft battery from dual to single mounts. Unlike the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, for which the armored deck was part of the ship structure, the Midway class retained their "strength deck" at

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4128-420: Is a thermonuclear weapon that yields a relatively small explosion but a relatively large amount of neutron radiation . Such a weapon could, according to tacticians, be used to cause massive biological casualties while leaving inanimate infrastructure mostly intact and creating minimal fallout. Because high energy neutrons are capable of penetrating dense matter, such as tank armor, neutron warheads were procured in

4257-456: Is analogous to identifying a criminal by fingerprints. "The goal would be twofold: first, to deter leaders of nuclear states from selling weapons to terrorists by holding them accountable for any use of their weapons; second, to give leaders every incentive to tightly secure their nuclear weapons and materials." According to the Pentagon's June 2019 " Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations " of

4386-403: Is coming up with ways of tracing nuclear material to the country that forged the fissile material. "After a nuclear bomb detonates, nuclear forensics cops would collect debris samples and send them to a laboratory for radiological analysis. By identifying unique attributes of the fissile material, including its impurities and contaminants, one could trace the path back to its origin." The process

4515-481: Is for the purpose of achieving different yields for different situations , and in manipulating design elements to attempt to minimize weapon size, radiation hardness or requirements for special materials, especially fissile fuel or tritium. Some nuclear weapons are designed for special purposes; most of these are for non-strategic (decisively war-winning) purposes and are referred to as tactical nuclear weapons . The neutron bomb purportedly conceived by Sam Cohen

4644-503: Is no evidence that it is feasible beyond the military domain. However, the U.S. Air Force funded studies of the physics of antimatter in the Cold War , and began considering its possible use in weapons, not just as a trigger, but as the explosive itself. A fourth generation nuclear weapon design is related to, and relies upon, the same principle as antimatter-catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion . Most variation in nuclear weapon design

4773-409: Is not a fusion bomb. In the boosted bomb, the neutrons produced by the fusion reactions serve primarily to increase the efficiency of the fission bomb. There are two types of boosted fission bomb: internally boosted, in which a deuterium-tritium mixture is injected into the bomb core, and externally boosted, in which concentric shells of lithium-deuteride and depleted uranium are layered on the outside of

4902-490: Is not clear that this has ever been implemented, and their plausible use in nuclear weapons is a matter of dispute. The other basic type of nuclear weapon produces a large proportion of its energy in nuclear fusion reactions. Such fusion weapons are generally referred to as thermonuclear weapons or more colloquially as hydrogen bombs (abbreviated as H-bombs ), as they rely on fusion reactions between isotopes of hydrogen ( deuterium and tritium ). All such weapons derive

5031-454: Is the primary means of nuclear weapons delivery; the majority of U.S. nuclear warheads, for example, are free-fall gravity bombs, namely the B61 , which is being improved upon to this day. Preferable from a strategic point of view is a nuclear weapon mounted on a missile , which can use a ballistic trajectory to deliver the warhead over the horizon. Although even short-range missiles allow for

5160-585: The A3J Vigilante (later A-5A) in the nuclear heavy attack mission, followed by conversion to the RA-5C and transition to the reconnaissance attack mission. The Vigilante wing would also continue to retain a small number of TA-3B aircraft for training Naval Flight Officers in the Vigilante's radar and navigation systems. The Skywarrior's strategic bombing role faded after 1964, briefly being complemented by

5289-684: The F3D Skyknight . Aircrews began joking morbidly that "A3D" stood for "All Three Dead". (In 1973, the widow of a Skywarrior crewman killed over Vietnam sued the McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company for not providing ejection seats in the A-3.) In contrast, the US Air Force's B-66 Destroyer, not subject to the weight requirements for carrier operations, was equipped with ejection seats throughout its service life. The documented history of mechanical failures in

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5418-695: The Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test in 1962, an unexpected effect was produced which is called a nuclear electromagnetic pulse . This is an intense flash of electromagnetic energy produced by a rain of high-energy electrons which in turn are produced by a nuclear bomb's gamma rays. This flash of energy can permanently destroy or disrupt electronic equipment if insufficiently shielded. It has been proposed to use this effect to disable an enemy's military and civilian infrastructure as an adjunct to other nuclear or conventional military operations. By itself it could as well be useful to terrorists for crippling

5547-507: The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1968) attempted to place restrictions on the types of activities signatories could participate in, with the goal of allowing the transference of non-military nuclear technology to member countries without fear of proliferation. Midway-class aircraft carrier The Midway class was a class of three United States Navy aircraft carriers . The lead ship , USS  Midway ,

