WE.177B Tactical Nuclear Bomb

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This is a WE.177 B air delivered free-fall nuclear warhead, used by the Royal Air Force between 1966 and 1998 as a Britaish nuclear deterrant option. The weapon was designed to be transported by the Vulcan, and later adapted to Tornado and Harrier jets. Although the submarine-launched Polaris and Trident ballistic systems were also used through this period, it’s strange to think that aircraft delivered nukes were still RAF operational until fairly recently. This ‘B’ variant was the most powerful, with a 450Kt yield (Little Boy at Hiroshima delivered only 15Kt). There were supposedly about 50 of these things, with some being sent to the Falklands deep in ships magazines. Weighing in at only 1000lbs and just over 3m long, they are not the most terrifying thing to look at despite carrying a thermonuclear warhead.

Now housed at the Eden Camp Museum, Malton, North Yorkshire. 100 images taken on a rainy afternoon in 2020 and processed in Metashape and Blender.