Class-D nuclear warhead: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:38, 13 July 2007

Class-D nuclear warheads are a form of weapon for Galactica or her Viper squadrons.

After news of the Cylon attack on sister ships and the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, Commander William Adama orders a desperate search through Colonial Fleet database records for munitions depots to rearm the battlestar (whose own weapons were destroyed as part of her scheduled decommissioning).

Little else is noted about the weapons, except that Colonel Saul Tigh's records indicate that some are kept at Ragnar Anchorage (Miniseries, Night 1).

Notes

In the United States military, Class-D is the designation of a relatively light-weight thermonuclear weapon. The W-28 warhead in the B-28 TN bomb is an example of this type.
Insufficient information exists as to whether these weapons are the same seen later in various forms in the Re-imagined Series. It is probable, but not verifiable, that Pegasus shared some of these weapons (if any were available) to her older sister ship.
Viewers would later see different kinds of nuclear ordinance in the series.

The first was in the form of a Cylon Raider kiloton nuclear missile that strikes Galactica (Miniseries, Night 1).
A second was the form of one warhead given to Gaius Baltar for his Cylon detector (Bastille Day), which is later given to Gina and her Demand Peace movement. Later, in her depression, Gina detonates the warhead, destroying Cloud Nine and several other civilian Fleet ships (Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II).
The third instance has Galactica herself deploying and arming (but never firing) several nuclear missiles in a standoff against a Cylon expedition to the algae planet and the Temple of Five (The Eye of Jupiter).

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+'''Class-D nuclear warheads''' are a form of weapon for ''[[Galactica]]'' or her [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] squadrons.
-According to Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]] '''Class-D nuclear warheads''' are kept at [[Ragnar Anchorage]] ([[Miniseries]]).
+After news of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] on [[battlestar|sister ships]] and the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol]], Commander [[William Adama]] orders a desperate search through [[Colonial Fleet (RDM)|Colonial Fleet]] database records for munitions depots to rearm the battlestar (whose own weapons were [[List of Deleted Scenes (RDM)#Miniseries|destroyed as part of her scheduled decommissioning]]).
-The exact technical details are not revealed in the series, in keeping with its philosophy of avoiding [[technobabble]]. Probably a Class-D nuclear warhead is an implosion-type fission bomb. Given the small size of the device that [[Gaius Baltar]] deliveres to [[Gina]] ([[Epiphanies]]), the fissile core is extremely small, and the the apparatus which compresses it to supercritical mass is equally compact. The yield of a class D is difficult, if not impossible, to calculate from information seen in the series.<ref>It should be noted that many nuclear bombs, including the American version of a "suitcase nuke", can be configured for different yields ranging from .375 to 1.5 megaton easily ("dial-a-yield").</ref>
+Little else is noted about the weapons, except that Colonel [[Saul Tigh]]'s records indicate that some are kept at [[Ragnar Anchorage]] ([[Miniseries, Night 1]]).
-== Technical feasibility ==
-One explanation for its small size is that a nuclide other than plutonium is used in the fission primary. Aside from the rather unscientific introduction of a "new element", the most logical candidate would be [[w:californium|californium]]. This synthetic element, produced in a cyclotron, exists only in miligram quantities in the real world, but the Colonies might produce much more using advanced -- but plausible -- technology. Cf-251 has a critical mass of around two kilograms, and this could be reduced even further using currently existing techniques. The Class D warhead is advanced technology, but it is in no way physically impossible, nor must it rely on scientific principles unknown in the present day.
-The primary drawback of Californium is that the half life is 790 years, meaning that long term storage is problematic. Plutonium has a half life of 24,110 years, and functional 100 pound simple implosion devices have been made with plutonium using existing 20th century technology.
 ==Notes==
-* This article is assuming that the nuclear warhead given to Baltar for his research on the [[Cylon detector]] in "[[Bastille Day]]" and later handed over to Gina are Class D.
+* In the United States military, Class-D is the designation of a relatively light-weight thermonuclear weapon. The W-28 warhead in the [[Wikipedia:B28_nuclear_bomb|B-28 TN bomb]] is an example of this type.
-* In the United States military, Class-D is the designation of a relatively light-weight Thermonuclear weapon. The W-28 warhead in the [[Wikipedia:B28_nuclear_bomb|B-28 TN bomb]] is an example of this type.
+* Insufficient information exists as to whether these weapons are the same seen later in various forms in the Re-imagined Series. It is probable, but not verifiable, that ''[[Pegasus (RDM)|Pegasus]]'' shared some of these weapons (if any were available) to her older sister ship.
+*Viewers would later see different kinds of nuclear ordinance in the series.
-== References ==
+#The first was in the form of a [[Cylon Raider (RDM)|Cylon Raider]] kiloton nuclear missile that strikes ''Galactica'' ([[Miniseries, Night 1]]).
-<div style="font-size:85%"><references/></div>
+#A second was the form of one warhead given to [[Gaius Baltar]] for his [[Cylon detector]] ([[Bastille Day]]), which is later given to [[Gina]] and her [[Demand Peace]] movement. Later, in her depression, Gina detonates the warhead, destroying ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' and several other civilian [[The Fleet (RDM)|Fleet]] ships ([[Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II]]).
+#The third instance has ''Galactica'' herself deploying and arming (but never firing) several nuclear missiles in a standoff against a Cylon expedition to the [[algae planet]] and the [[Temple of Five]] ([[The Eye of Jupiter]]).
 [[Category: A to Z]]
 [[Category: RDM]]
 [[Category: Technology]]
+[[Category: Technology (RDM)]]
+[[Category: Terminology]]
+[[Category: Terminology (RDM)]]
+[[Category: Weapons]]