5676-554: The Tsar Bomba (see TNT equivalent ). A thermonuclear weapon weighing as little as 600 pounds (270 kg) can release energy equal to more than 1.2 megatonnes of TNT (5.0 PJ). A nuclear device no larger than a conventional bomb can devastate an entire city by blast, fire, and radiation . Since they are weapons of mass destruction , the proliferation of nuclear weapons is a focus of international relations policy. Nuclear weapons have been deployed twice in war , both by

5805-676: The Tsar Bomba of the USSR, which released an energy equivalent of over 50 megatons of TNT (210 PJ), was a three-stage weapon. Most thermonuclear weapons are considerably smaller than this, due to practical constraints from missile warhead space and weight requirements. In the early 1950s the Livermore Laboratory in the United States had plans for the testing of two massive bombs, Gnomon and Sundial , 1 gigaton of TNT and 10 gigatons of TNT respectively. Fusion reactions do not create fission products, and thus contribute far less to

5934-579: The Westinghouse J40 engine proved to be incapable of meeting development schedules or performance promises; Heinemann later commented that "the first thing we learned was that the J40 was not powerful enough". Even prior to the first flight being conducted, Douglas was considering switching to rival manufacturer Pratt & Whitney 's J57 engine, which was heavier, but allowed the overall aircraft to be lighter as it used less fuel. On 28 October 1952,

6063-424: The hafnium controversy ) have been proposed as possible triggers for conventional thermonuclear reactions. Antimatter , which consists of particles resembling ordinary matter particles in most of their properties but having opposite electric charge , has been considered as a trigger mechanism for nuclear weapons. A major obstacle is the difficulty of producing antimatter in large enough quantities, and there

6192-614: The head of government or head of state . Despite controls and regulations governing nuclear weapons, there is an inherent danger of "accidents, mistakes, false alarms, blackmail, theft, and sabotage". In the late 1940s, lack of mutual trust prevented the United States and the Soviet Union from making progress on arms control agreements. The Russell–Einstein Manifesto was issued in London on July 9, 1955, by Bertrand Russell in

6321-543: The strategic bombing mission. The USN had a growing awareness that it could operate in a broader role than had been previously possible, and that the strategic bomber fleet operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) was unable to reach large parts of the world, a lesser limitation to forward deployed USN aircraft carrier groups and their air wings. In January 1948, the Chief of Naval Operations issued

6450-436: The tropopause into the stratosphere , where the calm non-turbulent winds permit the debris to travel great distances from the burst, eventually settling and unpredictably contaminating areas far removed from the target of the explosion. There are other types of nuclear weapons as well. For example, a boosted fission weapon is a fission bomb that increases its explosive yield through a small number of fusion reactions, but it

6579-537: The "implosion" method, is more sophisticated and more efficient (smaller, less massive, and requiring less of the expensive fissile fuel) than the former. A major challenge in all nuclear weapon designs is to ensure that a significant fraction of the fuel is consumed before the weapon destroys itself. The amount of energy released by fission bombs can range from the equivalent of just under a ton to upwards of 500,000 tons (500 kilotons ) of TNT (4.2 to 2.1 × 10  GJ). All fission reactions generate fission products ,

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6708-522: The 1950s, Midway and Franklin D. Roosevelt underwent the SCB-110 modernization program (similar to SCB-125 for the Essex class), which added angled flight decks , steam catapults , mirror landing systems, and other modifications that allowed them to operate a new breed of large, heavy naval jets. Coral Sea had a variant modernization program called SCB-110A with an angled deck 3 degrees greater than

6837-480: The 1970s. During World War II , the United States Navy (USN) began to explore the concept of operating jet-powered aircraft from its aircraft carriers . Success encouraged further development of the concept; early in the post-war years, officials within the USN began to investigate the use of jet power as a potential means of operating larger carrier-based aircraft that would be capable of performing

6966-586: The 1980s (though not deployed in Europe) for use as tactical payloads for US Army artillery shells (200 mm W79 and 155 mm W82 ) and short range missile forces. Soviet authorities announced similar intentions for neutron warhead deployment in Europe; indeed, they claimed to have originally invented the neutron bomb, but their deployment on USSR tactical nuclear forces is unverifiable. A type of nuclear explosive most suitable for use by ground special forces

7095-575: The A3D/A-3 showed a rate well above average. Originally, the Skywarrior bombers were assigned to all attack carriers, which included the World War II-era Essex class and the immediate-postwar Midway class. The Skywarrior could carry up to 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) of weaponry in the fuselage bomb bay , which in later versions was used for sensor and camera equipment or additional fuel tanks. An AN/ASB-1A bomb-director system

