W33 (nuclear warhead)

W33
W33
	A 203 millimetre W33 nuclear artillery shell on display
Type	Nuclear artillery
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1955–1992
Used by	United States Army
Specifications
Mass	243 pounds (110 kg)
Blast yield	5 to 10 kilotonnes of TNT (21 to 42 TJ)

The W33 (also known as the Mark 33, T317 and M422^[1]) was an American nuclear artillery shell designed for use in the 8-inch (203 mm) M110 howitzer and M115 howitzer.

A total of 2,000 W33 projectiles were produced, with the first production warheads entering the stockpile in 1957. The W33 remained in service until 1992. The warhead used enriched uranium (code named oralloy) as its nuclear fissile material and could be used in two different yield configurations. This required the assembly and insertion of different pits, with the amount of fissile materials used controlling whether the destructive yield was low or high. The highest-yield version of the W33 may have been a boosted fission weapon.^[2]^[3]

^ Thomas B Cochran; William M Arkin; Milton M Hoenig (1984). Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume I: US Nuclear Forces and Capabilities (PDF) (Report). Natural Resources Defense Council. p. 47. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
^ "US Nuclear Stockpile" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2012-03-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons".

[NRDC-1] Thomas B Cochran; William M Arkin; Milton M Hoenig (1984). Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume I: US Nuclear Forces and Capabilities (PDF) (Report). Natural Resources Defense Council. p. 47. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-06-22.

[2] "US Nuclear Stockpile" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2012-03-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[NukeArc-3] "List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons".

[1]

[2]

[3]