We have already told you something about the SOVIET NUCLEAR MORTAR. Of course, the United States did not lag behind us in this direction. But they decided to go even further …
On July 17, 1962, a cortege of scientists, military, and dignitaries crossed the remote desert in southern Nevada to witness the historic event. Among them were VIPs such as Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Presidential Adviser General Maxwell D. Taylor, who had come to witness the trial launch of Little Lumberjack I, the final stage of Operation Sunbeam. The highlight of the program was a mysterious device mounted on the roof of an armored personnel carrier called the Davy Crockett Weapon System.
It was one of the smallest examples of tactical nuclear weapons. The mine released from it flew 2-2.5 km and carried a charge equivalent to 10-20 tons of TNT.
The mortar was named after the American folk hero, Congressman Davey Crockett. The weapon received the code designation "M-28" and was intended for use in Western Europe in case the Soviet troops decided to attack NATO countries. The Davey Crockett mine was based on the W-54 nuclear warhead and weighed about 35 kg. The process of firing from the M-28 was somewhat reminiscent of the work of an ordinary mortar. The mine was mounted on a launch tube attached to a tripod and fired with a powder charge.
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After the USA and the USSR developed the first nuclear bombs, the development of this type of weapons went in two directions. The first of them consisted in "weighting" - increasing power and creating new delivery vehicles, which eventually led to the emergence of strategic ballistic missiles and charges, whose destructive capabilities are beyond common sense. The second way, now half-forgotten, is to reduce the size and power of nuclear devices. In the United States, this path culminated in the creation of a system called "Davy Crockett" and firing small nuclear missiles.
The only possible delivery vehicle for the first nuclear bombs developed in the USA and the USSR in the 40s of the XX century was heavy bomber aircraft. Meanwhile, the military dreamed of getting their hands on nuclear weapons that could be used in the field, without the use of heavy aircraft. For this, the dimensions of the bombs had to be significantly reduced. Already in the late 1950s, significant progress was noted in this area. The first nuclear weapons appeared, which were able to be placed inside an artillery shell.
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At the same time, the first nuclear cannons were clumsy and cumbersome enough to be used with sufficient efficiency during hostilities. Instead of dragging huge artillery systems to combat positions, which were necessary to launch shells weighing a ton, it was much easier to use conventional bombers. However, by the beginning of the 1960s, the size of nuclear charges had been reduced so much that they could be fired from conventional field howitzers. It was then that nuclear weapons became a full-fledged part of a tactical type of weapons.
The Davy Crockett recoilless weapon, created in the USA in 1961, became the limit of minimization and simplicity of the ever created nuclear artillery systems. This development was based on a primitive recoilless gun that fired projectiles developed on the basis of the W-54 nuclear warhead. The use of a recoilless design significantly reduced the firing range, while allowing you to completely get rid of recoil, making the gun stable, high-speed and fairly easy to use.
Davy Crockett (an American politician and military leader who lived in the 19th century and became a folk hero) is an ultimatum expression of the tendency to saturate the ground forces with tactical nuclear weapons. In fact, it was a battalion-level tactical nuclear weapon. 2 of these guns were included in the motorized infantry and airborne battalions. This weapon system consisted of two launchers - M28 and M29 and an M388 over-caliber projectile. The projectile had a caliber of 279 mm and a weight of about 34 kg, its adjustable power ranged from 0.01 to 0.25 kilotons. The projectile could be used in both installations. The main damaging factor of this nuclear weapon was penetrating radiation.
The M28 and M29 launchers differed in caliber. The first had a caliber of 120 mm., The second - 155 mm, they also differed in weight - 49 and 180 kg. and firing range - 2 km and 4 km, respectively. The lighter installation, the M28, was intended primarily for arming the airborne units. At the same time, the outwardly attractive system had a number of fatal flaws. In particular, low firing accuracy (dispersion when firing from the M29 at the maximum range reached about 300 meters), insufficient range, and, as a result, a high probability of hitting its own troops. This was the reason that the system, which was put into service in 1961, lasted only 10 years in the army and was removed from service in 1971.
