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Neutron bomb
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==History and deployment to present== The conception of neutron bombs is generally credited to [[Samuel T. Cohen]] of the [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]], who developed the concept in 1958.<ref>{{cite news |author=Robert D. McFadden |title=Samuel T. Cohen, Neutron Bomb Inventor, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/us/02cohen.html?pagewanted=all |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 1, 2010 |access-date=2010-12-02 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117064935/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/us/02cohen.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |author-link=Robert D. McFadden}}</ref> Initial development was carried out as part of projects Dove and Starling, and an early device was tested underground in early 1962. Designs for a "weaponized" version were developed in 1963.<ref name=data /><ref>"[http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryfaqs/f/neutronbomb.htm About: Chemistry article] {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110223160358/http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryfaqs/f/neutronbomb.htm |date=2011-02-23}}", by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph. D</ref> Development of two production designs for the Army's [[MGM-52 Lance]] short-range missile began in July 1964, the [[W63 (nuclear warhead)|W63]] at Livermore and the [[W64 (nuclear warhead)|W64]] at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos]]. Both entered phase three testing in July 1964, and the W64 was cancelled in favor of the W63 in September 1964. The W63 was in turn cancelled in November 1965 in favor of the [[W70]] (Mod 0), a conventional design.<ref name=data>{{cite book |first1=Thomas |last1=Cochran |first2=William |last2= Arkin |first3=Milton |last3=Hoenig |title= Nuclear Weapons Databook: U.S. nuclear warhead production. Volume 2 |publisher=Ballinger Publishing |year=1987 |page=23}}</ref> By this time, the same concepts were being used to develop warheads for the [[Sprint (missile)|Sprint missile]], an [[anti-ballistic missile]] (ABM), with Livermore designing the [[W65 (nuclear warhead)|W65]] and Los Alamos the [[W66 (nuclear warhead)|W66]]. Both entered phase three testing in October 1965, but the W65 was cancelled in favor of the W66 in November 1968. Testing of the W66 was carried out in the late 1960s, and it entered production in June 1974,<ref name=data /> the first neutron bomb to do so. Approximately 120 were built, with about 70 of these being on active duty during 1975 and 1976 as part of the [[Safeguard Program]]. When that program was shut down they were placed in storage, and eventually decommissioned in the early 1980s.<ref name=data /> Development of ER warheads for Lance continued, but in the early 1970s, attention had turned to using modified versions of the W70, the W70 Mod 3.<ref name=data /> Development was subsequently postponed by President [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1978 following protests against his administration's plans to deploy neutron warheads to ground forces in Europe.<ref name="On this Day: 7 April">{{cite news|title=On this Day: 7 April|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/7/newsid_2523000/2523051.stm|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=1978-04-07|access-date=2010-07-02|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207110040/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/7/newsid_2523000/2523051.stm|archive-date=2010-12-07}}</ref> On [[1978 Soviet nuclear tests|November 17, 1978]], in a test, the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] detonated its first similar-type bomb.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} President [[Ronald Reagan]] restarted production in 1981.<ref name="On this Day: 7 April" /> The Soviet Union renewed a [[propaganda]] campaign against the US's neutron bomb in 1981 following Reagan's announcement. In 1983, Reagan then announced the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]], which surpassed neutron bomb production in ambition and vision and with that, neutron bombs quickly faded from the center of the public's attention.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} {| class="wikitable floatright" style="text-align:center;" |+Attempted warhead replacement programs |- !Initial!!Enhanced!!Gun caliber |- |[[W48]]||[[W82]]||[[M109 howitzer|155 mm]] |- |[[W33 (nuclear weapon)|W33]]||[[W79 Artillery-Fired Atomic Projectile|W79]]||[[M110 howitzer|203mm]] |} Three types of enhanced radiation weapons (ERW) were deployed by the United States.<ref>{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929215520/http://www.omnology.com/nuclear01.html |archive-date=2007-09-29 |url=http://www.omnology.com/nuclear01.html |title=Nuclear Weapon News and Background |access-date=2012-10-11}}</ref> The W66 warhead, for the anti-ICBM Sprint missile system, was deployed in 1975 and retired the next year, along with the missile system. The W70 Mod 3 warhead was developed for the short-range, tactical MGM-52 Lance missile, and the [[W79 Artillery-Fired Atomic Projectile|W79 Mod 0]] was developed for [[nuclear artillery]] shells. The latter two types were retired by President [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1992, following the end of the [[Cold War]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Christopher Ruddy |title=Bomb inventor says U.S. defenses suffer because of politics |url=http://www.manuelsweb.com/sam_cohen.htm |work=[[Tribune-Review]] |date=June 15, 1997 |access-date=2010-07-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922125103/http://manuelsweb.com/sam_cohen.htm |archive-date=September 22, 2010 |author-link=Christopher Ruddy}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq1.html |title=Types of Nuclear Weapons |access-date=2012-10-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809054936/http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq1.html |archive-date=2012-08-09}}</ref> The last W70 Mod 3 warhead was dismantled in 1996,{{cn|date=March 2025}} and the last W79 Mod 0 was dismantled by 2003, when the dismantling of all W79 variants was completed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nnsa.energy.gov/sites/default/files/nnsa/news/documents/PR_NA-03-16_W-76Dismantled-LastNuclearArtilleryShell.pdf |title=NNSA Dismantles Last Nuclear Artillery Shell |publisher=National Nuclear Security Administration |access-date=2012-10-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023163331/http://nnsa.energy.gov/sites/default/files/nnsa/news/documents/PR_NA-03-16_W-76Dismantled-LastNuclearArtilleryShell.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-23}}</ref> According to the [[Cox Report]], as of 1999, the United States had never deployed a neutron weapon. The nature of this statement is not clear; it reads, "The stolen information also includes classified design information for an enhanced radiation weapon (commonly known as the "neutron bomb"), which neither the United States, nor any other nation, has ever deployed."