
Davy Crockett (nuclear device) - chatmasta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device)
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DanCarvajal
Theoretically it would have been pretty useful in helping suppress any Soviet
ground invasion of Western Europe, giving an entirely new scale to the
"scorched earth" strategy.

I've long had a fascination with the Cold War, but I'm glad I was only around
for about three years of it.

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atemerev
According to the Soviet defectors, this is what have ultimately saved West
Germany from a full-scale invasion similarly to what have happened to
Czechoslovakia at 1968.

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lukasLansky
Occupation of West Germany would be a much bigger deal from international
relationships standpoint than Czechoslovakia occupation was. I'm saying that
as a Czech citizen. Taking West Germany would be revisionist. Reaffirming the
fact that Czechoslovakia "belonged" to Russia? No one expected West would be
concerned, not after political decission was made during WW2 that Soviets are
going to "liberate" the land.

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atemerev
As a Russian, I am saying that taking West Germany had been the Soviet wet
dream since the beginning of the Cold War. :) Soviets were (and probably are)
just fine with revisionism, as the Ukrainian affair teaches us. See
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Days_to_the_River_Rhine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Days_to_the_River_Rhine).

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0xcde4c3db
I first heard of this as part of the backstory to Metal Gear Solid 3, and was
sure Hideo Kojima had made it up. The idea of soldiers _carrying nuclear
weapons into battle_ seemed too ridiculous to be real.

~~~
fenwick67
The flying platforms from MGS3 are real too, believe it or not, although they
never saw combat:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_X-
Jet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_X-Jet)

~~~
tomjakubowski
I am excited to learn the real-life basis for those incubator "things" in
Death Stranding.

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aaaaaaaaaab
See also: M65 atomic cannon
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M65_atomic_cannon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M65_atomic_cannon)

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ourmandave
I wonder what the standing orders were on these for forward NATO units?

Nukes at a platoon level could escalate a war very quickly.

~~~
claydavisss
read Daniel Ellserg's "The Doomsday Machine"

summary: Remote commanders had autonomy due to concerns that centralized
control could be subverted. Also, no reliable "call off the dogs" mechanism.
Centralization of control of nuclear weapons came much later than the public
believes.

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petra
How smaller than this can you get ? How close if this to the minimal "critical
mass" ?

~~~
ceejayoz
Depends on what you use.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_mass#Critical_mass_of...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_mass#Critical_mass_of_a_bare_sphere)

Apparently a sphere of Californium-252 that's 6.9cm in diameter will do the
trick.

~~~
vardina
A friend once scolded me for using the term "suitcase nuke", saying that such
were impossible and that any nuclear weapon would necessarily be far larger
than a man could carry. But the Wikipedia entry on "critical mass" indicates
that about 10 kilograms of plutonium would be sufficient to make a true
nuclear fission device. FWIW I've always heard lower values for the critical
mass weight than Wikipedia gives, but nonetheless it seems that a "suitcase
nuke" is a real possibility.

~~~
mikeash
You need a lot of other stuff around the plutonium to make it go bang, but
something that would fit in a rolling suitcase or large backpack is totally
doable. See also:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Atomic_Demolition_Mu...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Atomic_Demolition_Munition)

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rbanffy
Devices like this (residual radiation aside) would probably be extremely handy
when building infrastructure on planetary surfaces.

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bayesian_horse
And some people still wonder why Germans have an aversion towards anything
called "nuclear".

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atemerev
Why? These devices (and SADMs) literally saved West Germany from being overran
by the Soviet Union. No other option would have prevented it.

German officials _insisted_ that tactical nuclear devices would have been
deployed, even against American reservations at this time. They were right, in
hindsight.

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dingaling
SADMs and Davy Crockett couldn't repulse a massed Soviet armoured thrust. They
simply didn't have the yield and blast radius needed and were deployed in tiny
numbers. This can be deduced by the neutron-protective lining applied to
Soviet first-line tanks, they were expected to roll on through.

Massed 155mm conventional artillery was NATO's mainstay response, with ATGMs
to pick-off high-value targets like command tanks.

Later MLRS and Assault Breaker were developed, again conventional solutions.

~~~
atemerev
Yes, Soviet strategy have adapted. However, “neutron-protective lining” didn’t
properly work; however, tank armies formations were spead out to reduce the
possible radiation damage. You are right, however; tactical nuclear weapons
were deployed as a deterrent, not as a valid defense option.

