Operation Fusileer Explained

See also: List of nuclear weapons tests of the United States.

Fusileer
Country:United States
Test Site:NTS Area 12, Rainier Mesa; NTS Area 19, 20, Pahute Mesa; NTS, Areas 1–4, 6–10, Yucca Flat
Period:1983–1984
Number Of Tests:16
Test Type:underground shaft, tunnel
Max Yield:150ktTNT
Next Series:Operation Grenadier

Operation Fusileer was a series of 16 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in 1983–1984 at the Nevada Test Site. These tests followed the Operation Phalanx series and preceded the Operation Grenadier series.

United States' Fusileer series tests and detonations
- !style="background:#ffdead;" Name [1] !style="background:#efefef;" Date time (UT) !style="background:#ffdead;" Local time zone[2] [3] !style="background:#efefef;" Location[4] !style="background:#ffdead;" Elevation + height [5] !style="background:#efefef;" Delivery [6]
Purpose [7] !style="background:#efefef;" 		Device[8] !style="background:#ffdead;" Yield[9] !style="background:#efefef;" class="unsortable" Fallout[10] !style="background:#ffdead;" class="unsortable" References !style="background:#efefef;" class="unsortable" Notes - ! Muggins 16:00:00.11 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3ls 37.0127°N -116.0464°W 1188m (3,898feet) – 243.84m (800feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Romano 18:30:00.09 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U2ex 37.1404°N -116.0729°W 1287m (4,222feet) – 515m (1,690feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		I-131 venting detected, 0 - ! Gorbea 15:30:00.085 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U2cq 37.1133°N -116.1223°W 1344m (4,409feet) – 388m (1,273feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 12Ci - ! Midas Myth/Milagro 17:00:00.11 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U12t.04 37.2214°N -116.1816°W 2044m (6,706feet) – 360.9m (1,184.1feet) tunnel,
weapon effect 		14 injured, 1 died in unexpected crater collapse following test; the only fatality from testing at NTS. Unlike other tunnel tests, Milagro required high speed video links, so a data trailer park was built above it. - ! Tortugas 17:45:00.09 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3gg 37.0657°N -116.0472°W 1216m (3,990feet) – 638.6m (2,095.1feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Agrini 14:30:00.084 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U2ev 37.1465°N -116.0851°W 1304m (4,278feet) – 320m (1,050feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected on site, 690Ci - ! Orkney 13:50:00.09 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U10be 37.1984°N -116.0548°W 1351m (4,432feet) – 210m (690feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 0.5Ci - ! Bellow 16:00:00.085 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4ac 37.0924°N -116.0941°W 1266m (4,154feet) – 207.3m (680.1feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Caprock 13:04:00.102 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4q 37.1033°N -116.0497°W 1237m (4,058feet) – 599.85m (1,968.01feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 0.1Ci - ! Duoro 15:15:00.088 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3lv 37.0004°N -116.044°W 1180m (3,870feet) – 379.78m (1,246feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Normanna 14:00:00.087 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U10cb 37.1919°N -116.0353°W 1315m (4,314feet) – 200m (700feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Kappeli 15:30:00.084 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U20am 37.2677°N -116.4115°W 1982m (6,503feet) – 640m (2,100feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 12Ci - ! Correo 15:00:00.09 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U3lw 37.0168°N -116.0085°W 1182m (3,878feet) – 334.1m (1,096.1feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		W84[11] - ! Dolcetto 14:45:00.102 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U7bi 37.0898°N -116.0002°W 1291m (4,236feet) – 365.15m (1,198feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Wexford 14:45:00.0 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U2cr 37.1439°N -116.1262°W 1376m (4,514feet) – 314m (1,030feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		- ! Breton 14:00:00.0 PST (–8 hrs)
NTS Area U4ar 37.0864°N -116.0724°W 1238m (4,062feet) – 483.11m (1,585.01feet) underground shaft,
weapons development 		Venting detected, 4Ci

Notes and References

  1. The US, France and Great Britain have code-named their test events, while the USSR and China did not, and therefore have only test numbers (with some exceptions  - Soviet peaceful explosions were named). Word translations into English in parentheses unless the name is a proper noun. A dash followed by a number indicates a member of a salvo event. The US also sometimes named the individual explosions in such a salvo test, which results in "name1  - 1(with name2)". If test is canceled or aborted, then the row data like date and location discloses the intended plans, where known.
  2. To convert the UT time into standard local, add the number of hours in parentheses to the UT time; for local daylight saving time, add one additional hour. If the result is earlier than 00:00, add 24 hours and subtract 1 from the day; if it is 24:00 or later, subtract 24 hours and add 1 to the day. Historical time zone data obtained from the IANA time zone database.
  3. Web site: Time Zone Historical Database. iana.com. March 8, 2014.
  4. Rough place name and a latitude/longitude reference; for rocket-carried tests, the launch location is specified before the detonation location, if known. Some locations are extremely accurate; others (like airdrops and space blasts) may be quite inaccurate. "~" indicates a likely pro-forma rough location, shared with other tests in that same area.
  5. Elevation is the ground level at the point directly below the explosion relative to sea level; height is the additional distance added or subtracted by tower, balloon, shaft, tunnel, air drop or other contrivance. For rocket bursts the ground level is "N/A". In some cases it is not clear if the height is absolute or relative to ground, for example, Plumbbob/John. No number or units indicates the value is unknown, while "0" means zero. Sorting on this column is by elevation and height added together.
  6. Atmospheric, airdrop, balloon, gun, cruise missile, rocket, surface, tower, and barge are all disallowed by the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Sealed shaft and tunnel are underground, and remained useful under the PTBT. Intentional cratering tests are borderline; they occurred under the treaty, were sometimes protested, and generally overlooked if the test was declared to be a peaceful use.
  7. Include weapons development, weapon effects, safety test, transport safety test, war, science, joint verification and industrial/peaceful, which may be further broken down.
  8. Designations for test items where known, "?" indicates some uncertainty about the preceding value, nicknames for particular devices in quotes. This category of information is often not officially disclosed.
  9. Estimated energy yield in tons, kilotons, and megatons. A ton of TNT equivalent is defined as 4.184 gigajoules (1 gigacalorie).
  10. Radioactive emission to the atmosphere aside from prompt neutrons, where known. The measured species is only iodine-131 if mentioned, otherwise it is all species. No entry means unknown, probably none if underground and "all" if not; otherwise notation for whether measured on the site only or off the site, where known, and the measured amount of radioactivity released.
  11. News: Couch . Lt Col (Ret) Robert . 2021-03-01 . JCMPO and the W-84 Warhead . 2024-01-11 . Air Force Missileers: The Quarterly Newsletter of the Association of Air Force Missileers . 11 . PDF . 29 . 1 . the underground nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site of Fusileer-Correo, a low yield nuclear option, that demonstrated that the W-84 actually worked with all its safety features in place!.

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