<ref>{{cite web |title=Report Of The Select Committee On U.S. National Security And Military/Commercial Concerns With The People's Republic Of China: Chapter 2 – PRC Theft Of U.S. Thermonuclear Warhead Design Information |url=http://www.house.gov/coxreport/chapfs/ch2.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508121324/http://www.house.gov/coxreport/chapfs/ch2.html |archive-date=2015-05-08}}</ref> However, the fact that neutron bombs had been produced by the US was well known at this time and part of the public record. Cohen suggests the report is playing with the definitions; while the US bombs were never deployed ''to Europe'', they remained stockpiled in the US.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Samuel |last=Cohen |journal=Insight on the News |date=9 August 1999 |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-55426724 |title=Check Your Facts: Cox Report Bombs}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}}</ref> In addition to the two superpowers, France and China are known to have tested neutron or enhanced radiation bombs. France conducted an early test of the technology in 1967<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/395689.stm |title=Neutron bomb: Why 'clean' is deadly |publisher=BBC News |date=1999-07-15 |access-date=2012-10-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407070250/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/395689.stm |archive-date=2009-04-07}}</ref> and tested an actual neutron bomb in 1980.<ref>UK parliamentary question on whether condemnation was considered by [[First Thatcher ministry|Thatcher government]] [https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1980/jul/16/french-neutron-bomb] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715053705/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1980/jul/16/french-neutron-bomb|date=2009-07-15}}</ref> China conducted a successful test of neutron bomb principles in 1984 and a successful test of a neutron bomb in 1988. However, neither of those countries chose to deploy neutron bombs. Chinese nuclear scientists stated before the 1988 test that China had no need for neutron bombs, but it was developed to serve as a "technology reserve", in case the need arose in the future.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ray |first1=Jonathan |title=Red China's "Capitalist Bomb": Inside the Chinese Neutron Bomb Program |journal=China Strategic Perspectives |date=January 2015 |volume=8 |url=http://inss.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/stratperspective/china/ChinaPerspectives-8.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207083547/http://inss.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/stratperspective/china/ChinaPerspectives-8.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-07 |access-date=2015-02-07}}</ref> In May 1998, Senior Pakistani Scientist, Dr. N. M. Butt, stated that "PAEC built a sufficient number of neutron bombs—a battlefield weapon that is essentially a low yield device".<ref>{{cite news|author=Raja Zulfikar |date=28 May 1998 |title=Pakistan builds a neutron bomb |work=nuclnet}}</ref> In August 1999, the Indian government stated that India was capable of producing a neutron bomb.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB934836102919955535|title=India Discloses It Is Able To Build a Neutron Bomb|last=Journal|first=Jonathan Karp Staff Reporter of The Wall Street|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=17 August 1999|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123001427/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB934836102919955535|archive-date=2017-01-23}}</ref> Although no country is currently known to deploy them in an offensive manner, all thermonuclear [[dial-a-yield]] warheads that have about 10 kiloton and lower as one dial option, with a considerable fraction of that yield derived from fusion reactions, can be considered able to be neutron bombs in use, if not in name. The only country definitely known to deploy dedicated (that is, not dial-a-yield) neutron warheads for any length of time is the Soviet Union/[[Russia]],<ref name="books.google.ie" /> which inherited the USSR's neutron warhead equipped [[ABM-3 Gazelle]] missile program. This ABM system contains at least 68 neutron warheads with a 10-kiloton yield each and it has been in service since 1995, with inert missile testing approximately every other year since then (2014). The system is designed to destroy incoming endoatmospheric nuclear warheads aimed at [[Moscow]] and other targets and is the lower-tier/last umbrella of the [[A-135 anti-ballistic missile system]] (NATO reporting name: ABM-3).{{cn|date=March 2025}} By 1984, according to [[Mordechai Vanunu]], Israel was mass-producing neutron bombs.<ref>''The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and Its Proliferation'', By Thomas C. Reed, Danny B. Stillman (2010), page 181</ref> Considerable controversy arose in the US and Western Europe following a June 1977 ''[[Washington Post]]'' exposé describing US government plans to equip US Armed Forces with neutron bombs. The article focused on the fact that it was the first weapon specifically intended to kill humans with radiation.<ref>{{cite book |author=Wittner, Lawrence S.|title=Confronting the bomb: a short history of the world nuclear disarmament movement |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2009|isbn=978-0-8047-5632-7|pages=[https://archive.org/details/confrontingbombs0000witt/page/132 132]–133 |url=https://archive.org/details/confrontingbombs0000witt|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Auten, Brian J. |title=Carter's conversion: the hardening of American defense policy |publisher=University of Missouri Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8262-1816-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cartersconversio00aute/page/134 134] |url=https://archive.org/details/cartersconversio00aute|url-access=registration}}</ref> Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory director [[Harold Brown (Secretary of Defense)|Harold Brown]] and Soviet General Secretary [[Leonid Brezhnev]] both described neutron bombs as a "capitalist bomb", because it was designed to destroy people while preserving property.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TshAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA115 |title=National security for a new era: globalization and geopolitics after Iraq |first=Donald |last=Snow |year=2008 |page=115 |publisher=Pearson Longman |isbn=978-0-205-62225-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Herken, Greff|title=Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller |publisher=Macmillan|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8050-6589-3 |page=332|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s0NGIfflOgC&pg=PA332}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=August 2015}}
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