Class-D nuclear warhead: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 04:11, 9 September 2020

Class-D nuclear warheads are a type of nuclear weapon used by battlestars and their Viper squadrons.

After news of the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies and the Colonial Fleet, Commander Adama orders a desperate search through 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 Tigh's records indicate that 50 pallets of these warheads are kept at Ragnar Anchorage along with missiles and small arms ammunition (TRS: "Miniseries, Night 1").

Use of Colonial nuclear weapons

Insufficient information exists as to whether the other nuclear warheads seen through the series are also Class-D or of some other type. It is probable, but not verifiable, that Pegasus gave some of these weapons to Galactica, when the two battlestars pooled their resources.

One warhead is given to Gaius Baltar for his Cylon detector (TRS: "Bastille Day"), which he later hands over to Gina Inviere and the Demand Peace movement. In her depression, Inviere detonates the warhead, destroying Cloud Nine and several other civilian ships (TRS: "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II").
Galactica herself deploys and arms (but never fires) several nuclear missiles in a standoff against a Cylon expedition to the algae planet and the Temple of Five (TRS: "The Eye of Jupiter").
A strike team from Pegasus takes a nuclear warhead to the Guardian basestar and subsequently destroys it (TRS: "Razor").

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.

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-'''Class-D Nuclear Warheads''' are considerably more compact than any nuclear device currently known and qualify as a "suitcase nuke".  Judging by the total instant destruction of the [[Cylons (RDM)|Cylon]] [[Basestar (RDM)|Basestar]] in [[Kobol's Last Gleaming]], they would appear to have a yield in the megaton range.
+'''Class-D nuclear warheads''' are a type of nuclear weapon used by [[battlestar]]s and their [[Viper (RDM)|Viper]] squadrons.
-This would indicate that a Class-D Nuclear Warhead is a fission-fusion bomb utilizing a very high degree of efficiency of matter to energy conversion.  Considering the relatively small size of the device that Baltar delivered to Gina, the core of the warhead (typically a [[plutonium]] bomb "trigger") is extremely small and lacks adequate shielding.  This would indicate that either the amount of fissionable material (plutonium) is quite small or that the shielding is far better than anything currently produced on Earth.  Also, in its stripped down form, the trigger lacks the fusion material for further yield, which reduces the power of the bomb by several magnitudes.
+After news of the [[Fall of the Twelve Colonies|Cylon attack]] on the [[Twelve Colonies of Kobol|Twelve Colonies]] and the [[Colonial Fleet (TRS)|Colonial Fleet]], Commander [[William Adama|Adama]] orders a desperate search through 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]]).
-Another possible option would be that something other than plutonium is used to create the initial fission explosion.  This is not likely as the show typically uses grounded physics and science where possible, and plutonium is by far the most likely candidate.
+Little else is noted about the weapons, except that Colonel [[Saul Tigh|Tigh]]'s records indicate that 50 pallets of these warheads are kept at [[Ragnar Anchorage]] along with [[missile tubes|missiles]] and [[small arms]] ammunition {{TRS|Miniseries, Night 1}}.
+== Use of Colonial nuclear weapons ==
+Insufficient information exists as to whether the other nuclear warheads seen through the series are also Class-D or of some other type. It is probable, but not verifiable, that ''[[Pegasus (TRS)|Pegasus]]'' gave some of these weapons to ''Galactica'', when the two battlestars pooled their resources.
+*One warhead is given to [[Gaius Baltar]] for his [[Cylon detector]] {{TRS|Bastille Day}}, which he later hands over to [[Gina Inviere]] and the [[Demand Peace]] movement. In her depression, Inviere detonates the warhead, destroying ''[[Cloud Nine]]'' and several other civilian ships {{TRS|Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II}}.
+*''Galactica'' herself deploys and arms (but never fires) several nuclear missiles in a standoff against a Cylon expedition to the [[algae planet]] and the [[Temple of Five]] {{TRS|The Eye of Jupiter}}.
+*A strike team from ''Pegasus'' takes a nuclear warhead to the [[Guardian basestar]] and subsequently destroys it {{TRS|Razor}}.
 ==Notes==
-* This article is assuming that the shown nuclear warheads 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 [[w: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 light-weight Thermonuclear weapon. The W-28 warhead in the [[Wikipedia:B28_nuclear_bomb|B-28 TN bomb]] is an example of this type.
+[[Category: A to Z]]
+[[Category: TRS]]
+[[Category: Technology]]
+[[Category: Technology (TRS)]]
+[[Category: Terminology]]
+[[Category: Terminology (TRS)]]
+[[Category: Weapons]]
+[[Category: Weapons (TRS)]]
-[[Category: A to Z]] [[Category: RDM]] [[Category: Technology]]
+[[de:Klasse-D Sprengkopf]]