WE.177

WE.177 was the designation of a range of tactical and strategic nuclear bombs used by the British Armed Forces.

There were three versions; WE.177A was a boosted fission weapon, while WE.177B and WE.177C were thermonuclear weapons. All could delivered by fixed-wing aircraft and also, in the case of the WE.177A in anti-submarine mode, by helicopters and by the Ikara missile system. All types could be parachute retarded.

The first version to be fully deployed, WE.177B, was delivered to the Royal Air Force in September 1966 followed by deliveries of the WE.177A to the Royal Navy beginning in 1969, and the RAF in 1971, after a delay caused by the need to produce the ET.317 warhead for the UK Polaris A3T first; and was followed by WE.177C deliveries to the RAF. The Navy weapons were retired by 1992 and all other weapons with the RAF were retired by 1998.

The WE.177 was the last nuclear bomb in service with the Royal Air Force and the last tactical nuclear weapon deployed by the UK.

History