Although the term, WMD, has become a part of our daily lexicon, it remains very much an abstraction for most of us. When most people here the word “weapon of mass destruction” they just think of a nuclear bomb, which isn’t the case. The actual definition of a weapon of mass destruction is, a weapon that can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e.g. buildings), natural structures (e.g. mountains), or the biosphere in general. Although the term, WMD, has become a part of our daily lexicon, it remains very much an abstraction for most of us. This series of images offers a retrospective look at some of these weapons. Most of my subjects are drawn from the Cold War period during which there was a very real threat to the survival of civilization itself. The last sixty years has seen a frenzied tango between strategy and technology that has left us with the chilling array of doomsday machines seen here.This series of images offers a retrospective look at some of these weapons.

“The Gadget” (Trinity Atomic Bomb) 1945

“Little Boy” (Hiroshima Atomic Bomb) 1945


“Bockscar” (Nagasaki B-29 Bomber) 1945

“Fat Man” (Nagasaki Atomic Bomb) 1945

B-36 Strategic Bomber 1948

Mk-17 Thermonuclear Bomb 1954

B-36 Bomb Bay 1948

B-47 Strategic Bomber 1951

Mk-6 Atomic Bomb 1951

B-52 Strategic Bomber 1955

M65 280mm Atomic Cannon 1951

Atlas-D ICBM 1959

USS Lewis and Clark Ballistic Missile Submarine 1965

Inertial Guidance Module, Peacekeeper (MX) ICBM 1986

B-1B Strategic Bomber 1986

Midgetman ICBM Hardened Mobile Launcher1988

B-2 Strategic Bomber 1989