7224-568: The A3J Vigilante. Soon afterward, the Navy abandoned the concept of carrier-based strategic nuclear weaponry for the successful Polaris missile-equipped Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine program and all A-5As were converted to the RA-5C Vigilante reconnaissance variant. Many A-3Bs were converted to a combination tanker-electronic warfare aircraft. Skywarriors saw some use in the conventional bombing and mine-laying role (A-3B) during

7353-425: The Cold War, policy and military theorists considered the sorts of policies that might prevent a nuclear attack, and they developed game theory models that could lead to stable deterrence conditions. Different forms of nuclear weapons delivery (see above) allow for different types of nuclear strategies. The goals of any strategy are generally to make it difficult for an enemy to launch a pre-emptive strike against

7482-494: The Joint Chiefs of Staffs website Publication, "Integration of nuclear weapons employment with conventional and special operations forces is essential to the success of any mission or operation." Because they are weapons of mass destruction, the proliferation and possible use of nuclear weapons are important issues in international relations and diplomacy. In most countries, the use of nuclear force can only be authorized by

7611-503: The Nuclear Age (1961) that mere possession of a nuclear arsenal was enough to ensure deterrence, and thus concluded that the spread of nuclear weapons could increase international stability . Some prominent neo-realist scholars, such as Kenneth Waltz and John Mearsheimer , have argued, along the lines of Gallois, that some forms of nuclear proliferation would decrease the likelihood of total war , especially in troubled regions of

7740-399: The Skywarrior was designated A3D (third Attack aircraft from Douglas Aircraft). In September 1962, the new Tri-Services designation system was implemented and the aircraft was redesignated A-3 . Where applicable, pre-1962 designations are listed first, post-1962 designations in parentheses. The U.S. Air Force ordered 294 examples of the derivative B-66 Destroyer, most of which were used in

7869-570: The Skywarrior would serve mostly as a tanker and electronic warfare support aircraft. Prior to the initial operational capability of the U.S. Navy's Polaris-armed Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines , the A-3 was the Navy's critical element in the U.S. nuclear deterrent. Squadrons were established in two Heavy Attack Wings (HATWINGs), with one wing initially established at Naval Air Station North Island , California before relocating to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island , Washington in December 1957 while

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7998-697: The Southeast Asia area. With 12 camera stations the RA-3B was well equipped to perform cartographic mapping of areas where no detail maps existed. With IR gear installed, the RA-3B was used at night to monitor the movement of troops down roads and trails in Laos. Other locations included Det Tango at Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base in Bangkok, Thailand, Det Southpaw at RAAF Base Townsville , Australia, as well as work out of Osan Air Base , South Korea. During

8127-602: The Thunderbird assets to the contract, prepping them for ferry at Deer Valley airport, and relocating them to Mojave, California and Tucson, Arizona for long-term storage. In December 1996, Raytheon bought the aerospace units of Hughes Aircraft Company. Hughes Aeronautical Operations, now a part of Raytheon Systems, continued to operate the A-3s from their base at Van Nuys Airport , California. These aircraft have participated in several military air shows, telling visitors that

8256-524: The US Navy decided to end logistic support for the civilian operated testbeds. Rather than abandon the A-3, Hughes, Westinghouse and Raytheon agreed to acquire the remaining A-3s and spares from the Navy, allowing their test fleets to continue to operate and saving the US Navy the cost of storage and disposal. As the plan matured, two other contractors, Thunderbird Aviation and CTAS also elected to participate in similar agreements, with eleven A-3s spread between

8385-713: The US Navy generally follows today. None of the class went on war cruises during the Korean War . As the three ships became essential to the Navy's strategic nuclear weapons role in Europe, they were mainly deployed to the Atlantic and Mediterranean . Until the availability of the Forrestal class, they were the premier commands sought by senior naval aviators. They were "admiral makers" for many of their commanding officers including future Chief of Naval Operations George Whelan Anderson Jr. and David L. McDonald . During

8514-664: The USAAF detonated a plutonium implosion-type fission bomb nicknamed " Fat Man " over the Japanese city of Nagasaki . These bombings caused injuries that resulted in the deaths of approximately 200,000 civilians and military personnel . The ethics of these bombings and their role in Japan's surrender are to this day, still subjects of debate . Since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , nuclear weapons have been detonated over 2,000 times for testing and demonstration. Only

8643-777: The USAF AIR-2 Genie , the AIM-26 Falcon and US Army Nike Hercules . Missile interceptors such as the Sprint and the Spartan also used small nuclear warheads (optimized to produce neutron or X-ray flux) but were for use against enemy strategic warheads. Other small, or tactical, nuclear weapons were deployed by naval forces for use primarily as antisubmarine weapons. These included nuclear depth bombs or nuclear armed torpedoes. Nuclear mines for use on land or at sea are also possibilities. The system used to deliver

