How the US forgot how to make Trident missiles

How the US forgot how to make Trident missiles

www.sundayherald.com

PLANS TO refurbish Trident nuclear weapons had to be put on hold because US scientists forgot how to manufacture a component of the warhead, a US congressional investigation has revealed.

The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) "lost knowledge" of how to make a mysterious but very hazardous material codenamed Fogbank. As a result, the warhead refurbishment programme was put back by at least a year, and racked up an extra $69 million.

According to some critics, the delay could cause major problems for the UK Trident programme, which is very closely tied to the US programme and uses much of the same technology. The US and the UK are trying to refurbish the ageing W76 warheads that tip Trident missiles in order to prolong their life, and ensure they are safe and reliable. This apparently requires that the Fogbank in the warheads is replaced.

(visit the link for the full news article)

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[edit on 3/9/2009 by semperfortis]

PLANS TO refurbish Trident nuclear weapons had to be put on hold because US scientists forgot how to manufacture a component of the warhead, a US congressional investigation has revealed.

The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) "lost knowledge" of how to make a mysterious but very hazardous material codenamed Fogbank. As a result, the warhead refurbishment programme was put back by at least a year, and racked up an extra $69 million.

According to some critics, the delay could cause major problems for the UK Trident programme, which is very closely tied to the US programme and uses much of the same technology. The US and the UK are trying to refurbish the ageing W76 warheads that tip Trident missiles in order to prolong their life, and ensure they are safe and reliable. This apparently requires that the Fogbank in the warheads is replaced.

www.sundayherald.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 3/9/2009 by semperfortis]

It appears the dumbing down of the masses has taken effect over the last 20 years as expected. Go mercury vaccines and aluminum deposits in the brain!

Ask China!

They know how to make all the components.

It has nothing to do with the "dumbing down of the population". It has to do with the fact that they haven't built the warheads since 1987. Everyone involved in the making of the warheads is either retired, or somewhere else.

There are many things out there that they no longer have the plans for and would have to start over from scratch if they tried again.

the UK doesn`t use the US warheads - they use there own which whilst similar is built in the UK.

and OP why don`t you make a comment instead of reprinting the news source?

and as for numbers -israel has more nuclear weapons than the UK

reply to post by Harlequin


Except that according to the article the UK warheads are similar enough that they use the same component that they're having problems with. It says that the problems in the US will delay the UK upgrade as well.

Thought i had seen this before:

www.knoxnews.com...

www.armscontrolwonk.com...


its an AEROGEL used in the secondary - and they haven`t forgotton how to make it at all.

that second link shows the pdf source - that states quite clearly that fogbank- and other materials, were made in the 1990`s at Y-12 at Oak Ridge.

NNSA had lost knowledge of how to manufacture the material because it had kept few records of the process when the material was made in the 1980s, and almost all staff with expertise on production had retired or left the agency," the report said

2 reports , both government and they disagree with each other.

reply to post by Harlequin


The British Trident warhead is seemingly little different to the US W76, with a (variable) maximum yield of 100kt. The US also deploys the W88, with a maximum yield of 475 kt.

When the history books are opened we'll probably discover that the US & UK have pooled warhead design since the 1960's and the introduction of Polaris.

reply to post by The Lass


and the decoy system used by both is based upon chevaline....