China successfully tested its version of the W-88 warhead between 1992 and 1995
Sorry to ask a very basic (and even silly to some) question, but how would China (and any other countries for that matter) know that her nuclear missiles actually work without actual tesing? Are computer tests really that reliable?
China tested a series of advanced thermonuclear warheads from 1992 to 1996 (see
). In 1995, "American experts analyzing [seismic data of] Chinese nuclear test results found similarities to America's most advanced miniature warhead, the W-88."
After the 1992 to 1996 thermonuclear tests, China knows with certainty that its version of the W-88 warhead is fully functional. China is not relying on computer simulations. China's most-advanced thermonuclear weapon designs were tested for four years to their satisfaction.
"China...Nuclear Secrets...
By JAMES RISEN and JEFF GERTH
March 6, 1999
WASHINGTON -- Working with nuclear secrets stolen from a U.S. government laboratory, China has made a leap in the development of nuclear weapons: the miniaturization of its bombs, according to administration officials.
Until recently, China's nuclear weapons designs were a generation behind those of the United States, largely because Beijing was unable to produce small warheads that could be launched from a single missile at multiple targets and form the backbone of a modern nuclear force.
But by the mid-1990s, China had built and tested such small bombs, a breakthrough that officials say was accelerated by the theft of U.S. nuclear secrets from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
The espionage is believed to have occurred in the mid-1980s, officials said. But it was not detected until 1995, when
American experts analyzing Chinese nuclear test results found similarities to America's most advanced miniature warhead, the W-88. (article continues)"
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The W88 is a United States thermonuclear warhead, with an estimated yield of 475 kiloton (kt), and is small enough to fit on MIRVed missiles. The W88 was designed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1970s. In 1999 the director of Los Alamos who had presided over its design described it as "The most advanced U.S. nuclear warhead."[1]
The Trident II SLBM can be armed with up to 8 W88 (475 kt) warheads (Mark 5) or 8 W76 (100 kt) warheads (Mark 4), but it is limited to 4 warheads under SORT."