8772-404: The USN sought for this bomber to possess greater speed and range than its existing North American AJ Savage fleet. A total of eight aircraft manufacturers produced responses to the specification, but all except Douglas Aircraft Company and Curtiss-Wright would drop out, declaring that there was no means that the requirements could be met within the 100,000 lb weight limitation. Uncertainty over

8901-462: The USN's existing carriers. Heinemann had reasoned (correctly) that as technology developed, the size and weight of nuclear weapons would substantially decrease, which increased the rationale for designing a more compact bomber. However, figures such as USAF general Hoyt Vandenberg ridiculed Heinemann's proposal as "making irresponsible claims". During this period, the USN and USAF were vigorous rivals, each seeking to maintain funding for its projects at

9030-527: The United States against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 during World War II . Nuclear weapons have only twice been used in warfare, both times by the United States against Japan at the end of World War II . On August 6, 1945, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) detonated a uranium gun-type fission bomb nicknamed " Little Boy " over the Japanese city of Hiroshima ; three days later, on August 9,

9159-526: The United States. Small, two-man portable tactical weapons (somewhat misleadingly referred to as suitcase bombs ), such as the Special Atomic Demolition Munition , have been developed, although the difficulty of combining sufficient yield with portability limits their military utility. Nuclear warfare strategy is a set of policies that deal with preventing or fighting a nuclear war. The policy of trying to prevent an attack by

9288-535: The Vietnam War from 1964 through 1967, often to deliver Mk84 2,000 pounds (910 kg) bombs. The A-3 found subsequent service in the tanker (KA-3B), photographic reconnaissance (RA-3B), electronic reconnaissance (EA-3B), and electronic warfare (ERA-3B, EKA-3B) roles. For most of the Vietnam War, EA-3Bs of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (VQ-1) flew from Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam, providing continuous electronic reconnaissance capability over

9417-549: The Vietnam War, the A-3 attack aircraft were modified to KA-3B tankers while some were modified into a multi-mission tanker variant, the EKA-3B, which was a real workhorse for the carrier air wing. Electronic jamming equipment was added without removing tanker capability so the EKA-3B could jam enemy radar while waiting to refuel tactical aircraft. Eventually, the EKA-3B was replaced by the smaller dedicated Grumman KA-6D Intruder tanker, which although it had less capacity and endurance,

9546-454: The aircraft. Racks and equipment were installed in the cabin, and the aircraft was used by Hughes and the USAF for F-15 software development. In 1994, Westinghouse decided to terminate their agreement with the Navy, and Thunderbird added their aircraft to the Thunderbird bailment. In 1996, Thunderbird Aviation went into receivership, and Hughes, through mutual cost savings to the government, added

9675-549: The area, including the Ho Chi Minh Trail and all the way north to Haiphong harbor. This was known as VQ-1 Det.B. The aircrew and ground support personnel were temporarily assigned from their home base at Naval Air Station Atsugi , Japan and after 1970, Naval Air Station Agana , Guam. After Det B was disestablished, VQ-1 provided detachments of two EA-3B aircraft that deployed with Western Pacific and Indian Ocean (WESTPAC/IO) bound aircraft carrier battle groups up until

9804-429: The bulges also resulted in a dangerously fast rolling period that prevented Midway from operating aircraft in heavy seas. The bulging was therefore not repeated on Coral Sea . The Reagan era reprieve could not last. In 1990, Coral Sea , which had long since earned the nickname "Ageless Warrior", was decommissioned. Midway had one last war in which to participate, and was one of the six aircraft carriers deployed by

9933-485: The chance of a successful missile defense . Today, missiles are most common among systems designed for delivery of nuclear weapons. Making a warhead small enough to fit onto a missile, though, can be difficult. Tactical weapons have involved the most variety of delivery types, including not only gravity bombs and missiles but also artillery shells, land mines , and nuclear depth charges and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare . An atomic mortar has been tested by

10062-452: The coordination of so many planes was beyond the effective command and control ability of one ship. However, their size did allow these ships to more easily accommodate the rapid growth in aircraft size and weight that took place in the early jet age. The forward flight deck was designed for launching 13-ton aircraft; and the aft flight deck was designed for landing 11-ton aircraft, assuming in-flight expenditure of fuel and ordnance. While

10191-435: The creation of nuclear fallout than fission reactions, but because all thermonuclear weapons contain at least one fission stage, and many high-yield thermonuclear devices have a final fission stage, thermonuclear weapons can generate at least as much nuclear fallout as fission-only weapons. Furthermore, high yield thermonuclear explosions (most dangerously ground bursts) have the force to lift radioactive debris upwards past

