U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Project

This project was completed in August 1998 and resulted in the book Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 edited by Stephen I. Schwartz. These project pages are only occassionally updated and should be considered historical.

P-3 Orion Antisubmarine Warfare Plane



The Navy's P-3 Orion antisubmarine warfare plane (shown here as a prototype model in December 1960) is deployed from coastal bases to locate and if necessary destroy enemy submarines. Its unusual tail houses a magnetic anomaly detector, to detect large metallic objects underwater. In addition to conventional armament, the aircraft could carry two B57 nuclear depth bombs (these weapons were retired in 1993).

Credit: U.S. Navy