Red Beard was the first British tactical nuclear weapon. It was carried by Royal Air Force (RAF) English Electric Canberra medium bombers and the V bomber force and by Supermarine Scimitars, de Havilland Sea Vixens, and Blackburn Buccaneers of the Royal Navy's (RN) Fleet Air Arm (FAA). Developed to Operational Requirement OR.1127, it was introduced in 1961, entered service in 1962. It was replaced by the WE.177 in the early 1970s and was withdrawn from service in 1971.
Design
Red Beard was an unboosted fission weapon that used a composite core (mixed core in British terminology of the time). The composite core used both weapons-grade plutonium and weapons-grade uranium-235, and was intended to minimise the risk of pre-detonation that was a feature of all-plutonium designs of that period with yields larger than 10 kilotons (kt). An added benefit of the composite core was a more economical use of fissile material. The design was tested twice during the Operation Buffalo series of nuclear trials at Maralinga in Australia – first (codenamed Buffalo R1/One Tree) on 27 September 1956: a 15 kt explosion, after which the resulting mushroom cloud rose to a height of 11,430 m (37,500 ft), and again (codenamed Buffalo R4/Breakaway) on 21 October 1956. Although the design concept of Red Beard was similar to that of the Blue Danube warhead, an innovative means of implosion meant that its overall size could be significantly reduced. It was 3.66 m (12 ft 0 in) in length, 71 cm (2 ft 4 in) in diameter, and weighed about 1,750 pounds (794 kg). Two versions were produced: the Mk.1, with a yield of 15 kilotons, and the Mk.2, with a yield of 25 kilotons. The Mk.2 was available in two variants, the No.1 used by high-altitude bombers, and the No.2 variant that was intended for low-level delivery by the toss bombing method, and its 'over-the-shoulder' variant referred to as the Low Altitude Bombing System (LABS). Red Beard's Royal Air Force and Royal Navy service designations were:
Bomb, Aircraft, HE 2,000 lb MC Mk.1 No.1 Bomb, Aircraft, HE 2,000 lb MC Mk.1 No.2 Bomb, Aircraft, HE 2,000 lb MC Mk.2 No.1 Bomb, Aircraft, HE 2,000 lb MC Mk.2 No.2 Weighing in at approximately 794 kilograms (1,750 lb), Red Beard was considerably lighter than the 2,000 lb (910 kg) official service designation, which was based on the original technical requirement. Another significant improvement over Blue Danube was the electrical system for the bomb firing mechanism and the radar altimeter fuse. Blue Danube had used 6 volt lead–acid batteries that were unreliable, and had to be installed at the last minute before takeoff. There were also potential risks associated with 'stray' electrical discharges to the firing mechanisms which might have led to accidental detonation. Red Beard used twin ram-air turbines located in the nose, from which there could be no stray discharges before bomb release. The air inlet can be seen in the extreme nose. They exhausted through 'blow-out' patches in the nose sides. Until bomb release, the weapon drew electrical power from the aircraft for heating and pre-heating of the radar fuzes.
Like Blue Danube, the body diameter at 71 cm (2 ft 4 in) was greater than was desirable relative to the overall length of 3.66 m (12 ft 0 in). To compensate for this stubbiness, and quickly stabilise the bomb after release, Red Beard was equipped with flip-out tail fins that were activated pneumatically, triggered by a lanyard attached to the aircraft. As with Blue Danube, the fuzing arrangements were composed of twin radar fuzes that were activated by a barometric 'gate' after release. The barometric gate ensured that the radar fuzes only transmitted in the last few seconds of free-fall, to a computed burst height, and this technique minimised the possibility of radar countermeasures disabling the radar fuzes. There were back-up contact and graze fuzes to ensure bomb destruction in the event of a misfire. None of the variants allowed in-flight arming of the fissile core. The core was inserted before take-off, in a process referred to as 'last minute loading'. The Mark 1 Red Beard required handling with extreme caution; it was feared that scraping or dropping an armed Red Beard would result in an explosion of up to 1 kiloton. The Mark 2 Red Beard had additional safety features.
RAF service in United Kingdom and Singapore Royal Air Force stocks of Red Beard for the Canberra and V-bomber forces totalled 110. Of these, forty-eight were deployed in Cyprus to meet the UK's commitments to Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), forty-eight were deployed in Singapore RAF Tengah to meet commitments to Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), and the remainder were located in the United Kingdom. Before the Red Beard codename was issued in 1952, it was frequently referred to in official documents as the 'Javelin Bomb', because it was originally conceived as a weapon for the 'thin-wing Javelin bomber', a projected derivative of the (thick wing) Gloster Javelin all-weather fighter. The designation 'target marker bomb' was a euphemism used to disguise the nature of the bomb, so that its dimensions and weights etc. could be circulated to aircraft and aircraft equipment designers, without compromising security. It was replaced by the WE.177 in the early 1970s.
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