10320-455: The decision process. The prospect of mutually assured destruction might not deter an enemy who expects to die in the confrontation. Further, if the initial act is from a stateless terrorist instead of a sovereign nation, there might not be a nation or specific target to retaliate against. It has been argued, especially after the September 11, 2001, attacks , that this complication calls for

10449-469: The energy of a fission bomb to compress and heat fusion fuel. In the Teller-Ulam design , which accounts for all multi-megaton yield hydrogen bombs, this is accomplished by placing a fission bomb and fusion fuel ( tritium , deuterium , or lithium deuteride ) in proximity within a special, radiation-reflecting container. When the fission bomb is detonated, gamma rays and X-rays emitted first compress

10578-444: The expense of the other in a time marked by drastically declining defense budgets; specifically, USAF officials frequently voiced their open opposition to the construction of the United States -class carriers. In late 1948, both Douglas and Curtiss-Wright were awarded preliminary design contracts to further develop and refine their proposals. While Douglas managed to maintain the take-off weight at 68,000 lb, Curtiss were unable to meet

10707-455: The fission bomb core. The external method of boosting enabled the USSR to field the first partially thermonuclear weapons, but it is now obsolete because it demands a spherical bomb geometry, which was adequate during the 1950s arms race when bomber aircraft were the only available delivery vehicles. The detonation of any nuclear weapon is accompanied by a blast of neutron radiation . Surrounding

10836-501: The five operators. The fleet spares from ASO (Aviation Supply Office) were distributed between the contractors evenly, and warehouses were emptied all over the US. Due to misunderstandings and reorganizations within the US Navy, the worldwide ASO assets were scrapped, not getting to the contractors. In early 1993, CTAS decided that they no longer had use for their aircraft, and Hughes had several programs needing additional assets. In early 1994,

10965-468: The flight crew consisting of a pilot, co-pilot and navigator plus four electronic systems operators occupying stations in the former bomb bay in the spacious fuselage. Efforts to reduce weight to make the aircraft suitable for carrier operations had led to the deletion of ejection seats during the design process for the Skywarrior, based on the assumption that most flights would be at high altitude. A similar arrangement with an escape tunnel had been used on

11094-420: The fusion fuel, then heat it to thermonuclear temperatures. The ensuing fusion reaction creates enormous numbers of high-speed neutrons , which can then induce fission in materials not normally prone to it, such as depleted uranium . Each of these components is known as a "stage", with the fission bomb as the "primary" and the fusion capsule as the "secondary". In large, megaton-range hydrogen bombs, about half of

11223-535: The globe, would make all life on the planet extinct. In connection with the Strategic Defense Initiative , research into the nuclear pumped laser was conducted under the DOD program Project Excalibur but this did not result in a working weapon. The concept involves the tapping of the energy of an exploding nuclear bomb to power a single-shot laser that is directed at a distant target. During

11352-401: The hangar deck level and the armored flight deck was part of the superstructure . They would be the last USN carriers to be so designed; the immense size of the succeeding Forrestal -class supercarriers would require a new deep-hulled design carrying the strength deck at the flight deck level to produce a stronger and lighter hull. The heavily subdivided arrangement of the machinery spaces

11481-433: The hangar space. On the CVB Class the hangar was therefore divided into five compartments separated by 40 and 50-pound Special Treatment Steel (STS) division bulkheads extending from the hangar deck to the flight deck, each fitted with a large door suitable for handling aircraft. It is hoped that this sectionalization, in conjunction with sprinkler and fog foam systems, will effectively prevent fires from spreading throughout

11610-484: The hangar spaces, as occurred on USS  Franklin on 30 October and 19 March. The damage experiences of several British carriers, which unlike our own were fitted with armored flight decks, demonstrated the effectiveness of such armor in shielding hangar spaces from GP bombs and vital spaces below the hangar deck from semi- armor-piercing (SAP) bombs. Accordingly, the CVB Class was designed with an armored flight deck consisting of 3-1/2-inch STS from frames 46 to 175 with

11739-559: The late 1980s when it was replaced by the Lockheed ES-3A Shadow . In addition, a version of the A-3B was modified into the RA-3B and used in Vietnam as a photo reconnaissance aircraft. Heavy Photographic Squadron 61 (VAP-61) at Naval Air Station Agana, Guam and sister squadron VAP-62 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida furnished crews and flew out of Da Nang AB performing mapping and intelligence gathering flight over

11868-432: The lead ship of the class, Midway , was not commissioned until 10 September 1945, eight days after the surrender of Japan . While Midway and Coral Sea followed the US Navy's policy of naming aircraft carriers after battles (two Casablanca -class escort carriers gave up their names for the larger ships), USS Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated the policy of naming aircraft carriers after former US Presidents that

