W49 (nuclear weapon)
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W49 nuclear weapons were U.S. Air Force thermonuclear warheads, with a 1.44 Mt yield, for intermediate range (IRBM) and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), in use from roughly 1959 to 1964. They were aboard various models of the:
- PGM/CGM/HGM-16 Atlas ICBM; W49 Mod 0, 1
- PGM-17 Thor IRBM; W49 Mod 0,1, 3
- HGM-25 Titan I ICBM
- PGM-19 Jupiter IRBM; Mod 0, 1, 3, 5
They succeeded the W35 and was adapted from the W28, equipped with a Category A Permissive Action Link.
The W49 was used in the ionospheric nuclear detonation experiments code-named Starfish. These gave considerable insight into electromagnetic pulse.