W74

The W74 was an experimental American nuclear artillery shell.

Responding to a 1969 United States Army request for a replacement for the W48 155 mm artillery shell, the Los Alamos National Laboratory started development of the W74. However, by mid 1973 the program was discontinued without producing a weapon for general production. The primary reasons for the cancellation of the W74 were the obsolete technology used and high cost. The weapon only employed fission, had no improvements in accuracy, and had no capability to be further developed as an "enhanced radiation" (neutron) device; the result was a weapon that did not provide new capabilities, all with a per shell cost of $425,000 (1973).^[1]

W75

The W75 was the 8 inch (203mm) equivalent of the W74. It was viewed by many as being an obsolete system, expensive to deploy and not worth pursuing. Development was started in 1973 at the Livermore Lab and terminated two years later.

References

↑ Schwartz, Stephen I. Atomic audit: the costs and consequences of U.S. nuclear weapons since 1940. Brookings Institution Press, 1998. p 93.

Hansen, Chuck, "Swords of Armageddon: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Development since 1945" (CD-ROM & download available). PDF-2.67 Mb. 2,600 pages, Sunnyvale, California, Chucklea Publications, 1995, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9791915-0-3 (2nd Ed.)

United States nuclear devices

Fission

World War II bombs	Gadget Little Boy Thin Man Fat Man

Post-war bombs	Mark III Mark 4 Mark 5 Mark 6 Mark 7 Mark 8 Mark 10 Mark 11 Mark 12 Mark 13 Mark 18 Mark 20

Primaries	Swan Python Robin Tsetse Kinglet

Post-war warheads	W4 W5 W7 W8 W9 W12 W13 W19 W23 W25 W44 W45 W48 W54 W72 W74 W79 W82

Atomic demolition munitions (mines)	T-4 SADM TADM MADM

Boosted
fission

Warheads	W30 W31 W33 W34 W40

Thermonuclear

Bombs	Mark 14 Mark 15 TX-16 Mark 17 Mark 21 TX-22 Mark 24 Mark 26 Mark 27 B28 Mark 36 Mark 39 B41 B43 TX-46 B53 B57 B61 B77 B83 B90

Depth bombs	Mark 90 Mk 101 B57

Warheads	W15 W27 W28 TX-29 XW-35 W38 W39 W47 W49 W50 W52 W53 W55 W56 W58 W59 W62 W67 W68 W69 W70 W71 W73 W76 W78 W80 W81 W84 W85 W86 W87 W88 W89 W91 RRW

Enhanced radiation warheads	W66 W70 Mod 3 W79 Mod 0 W82 Mod 0

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