Developing and Producing the B-61 (1970)

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The B-61 thermonuclear bomb, first produced in 1966, has developed into an extremely flexible weapon. Its many different modifications has made it able to fill the multipurpose needs of the military. Major modifications were made to the B-61 in 1966, 1975, 1977, 1979, and 1991.
Designed by the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico, the lightweight bomb could be delivered by the Air Force, Navy and NATO planes at very high altitudes and at speeds above Mach 2. The 141.6-inch long, 13.3-inch diameter bomb averaged approximately 750 pounds, but actual weight varied with each modification.

[@alexni6087]

Fascinating how you can see the actual insides of the physics package...!

[@Kurzula5150]

Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good time in Vegas with all that stuff.

[@thomasfx3190]

😂

[@rtqii]

20:30 - On the circuit board you can see two Krytrons with glass envelopes. Krytrons were invented and developed by EG&G Corporation, a defense contractor back in the day. The idea originated from Harold "Doc" Edgerton, a founder of EG&G, and known about as "Papa Flash". He invented or directed the construction of the high speed cameras and power supplies to film the nuclear tests, and gave the camera trigger problem to EG&G engineers with some ideas to check into. Using Krytron switches Papa Flash could send a surge of startup power to banks of remotely located cameras, and could trigger each bank of cameras from the test clock in the test control area with millisecond precision. He was palling around with one of the weaponeers at a test shot, and the Krytron was used to trigger the next nuclear test.

[@IvorMektin1701]

B61 is still in the inventory.

[@hckyplyr9285]

Along with the B83 it makes up the only aircraft delivered weapons in the stockpile. I, for one, believe it is well past time for the United States to develop an entirely new generation of nuclear weapons of all types. China and Russia certainly have.

[@labrat748]

Knowing the B61 is still in inventory makes my day.

[@RickyJr46]

Fantastic documentary.

[@user-nb3lz1jb6s]

53, years ago

[@user-nb3lz1jb6s]

63 53, years of nuclear bomb

[@rtqii]

4:07 - That's Curly from the Three Stooges. Thought I was not paying attention hey?

[@thomasfx3190]

Great video but good gravy why on earth did they release this information?

[@kylesenior]

What about this video is classified?

[@rtqii]

You have to educate people and get them to understand the technology is real, or they won't be afraid of it. Or respect it at least.

[@TheSwissGabber]

you should bring your videos to LBRY

[@kasel1979krettnach]

what?

[@tricitiesair]

Interesting that some technical details are still classified on a 69 year old technology

[@R.U.1.2.]

I think it's even more interesting of how much they DID show! My device will be ready down in our lab, in about a week's time.

[@daveruff47]

Why is so much of the video redacted?

[@Vesalempinen]

There are parts in this documentary which are still classified information, so these redactions occur from time to time.

[@kayealey1097]

07:23 19:01 26:03

[@kaanuluturk4335]

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@alicebonnet4607]

All the jobs shown in this film have been shipped overseas. Hows that service economy working out for you?

[@NZ5027]

Um ... I don't believe so ..

[@BIueWolf58]

Yeah, no.

[@billpugh58]

Alice Bonnet why did trump allow that?

[@alicebonnet4607]

@@billpugh58 Never trust a lizard even a orange one.

[@kaanuluturk4335]

☢️☢️☢️☢️🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@hckyplyr9285]

The B61-7, -11, and -12 variants along with the B83-0, -1, and -2 are the only aircraft-deliverable nuclear weapons remaining in the US stockpile. There are about 3-400 total of both in the active stockpile of 1350 devices. This is the smallest the US stockpile has been since 1951-2. Given that the youngest pits in all US devices are over 30 years old and nuclear decay is inevitable, the viability of the US stockpile is a rapidly increasing concern. It is probable, in spite of tens of billions wasted on computer simulations intended to "insure" pit reliability that fewer than half of the current inventory is actually functional. It is possible none of it is. No one really knows without testing. Eventually one of our potential adversaries, who have continued manufacturing nuclear pits, will call our bluff.

[@Vesalempinen]

You do not seem to have any faith in the american engineering ingeniuity. But please do create a conspiracy theory based on your assumption, any you will have million followers.

[@mikew5858]

Would you have any confidence in a car that hadn’t been started in almost 30 years? The last test was in 1992. We should take at least one warhead in the stockpile to Nevada every year and see if it works and the test should be secret in case it doesn’t.

[@cbn5]

The first theoretical modelling approaches were developed and shown to be correct when there was still active testing. I'm pretty certain that these days elaborated models can predict the state of each stockpiled weapon with a high degree of certainty. Apart from that: If there were real concerns about the reliability most adversaries would face similar problems.

[@perniciouspete4986]

I'll bet you're the only person ever to think of that.

[@DJones476]

I hope not. That'd sure be the... *_pits!_* 🤣

[@infidel6728]

I would never consider a thermonuclear weapon a step forward.

[@Milkmans_Son]

Yeah, pure fusion is where it's at.

[@nonnobissolum]

Well, I've been to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing I ever heard come over a set of earphones.