WS-125

WS-125
WS-125
	A cutaway drawing of the proposed WS-125 testbed aircraft
General information
Project for	Long-range Nuclear-powered aircraft strategic bomber
Issued by	United States Air Force
Requirement	WS-125

The WS-125 was an American super-long-range strategic bomber project during the Cold War to develop a nuclear-powered aircraft.

Development

In 1954, the United States Air Force (USAF) issued a weapons system requirement for a nuclear-powered bomber, designated WS-125. In 1956, General Electric teamed up with Convair (X211 program) and Pratt & Whitney with Lockheed in competitive engine/airframe development to address the requirement.^[1]

In 1956, the USAF decided that the proposed WS-125 bomber was unfeasible as an operational strategic aircraft. Finally, after spending more than $1 billion, the project was cancelled on March 28, 1961.^{[citation needed]}

Powerplants

Two General Electric J87 turbojet engines were successfully powered to nearly full thrust using two shielded reactors. Two experimental engines complete with reactor systems (HTRE-3 and HTRE-1, which was modified and renamed HTRE-2) are located at the EBR-1 facility south of the Idaho National Laboratory.

Notes

^ "Aviation History: The airplane that never was". www.aopa.org. January 1, 2018. Retrieved 2024-04-18.

References

Butler, Tony (2010). American Secret Projects. Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-331-0.

This military aviation article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Aviation History: The airplane that never was". www.aopa.org. January 1, 2018. Retrieved 2024-04-18.

v t e United States Air Force system numbers
100–199	100 101 P 102 103 104 105 106¹ 107 A-1 A-2 108¹ 109¹ 110 111¹ 112 113¹ 114¹ 115¹ 116¹ 117 L M 118 A L P 119 C/F E L T Y 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127¹ 128 129 130 131 132 A B 133 134¹ 135 136¹ 137¹ 138 139 140 141¹ 142 143–197¹ 198 199 B C D Y
200–299	200 201 A/L B/W E 202 203¹ 204 205 206 207¹ 208 209¹ 210 211¹ 212 213 214 215¹ 216 217 218 219¹ 220 221 222 A G 223¹ 224 225¹ 226 227–238¹ 239 240–278¹ 279 280–298¹ 299
300–399	300 301¹ 302 303 304¹ 305¹ 306 A/L B 307 308 309 310¹ 311¹ 312¹ 313¹ 314 315 A-1 A-2 316 317 318¹ 319 320¹ 321 322¹ 323 324 L M/N 325 326 327 E 328 E 329 F 330¹ 331¹ 332¹ 333¹ 334¹ 335 336 337 338–379¹ 380 A/B/E/F/N P 381–397¹ 398 399 A B
400–499	400 B/C/N E G/H M 401 402 403¹ 404 405 B C D 406¹ 407 408¹ 409¹ 410 E L 411 E L 412 413 414 L M 415 416 L M (I) M (II) P Q 417 418 L M 419¹ 420 L/W 421¹ 422 423 424 425 426 L M 427 L M 428 A L 429 430 431 G (I) G (II) 432 433 434 435 A L 436 437 438 439 440 441 A D L 442 443 444¹ 445 L M 446 447 448¹ 449¹ 450 451 D L 452 453 454¹ 455 456 457¹ 458 459 460 L 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 L (I) L (II) 472 473 474 L N 475¹ 476 E 477 478 A T 479¹ 480 481 L 482 E L M/Z 483 484 L M N 485 L Z 486 487 488 489 490 L M 491¹ 492 493 494 495 L (I) L (II) 496 497 A L (I) L 498 A C D E L 499 A C D
500–599	500 501–519¹ 520 521–529¹ 530 531–541¹ 542 543–549¹ 550 A E 551–559¹ 560 A F 561–569¹ 570 571–579¹ 580 A E 581–589¹ 590 591 592 593–599¹
600–699	600 601 A L 602 A L 603 A L 604 605 606 607 608¹ 609 610¹ 611¹ 612¹ 613¹ 614 615¹ 616 617¹ 618 619¹ 620 621 A/B (I) B (II) 622 623 624 625 626¹ 627 628¹ 629¹ 630¹ 631¹ 632 633 634 A B 635 636¹ 637¹ 638 639 640 641 642 643 644¹ 645¹ 646¹ 647¹ 648 A D P 649 A B C D E F L P 650 651 652 653¹ 654¹ 655 A (I) A (II) P 656 657¹ 658¹ 659¹ 660 661 662¹ 663¹ 664 665 A (I) A (II) 666 A C/P 667 668 669¹ 670 671¹ 672 A M/P 673¹ 674 675 676¹ 677¹ 678¹ 679 680 681 D E 682¹ 683 A J V 684¹ 685 686 687 J P 688¹ 689¹ 690 691 C X Z 692¹ 693 694¹ 695 A B C L N P Q R S (I) S (II) 696¹ 697¹ 698¹ 699¹
700–799	700–735¹ 736 737¹ 738¹ 739¹ 740¹ 741 742 743 744¹ 745 746–753¹ 754 755–799¹
800–899	800¹ 801¹ 802 L (I) L (II) 803¹ 804¹ 805¹ 806 807 808–816¹ 817 818¹ 819¹ 820¹ 821¹ 822¹ 823 824–831¹ 832 833¹ 834 835–845¹ 846 847–899¹
900–999	900–951¹ 952 853¹ 854¹ 855¹ 956 957–967¹ 968
¹ Unknown or not assigned

WS-125

Development

Powerplants

See also

Notes

References