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The WE177 was the last air-launched atomic bomb in the inventory of the United Kingdom. It was a free-fall, parachute retarded thermonuclear weapon which became operational in late 1966, replacing the Red Beard. It was also used as the basis for a nuclear depth charge deployed by Royal Navy vessels. WE 177 was produced in three models:- Image File history File links Stop_hand. ... The United Kingdom has a nuclear arsenal but is generally believed no longer to have any chemical or biological weapons. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Red Beard was the first British tactical nuclear weapon. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ...

• Type A weighed 272 kg (600 lb), with a yield of 200 kT. This was a thermonuclear bomb.

• Type B weighed 431 kg (950 lb), with a yield of 400 kT. This was a thermonuclear bomb, based on the warhead intended for the British version of the cancelled Skybolt air-launched cruise missile.

• Type C weighed 272 kg (600 lb), with a yield of 10 kT. This was the nuclear depth charge version for the Royal Navy.

Type A and B weapons were carried by strike aircraft, including the Avro Vulcan, Blackburn Buccaneer, SEPECAT Jaguar, Panavia Tornado, and Harrier. At one time, eight Tornado squadrons were nuclear capable. At the end of the 20th century, Thermonuclear has came to imply anything which has to do with fusion nuclear reactions which are triggered by particles of thermal energy. ... At the end of the 20th century, Thermonuclear has came to imply anything which has to do with fusion nuclear reactions which are triggered by particles of thermal energy. ... The Douglas GAM-87A Skybolt was an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) developed during the late 1950s. ... A Tomahawk cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile which uses a lifting wing and most often a jet propulsion system to allow sustained flight. ... Depth Charge used by U.S. Navy later in World War II The depth charge is the oldest anti-submarine weapon. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... The Avro Vulcan was a British-built jet-engined, delta-winged subsonic bomber, once part of the RAFs V bomber force. ... Landing on the HMS Eagle The Blackburn Buccaneer was a British attack aircraft serving with the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm. ... The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French ground attack aircraft in service with the Royal Air Force and several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force. ... ADV: RAF Tornado F3 RAF Tornado ZA463 Luftwaffe Tornados at CFB Goose Bay, Labrador The Panavia Tornado designates a family of twin-engine fighters jointly developed as the Multi-role combat aircraft or MRCA for United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. ... The word Harrier when used alone, has several possible meanings in the English language. ...

Two paint-schemes are known to have been used on WE177:- overall white with orange and green bands (early paint-scheme from the late 1960s) and overall green with red details (later paint-scheme from the mid-1970s onwards). Most of the examples of WE177 training rounds in museums are of the green-painted variety.

The tactical and strategic versions of WE177 had air-burst capability, as evidenced by the white translucent window in the nose of the bomb which housed a radar altimeter.

As with all British thermonuclear weapons, the tritium gas used in the bomb core was generated at the military nuclear reactor at Chapelcross (Dumfriesshire, Scotland) which closed in 2004. As with any nuclear weapon using Tritium, WE177 required servicing every 5 to 8 years at AWE sites Llanishen or Burghfield.

The safety and arming systems on the WE177 series (Permissive Action Links) were identical to those used on comparable American nuclear weapons such as the B61. Similarly, the physical safety characteristics were comparable ie the concept of being "one point safe", plus the ability to activate its thermal batteries and fry the circuitry if it detected unauthorised interference.

During the Falklands war of 1982, some Royal Navy ships had WE177C bombs on board as they headed south. Having nuclear armed ships was standard procedure during the Cold War. However, all bomb-containers were removed before the ships arrived in South Atlantic combat zone.

Retirement (Not Disputed)

Following the 1997 General Election the Defence Secretary, George Robertson, ordered the Strategic Defence Review to reassess all of the UK's military commitments and equipment. Only Trident and the Eurofighter were exempt from the review. One of the recommendations of this report was the withdrawal of all remaining WE177s, which was announced in March 1998. All of the weapons had been dismantled at the AWE facility in Burghfield by the end of August that year, as Britain disassembled all nuclear weapons other than the warheads of the Trident missiles of the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class submarines. At the time of writing (April 2006) Trident is the UK's sole nuclear weapons system, although some British aircraft would be capable of dropping US nuclear weapons eg the B61 and B83 free-fall bombs. The UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997. ... Lord Robertson of Port Ellen For the Olympic athlete, see George S. Robertson. ... The Strategic Defence Review (or SDR) was a policy document produced by the Labour Government that came to power in 1997. ... The Trident missile, named after the trident, is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which is armed with nuclear warheads and is launched from submarines (SSBNs), making it a SLBM. The Trident was built in two variants: the I (C4) UGM-96A and II (D5) UGM-133A. The C4 and D5... UK two seat Development Aircraft (DA4) The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine multi-role canard-delta strike fighter aircraft, designed and built by a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers, Eurofighter GmbH, formed in 1983. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The Trident missile, named after the trident, is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which is armed with nuclear warheads and is launched from submarines (SSBNs), making it a SLBM. The Trident was built in two variants: the I (C4) UGM-96A and II (D5) UGM-133A. The C4 and D5... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Vanguard Class Submarine Test launch of a Trident D5 SLBM The Royal Navys Vanguard class of nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), each armed with 16 Trident II SLBMs, includes four boats: Vanguard (S28), Victorious (S29), Vigilant (S30), and Vengeance (S31), all built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd, now...

References

• Cocroft, W; Thomas, R. Cold War, Building for Nuclear Confrontation 1946-1989, English Heritage, 2003. ISBN 1873592698