Sentinel Missile Warhead And Rentry Vehicle

The Sentinel missile will be using the W87 warhead and will incorporate the Mk21A reentry vehicle to carry the warhead.

The W87-0 warhead was first used with the Peacekeeper missile. The first production units for the W87-0 was in April 1986. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL, engineered and produced the W87-0.

The production of W87-0 warhead was completed by 1988, with a total of 525 W87-0 warheads produced.

The W87-0 warhead has a yield of 300 KT. The warhead is contained with the Mk21A reentry vehicle, and has a circle error or probabtility, CEP, of 400 feet. The warhead and RV combined weigh approximately 800 pounds.

Initially, the W87-0 warhead will be used, and starting in the second quarter of 2030 the W87-1 (W87 Mod 1) warhead will then begin the integration into being placed on the Sentinel missile.

Lockheed Martin has been awarded the contract to engineer and develop the Mk21A reentry wehicle to be used with the W87-0 and W87-1.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, LLNL, will be producing the W87-1 warhead, which is sometimes called W87 Mod 1. The W87-1 modification started its development in November 1987. In July 1988 the W87-1 modification was placed on hold.

For the modified W87-1 to be produced and ready to use with the new Sentinal missile. a number of factors need to be addressed.

For the past two decades, (2012) not one new pit for a nuclear warhead has been produced.

These warheads are a stage two nuclear device. The first stage, referred to as the pit, is made of plutonium and other material, surrounded by high explosives material.

The second stage, known as the secondary, is comprised of uranium, lithium and other materials.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory produces the pit, the first stage of the warhead.

The Savannah River Site, SRS, now called the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility in South Carolina will also be producing the first stage, the pit, of the W87-1 warhead.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee will be producing the secondary stage of the W87-1 warhead.

The W87-1 will be the first weapon produced using entirely new or remanufactured nuclear and nonnuclear components since the end of the Cold War.

At issue is many of the facilities needed to provide components for the W87-1 are inadequate and are currently undergoing modernization to either build new facilities or repair and upgrade exisiting facilities and their capabilities.

An example is that the United States has not had the capability to produce more than 10 pits per year for over 20 years.

As the efforts ramp up to produce the necessary W87-1 warhead for the Sentinel missile, the following is the prospective map of the timeline these first and secondary stages will be produced.

In 2023 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will produce 1 pit. In 2024, 10 pits. In 2025 LANL will produce 20 pits, and in 2026 LANL will be operating at a capacity of producing 30 pits through to 2035.

The Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility, SRS, will be producing 50 pits starting in the year 2030.

As the efforts ramp up to produce the necessary W87-1 warhead for the Sentinel missile, the following is the prospective map of the timeline these first and secondary stages will be produced.

For an excellent article from the December 2023 Scientific American magazine on Lawrence Livermore beginning their work on building new pits for the Sentinel missile, click on the link below to read that article