Store Separation of Nuclear Weapons

Aircraft-delivered nuclear weapons continue to play an important part as the only recallable component in the United States nuclear deterrent triad. Nuclear weapons have unique characteristics which must be considered in evaluating their store separation characteristics. These considerations start in the preliminary design phase. Then, theoretical analyses, wind tunnel store separation testing, and full-scale flight drop tests are used together in a cost effective manner to evaluate store separation characteristics. Several examples of the applications of these methods are presented.