Before 1987 there was a nuclear version of Granit missile with 500kt warhead. I want to ask:
1. This was nuclear or thermonuclear warhead?
2. The nuclear missile had the same range? 550km or longer?
3. As nuclear missile with very large warhead had or not land attack capability?
Also I want to ask if a newer model of Granit the Granit -M or Granit -2 is under development.
By: EdLaw - 11th February 2008 at 11:00
Though it was rather on the large size (I believe it was pretty much the max the Valiant could drop…). Britain needed to prove to the US that it could build a thermonuclear warhead, partly to gain access to the more developed US weapons. If memory serves, the demonstration drop was actually the big fission bomb, rather than the thermonuclear weapon, as they could at least guarantee it would work as planned…
It is correct, however, to suggest that a modern weapon in that yield range would pretty much have to be thermonuclear.
By: F-18RN - 3rd February 2008 at 11:07
1. The warhead had a selectable yield in the range of 200 to 350 kT. A warhead with such a high yield must be a thermonuclear device. :rolleyes:
Apparently Britain tested an atomic bomb in the mid-late 50s in the Pacific with a 720 kt yield as a back-up in case of the failure of its mt yield thermo-nuclear weapons being tested at the same time. It was the second of the three bombs tested during Operation Grapple and was code-named Orange Herald (small).
By: nuedel - 21st January 2008 at 09:54
1. The warhead had a selectable yield in the range of 200 to 350 kT. A warhead with such a high yield must be a thermonuclear device. :rolleyes:
2. The maximum range for the nuclear armed missile is probably longer. :confused:
3. The Granit missile had a land attack capability against large area targets such harbours.
4. There is no know further development on the normal 3M45 / P-700 missile.
More info’s about the Granit missile on:
http://www.dtig.org/docs/Russian-Soviet%20Naval%20Missiles.pdf
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January 16, 2008 at 3:56 pm