Kjernevåpen – typer, kategorier og leveringsmidler

The concepts of categorization of nuclear weapons are many, and may lead to confusion and uncertainty. This report is an attempt to systematize the most important concepts in the field of nuclear weapons. It presents an overview of the different categories of nuclear weapons and means of delivery. The report is based on open, unclassified sources. This report presents five different ways of categorizing nuclear weapons. These are: 1. Weapons technology 2. Intended use 3. Means of delivery 4. Operational status 5. Names or model designations The report shows that it is not only a huge number of expressions and concepts in each of the categories. There are also nuclear weapons systems and fields with different names, but with the same explanation and function. The definitions of missile ranges differ, and the name of a given type of missile may be different depending on country and language. In some cases there are no established Norwegian translations of English concepts, and this report therefore makes use of both English and Norwegian terms where appropriate. A list of abbreviations and concepts can be found at the end of the report.