During a Jan. 31 test, the newly developed 1,000-pound-class warhead set a record when it punched through 19 feet, 3 inches of a 20-foot, 330-ton, steel rod-reinforced concrete block rated at 12,600 pounds per square inch compressive strength. In fewer than 10 milliseconds, the
explosion delivered into the target more than 110 million foot-pounds of energy via a high- velocity jet of molten metal.

Raytheon’s large shape-charged test was the first against a target built to withstand more than 10,000 psi. Most conventional weapons in the same weight class as Raytheon’s precursor warhead cannot penetrate targets rated at more than 6,000 psi.

“Bunkers are getting harder and deeper, and high-value ones are extremely well protected,” said Harry Schulte, Missile Systems’ vice president, Strike product line. According to Schulte, innovative engineering techniques enabled Raytheon’s engineers to take the warhead from the drawing board to the proving grounds in fewer than nine months.

“Now that we’ve demonstrated it’s possible to create a conventional warhead that weighs approximately 1,000 pounds and provides unmatched capability, we’re looking at scaling the technology,” Schulte said. “We believe we can place a warhead that uses this new technology on any strike weapon system in the inventory in 18 months or less.”

Raytheon engineers believe Tandem Warhead System, which is lighter and more powerful than current conventional systems, is suited for weapons with long standoff range and greater survivability against enemy threats.