Controversy
Green Grass struggled to meet the Chiefs of Staff requirement for an Interim Megaton Weapon. It was never tested, and initially, AWRE estimated its yield at 500 kt based on the Orange Herald test of 720kt, and non-nuclear tests of the HE implosion sphere fitted with non-fissile cores. A Mr Challens of AWRE who later became the Director of AWRE then claimed to the Air Staff that
| “ | A weapon of one half megaton was considered to be in the megaton range. | ” |
A play-on-words that later returned to haunt AWRE when later estimates revised the yield to 400kt. Challens also stated on behalf of AWRE that
| “ | AWRE were almost completely sure that a nuclear explosion would not occur if the balls are in, - but in the absence of trial proof, he could not guarantee it. | ” |
The Royal Air Force was not amused, with Bomber Command Staff officers minuting their seniors with remarks like this one.
| “ | This means that Violet Club and Yellow Sun Mk.1 are not "in the megaton range" at all, notwithstanding the extraordinary measures taken, and costs involved for what we had thought to be a megaton capability. This ... lead me to the belief that production of Green Grass be curtailed. I cannot imagine any commercial organisation continuing to buy a device that so patently fails to meet the requirement, or to be misled without protest as the Air Ministry has so consistently been by AWRE. | ” |
Summing up, senior levels of the RAF believed they had been sold a 'lemon', and this further extract from the archives does much to illustrate the uncertain safety of the weapon in the hands of the inexperienced RAF.
| “ | Aircraft engines must not be run with Violet Club loaded on the aircraft with the safety device in place. The engines must not be started until the weapon is prepared for an actual operational sortie . | ” |
| “ | ... uncertainty exists about the effects of movement with the balls inserted. | ” |
The fifth and last Violet Club weapon was due for delivery to the RAF by the end of May 1959 and all were withdrawn by 1960, but in their Yellow Sun Mk.1 form they survived until 1963, when all had been replaced with Yellow Sun Mk.2 with Red Snow warheads installed. They were only used by the Avro Vulcan bomber.
Read more about this topic: Violet Club
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