11997-496: The majority of their energy from nuclear fission reactions alone, and those that use fission reactions to begin nuclear fusion reactions that produce a large amount of the total energy output. All existing nuclear weapons derive some of their explosive energy from nuclear fission reactions. Weapons whose explosive output is exclusively from fission reactions are commonly referred to as atomic bombs or atom bombs (abbreviated as A-bombs ). This has long been noted as something of

12126-407: The midst of the Cold War. It highlighted the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and called for world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to international conflict. The signatories included eleven pre-eminent intellectuals and scientists, including Albert Einstein , who signed it just days before his death on April 18, 1955. A few days after the release, philanthropist Cyrus S. Eaton offered to sponsor

12255-545: The military establishment have questioned the usefulness of such weapons in the current military climate. According to an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in 1996, the use of (or threat of use of) such weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict, but the court did not reach an opinion as to whether or not the threat or use would be lawful in specific extreme circumstances such as if

12384-408: The missiles before they land or implementing civil defense measures using early-warning systems to evacuate citizens to safe areas before an attack. Weapons designed to threaten large populations or to deter attacks are known as strategic weapons . Nuclear weapons for use on a battlefield in military situations are called tactical weapons . Critics of nuclear war strategy often suggest that

12513-430: The more generous 100,000 lb target during this phase, and thus were eliminated from consideration. During April 1949, the USN's critics succeeded in getting the United States -class carriers cancelled; this outcome validated Heinemann's decision to focus on a design that could operate from the navy's smaller Midway -class aircraft carriers . During July 1949, the USN, recognizing the suitability of Douglas' design, awarded

12642-519: The new Grumman F-14 Tomcat fleet defense fighter or the S-3 Viking anti-submarine jet. In 1977, Franklin D. Roosevelt was decommissioned. On her final deployment, Roosevelt embarked AV-8 Harrier jump jets to test the concept of including VSTOL aircraft in a carrier air wing. Coral Sea was rescued from imminent decommissioning by the election of Ronald Reagan as president of the United States in 1980. Reagan's proposed 600-ship Navy gave

12771-528: The nuclear mission of the Skywarrior would be passed onto ballistic missiles ; however, its high weight clearance and size meant that the aircraft would be useful in various other capacities. Accordingly, large numbers of Skywarriors were retrofitted as aerial refuelling tankers or as electronic warfare platforms; notably, the EKA-3B model could readily swing between performing strike, refuelling, and electronic warfare duties as required. Numerous other models of

12900-492: The original J40 engines, had delayed the introduction of the Skywarrior until 31 March 1956. The A-3 was, by far, the largest and heaviest aircraft ever designed for routine use on an aircraft carrier, though ironically it was the smallest proposal among other proposals that could only be deployed on even larger carriers not yet in service. As had been predicted by Heinemann early on, the Skywarrior had been designed to carry larger and bulkier bombs than it ever would in service due to

13029-630: The other two. All three of the Midway class made combat deployments in the Vietnam War . Coral Sea deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin six times, Midway deployed on three occasions, and Franklin D. Roosevelt made one combat deployment before returning to the Mediterranean. In the late 1960s, Midway underwent an extensive modernization and reconstruction program under SCB 101.66, which proved to be controversial and expensive and thus

13158-421: The other wing was initially established at Naval Air Station Jacksonville , Florida before relocating to Naval Air Station Sanford , Florida. The wing at NAS Whidbey Island would disestablish in 1959 but the squadrons which had made up the wing would later transition to the EKA-3B variant, eventually forming the nucleus for the Navy's Grumman EA-6B Prowler community, while the wing at NAS Sanford would convert to

13287-458: The performance and requirements of both engines and bombs were major contributing factors towards this climate of negativity. Ed Heinemann , Douglas' chief designer, later to win fame for the A-4 Skyhawk , fearing that the United States class was vulnerable to cancellation, proposed a significantly smaller aircraft of 68,000 lb (31,000 kg) loaded weight, capable of operating from

13416-489: The plane continued to be valuable for its load capacity compared to corporate jets, and its performance compared to small airliners. On 30 June 2011, the last flyable EA-3B, BuNo 144865 / FAA registration N875RS, a Raytheon aircraft, arrived at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida for retirement and display at the National Naval Aviation Museum . Note: under the original Navy designation scheme,

13545-504: The prototype XA3D-1 performed the type's maiden flight ; flown by George Jansen , this initial test flight was carried out with a high degree of secrecy. Early on, the aircraft was found to handle particularly well in flight, in part due to the attention Heinemann and the design team had paid to the hydraulically -boosted control surfaces. On 16 October 1953, the first YA3D-1 , powered by the rival J57 engine, made its first flight. Considerable development problems, largely associated with

