Have you ever wondered what a nuclear bomb looks like? If you have, then you'll be interested to see one of the exhibits at the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Situated on the flight deck of their HMS Ark Royal Aircraft Carrier Experience is a somewhat modest looking green bomb positioned close to a Buccaneer aircraft. The bomb is a Type WE177A nuclear weapon and it was in service from 1996 - 98. Bombs like this were deployed to the aircraft carriers Victorious, Hermes, Eagle and Ark Royal (IV). The bomb is, of course, now disarmed but during service, its payload was 200 kilotons (10 times the destructive power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima) and enough to wipe out a city the size of Greater London and render it uninhabitable for many years. The bomb had four detonation options. Detonated at altitude. A radar-activated altimeter could be set to detonate at say 1,000 feet above ground for maximum blast devastation. Detonated on impact with the ground where the blast damage would be less far reaching. Detonation at a specific depth at sea for the destruction of enemy submarines.
