In researching the external configuration of American nuclear weapons, a few details have remained elusive. One blank spot in my records is the tail end of the Mk21 RV, the conical warhead used on the MX “Peacekeeper” ICBM. A number of Mk21s are on display at the USAF museum in Dayton, but displayed attached to the post-boost vehicle. This has the effect of blocking off the view of the aft end of the RVs.
It seems reasonable to assume that if the USAF museum has ten of these on display, there might be another one elsewhere. But I haven’t been able to find one, and haven’t been able to find a single photo depicting the aft end of the vehicle. Does anyone know where a guy could get a photo or three that shows the tail of this thing? Note: there are a number of Mk 12 RVs (used on the Minuteman) on display. The Mk 12 looks a whole lot like the Mk 21; the most obvious visible difference between the two seems to be that the Mk 12 aft end is more “rounded” than that of the Mk 21. The Mk 12 has also proven to be a bit challenging to find photos of the tail end… but I lucked out a while back in finding what appears to be a test version of one in an aerospace museum “junk yard.” So… huzzah.
And so long as I’m on the subject, does anyone know of *any* useful photos or illustrations of the Mk 3, Mk 4 and Mk 5 RVs used on the Poseidon and Trident SLBMs? The Navy seems like they actually don’t want everyone to know just what they look like.