13674-420: The rapid improvements made in weapons technology. Despite this, at the Navy's insistence, the aircraft was qualified for an 'overload' payload capacity of 84,000 lb (38,000 kg), the testing of which would establish a weight-related record for carrier operations. Because of its cumbersome size, and less-than-slender profile, it was nicknamed "The Whale". By the end of the 1950s, it was becoming clear that

13803-500: The reconnaissance and electronic warfare roles. The Destroyer was fitted with ejection seats. Data from McDonnell Douglas aircraft since 1920 : Volume I General characteristics Performance Armament Avionics Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions , either fission (fission bomb) or

13932-508: The remaining ships a new lease on life. Coral Sea underwent extensive refits to address the ship's poor condition. When the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet became operational in the mid-1980s, the Navy quickly deployed them to the Midway and Coral Sea to replace the older F-4s. A 1986 refit for Midway removed her 6" armor belt and bulged her hull to try to increase freeboard. While successful in this regard,

14061-428: The remains of the split atomic nuclei. Many fission products are either highly radioactive (but short-lived) or moderately radioactive (but long-lived), and as such, they are a serious form of radioactive contamination . Fission products are the principal radioactive component of nuclear fallout . Another source of radioactivity is the burst of free neutrons produced by the weapon. When they collide with other nuclei in

14190-497: The result of combat. The A-3 had been used as a civilian operated testbed for many years before the type's retirement from US Navy, with Hughes Aircraft Company using the type as a testbed for developing the weapons system for the General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B and Grumman F-14 Tomcat , with Westinghouse and Raytheon also using the A-3 as a testbed. On the retirement of the type from US Navy service in 1991,

14319-466: The resulting ships featured excellent protection and unprecedented airwing size, they also had several undesirable characteristics. Internally, the ships were very cramped and crowded. Freeboard was unusually low for such large carriers; in heavy seas, they shipped large amounts of water (only partially mitigated by the fitting of a hurricane bow during the SCB-110/110A upgrades) and corkscrewed in

14448-402: The surrounding material, the neutrons transmute those nuclei into other isotopes, altering their stability and making them radioactive. The most commonly used fissile materials for nuclear weapons applications have been uranium-235 and plutonium-239 . Less commonly used has been uranium-233 . Neptunium-237 and some isotopes of americium may be usable for nuclear explosives as well, but it

14577-498: The survival of the state were at stake. Another deterrence position is that nuclear proliferation can be desirable. In this case, it is argued that, unlike conventional weapons, nuclear weapons deter all-out war between states, and they succeeded in doing this during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union . In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Gen. Pierre Marie Gallois of France, an adviser to Charles de Gaulle , argued in books like The Balance of Terror: Strategy for

14706-427: The type were developed, leading to the type being used for aerial reconnaissance and as a trainer aircraft as well. Production of the type ceased in 1961. The Skywarrior had a 36° degree swept wing and two Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines. Early prototypes had used the intended Westinghouse J40, a powerplant that proved to be disastrous and was subsequently canceled. The turbojets could be supplemented by

14835-470: The war, two important departures from traditional U.S. Navy carrier design were incorporated in the CVB Class, then still under development. HMS  Illustrious in an action off Malta on 1 January 1941 was hit by several bombs, three of which detonated in the hangar space. Large fires swept fore and aft among parked planes thereby demonstrating the desirability of attempting to confine the limits of such explosions and fires by structural sectionalization of

14964-446: The weapon system and difficult to defend against the delivery of the weapon during a potential conflict. This can mean keeping weapon locations hidden, such as deploying them on submarines or land mobile transporter erector launchers whose locations are difficult to track, or it can mean protecting weapons by burying them in hardened missile silo bunkers. Other components of nuclear strategies included using missile defenses to destroy

15093-407: The weight by about 10 percent of what would have been required for riveted structural assembly. The resulting Midway -class carriers were very large, with the ability to accommodate more planes than any other carrier in the U.S. fleet (30–40 more aircraft than the Essex class). In their original configuration, the Midway -class ships had an airwing of up to 130 aircraft. It was soon realized that

15222-631: The world where there exists a single nuclear-weapon state. Aside from the public opinion that opposes proliferation in any form, there are two schools of thought on the matter: those, like Mearsheimer, who favored selective proliferation, and Waltz, who was somewhat more non- interventionist . Interest in proliferation and the stability-instability paradox that it generates continues to this day, with ongoing debate about indigenous Japanese and South Korean nuclear deterrent against North Korea . The threat of potentially suicidal terrorists possessing nuclear weapons (a form of nuclear terrorism ) complicates

