r/nuclearweapons • u/wombatstuffs • 1d ago
New Tech Sounding rocket test helps design components for new weapon system
https://newsreleases.sandia.gov/atrax_test/From the news article:
AUGUST 31, 2026
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A sounding rocket flight test is giving engineers at Sandia National Laboratories real-world reentry vibration data they can use to improve modeling and help drive nonnuclear component designs for the United States’ first new nuclear weapon under development in nearly 30 years.
“The Atrax sounding rocket flight test is helping us improve credibility and confidence in our modeling and simulation tools in preparation for the W93 warhead,” said Ross Wagnild, an aerospace engineer at Sandia. “Getting confidence in our toolset earlier allows more time to inform the design of components.”
Engineers and scientists are developing the W93 warhead for the sea-based leg of the triad, alongside a reentry vehicle that safeguards and carries the warhead to its target.
Sounding rockets are suborbital vehicles used to carry experiments and instruments, allowing researchers to collect data in flight without the scope of a full program test. In Atrax, the goal was to measure reentry conditions, where aerodynamic forces and structural response can interact in complex ways and are difficult to replicate on the ground.
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The Atrax test was completed quickly, within about 18 months of being funded, in part because it did not need to mirror the final fielded system.
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The team also incorporated other technologies into this test, including a new reentry vehicle, a three-stage sounding rocket and a new separation system.