throw-weight

noun

1. the lifting power, or payload maximum, of a ballistic missile exclusive of the weight of the rocket itself, and including the weight of the warhead or warheads and of guidance and penetration systems; ballistic delivery power: larger Soviet missiles with a throw weight of up to 20 megatons.

noun

1. the maximum weight of supplementary mechanisms that can be lifted by the boost stages of a particular missile

The size of the nuclear warhead or set of warheads that a missile, such as a ballistic missile, can carry. A nation might make up for the inaccuracy of its missiles by increasing their throw-weight.