15351-624: The yield comes from the final fissioning of depleted uranium. Virtually all thermonuclear weapons deployed today use the "two-stage" design described to the right, but it is possible to add additional fusion stages—each stage igniting a larger amount of fusion fuel in the next stage. This technique can be used to construct thermonuclear weapons of arbitrarily large yield. This is in contrast to fission bombs, which are limited in their explosive power due to criticality danger (premature nuclear chain reaction caused by too-large amounts of pre-assembled fissile fuel). The largest nuclear weapon ever detonated,

15480-579: Was commissioned in September 1945 and decommissioned in 1992. USS  Franklin D. Roosevelt was commissioned in October 1945, and taken out of service in 1977. USS  Coral Sea was commissioned in April 1947, and decommissioned in 1990. The CVB-41 -class vessels (then unnamed) were originally conceived in 1940 as a design study to determine the effect of including an armored flight deck on

15609-427: Was among the longest serving carrier-based aircraft in history, having entered service during the mid-1950s and withdrawn from use in 1991. Throughout its service, the Skywarrior was the heaviest operational aircraft to operate from an aircraft carrier , which contributed to its nickname of " Whale ". The Skywarrior is one of only three U.S. Navy attack aircraft to enter service in the strategic bomber role. The first

15738-502: Was based on that of the Montana -class battleship , while the two inner propeller shafts were partially enclosed in skegs, similar to contemporary battleship construction. While the Essex -class carriers had eight main engineering compartments, the Midway -class had 26, including twelve boiler rooms well off the centerline and four widely separated engine rooms. More extensive use of electric arc-welding than in previous warships reduced

15867-413: Was deployed in greater numbers within the carrier's air wing. Two additional Naval Reserve units were established in the early 1970s as air refueling squadrons, VAQ-208 and VAQ-308 , at Naval Air Station Alameda , California. Both units operated aircraft with electronic warfare equipment removed and were redesignated as KA-3Bs. VAK-208 and VAK-308 were decommissioned in the early 1990s. The EA-3 variant

15996-405: Was initially installed, later replaced by a revised AN/ASB-7 with a slightly reshaped nose. Defensive armament was two 20mm cannons in a radar -operated tail turret designed by Westinghouse, soon removed in favor of electronic countermeasure equipment. Although some bombing missions would be carried out early in the Vietnam War , most bombing would be carried out by more manoeuvrable aircraft, and

16125-635: Was its predecessor, the North American AJ Savage . Its successor, the supersonic North American A-5 Vigilante initially supplanted the A-3 in the strategic bomber role (1961-1963) but was then converted to the tactical strike reconnaissance role. A modified derivative of the Skywarrior, the B-66 Destroyer , served in the United States Air Force , where it was operated as a tactical bomber, electronic warfare aircraft, and aerial reconnaissance platform up until its withdrawal during

16254-509: Was not repeated on the other ships. While $ 82 million had been budgeted for the modernization, the actual cost was $ 202 million, in comparison to $ 277 million for simultaneous construction of the brand-new USS  John F. Kennedy . By the 1970s, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Coral Sea were showing their age. All three retained the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in their air wings, being too small to operate

16383-744: Was the Special Atomic Demolition Munition , or SADM, sometimes popularly known as a suitcase nuke . This is a nuclear bomb that is man-portable, or at least truck-portable, and though of a relatively small yield (one or two kilotons) is sufficient to destroy important tactical targets such as bridges, dams, tunnels, important military or commercial installations, etc. either behind enemy lines or pre-emptively on friendly territory soon to be overtaken by invading enemy forces. These weapons require plutonium fuel and are particularly "dirty". They also demand especially stringent security precautions in their storage and deployment. Small "tactical" nuclear weapons were deployed for use as antiaircraft weapons. Examples include

16512-466: Was used in critical electronic intelligence (ELINT) roles operating from aircraft carrier decks and ashore supplementing the larger Lockheed EP-3 . Its last service was as an ELINT platform during Desert Storm. The EA-3B variant was modified for electronic intelligence against the Warsaw Pact . Missions were flown around the globe beginning in 1956, with the U.S. Air Force EB-47 Stratojet flying

16641-442: Was withdrawn from USN service during September 1991, the last examples of the type being retired on 27 September 1991. U.S. Navy RDT&E units, notably Naval Air Systems Command ( NAVAIR ) activities at Naval Air Station Point Mugu and NAWS China Lake , attempted to retain their A-3 testbeds. These ambitions were ultimately unsuccessful when Vice Admiral Richard Dunleavy , as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air Warfare and

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