In appearance, the shells for installation most of all resembled an oblong melon with small stabilizers. With dimensions of 78 by 28 cm and a weight of 34 kilograms, the projectile was too large to fit inside the barrel. Therefore, it was attached to the end of a metal rod extending into the barrel. The 120-mm installation made it possible to throw such a "melon" for 2 km, and the 155-mm analogue for 4 km. At the same time, the system was easily installed on any mobile chassis, including an army jeep. If necessary, the crew could quickly enough dismantle the gun from the vehicle and put it on a tripod.
The Nuclear Fighting Group served in the defense of Europe between 1961 and 1971, and in those ten years, 2,100 Davy Crocketts were put into service. In the event of a Soviet invasion, these elite units had to stand in the way of the deploying army order. After being placed in positions, a lot of mathematical calculations had to establish the required trajectories and the estimated flight time to targets so that the warheads could inflict maximum damage. A test shot from the integrated 37mm sighting gun should have confirmed the correct angle and timing. Then three people of the gun crew had to remove the projectile from the transport box, set a timer to detonate the warhead about six meters above the target, and set the desired explosion power within ten or twenty tons.
After receiving the order to fire, Davy Crockett took off in a cloud of smoke, and in a long arc rushed into the sky towards the marching enemy. The simplest atomic bomb was not equipped with a detonation cancellation circuit, so that once Davy Crockett took off, he was calculated solely to destroy his target. Despite the presence of a sighting gun and a rifled barrel, both Davy Crockett's modifications were not very accurate, so the explosion could well have happened a few hundred meters from the target. I must say that fairly small projectiles did not cause too much damage even at maximum detonation settings. However, the weapon's ability to spread radiation over the battlefield counterbalanced its shortcomings in the role of artillery.
Under the main barrel of the recoilless gun, a 37-mm gun was attached, serving as a sighting gun. It was necessary to calculate the trajectory of the shot (after all, you can't really target nuclear shells). Of course, the spread when firing at long distances could exceed 200 meters, but this was compensated by the power of the charge and penetrating radiation. Immediately after the shot, the crew had to take refuge in the nearest folds of the terrain or in pre-dug trenches in order to protect themselves from the damaging factors of a nearby nuclear explosion. The detonation of the bomb was carried out using a timer, which had to be set before firing in such a way that the tactical ammunition would explode in the air while over the target. This significantly increased the lethality.
Less than one minute after the shot, the projectile was detonated over the affected area. Today, little is known about the internal structure of this projectile, but most likely it contained a 12-kg piece of plutonium in a beryllium sheath. During detonation, a special explosive charge, using carefully calculated shock waves, created a cavity in the center of the plutonium charge and pressed the radioactive material, starting a nuclear reaction. The beryllium coating increased the effectiveness of the weapon by reflecting the generated neutrons back into the work area, allowing them to fission as many nuclei as possible. This growing chain reaction generated colossal energy.
Every person within a radius of 400 meters from the epicenter of the explosion of this charge almost inevitably died. Those who found themselves within a radius of 150 meters received such a dose of radiation that they died within minutes or hours, even if they were under the cover of tank armor. People located at a distance of 300 meters from the epicenter experienced bouts of nausea and temporary weakness, which passed quickly enough, but this was a deceptive phenomenon, after a few days they would have died a painful death. Those fortunate enough to be more than 400 meters away had a better chance of survival, but many of them would require intensive treatment, and some would never be able to get rid of their wounds. Persons who find themselves at a distance of more than 500 meters from the epicenter,would be lucky enough to avoid most of the damaging factors of the explosion, but the subsequent mutation of their DNA over time could lead to the development of cancer.
The timers used to equip the shells of the Davy Crockett recoilless gun made it possible to detonate even at a distance of 300 meters from the launch point, in which case the calculation of the gun itself perished. But such an application was considered only as a last resort. It was planned to meet the approaching troops of the Warsaw Pact member states at a distance of 1.5 km, which excluded the possibility of hitting the gun crew with radiation. Even if the inaccuracy of the installation led to insignificant losses among the enemy troops, radioactive contamination of the area would make it impassable for a period of at least 48 hours, which would give the NATO armed forces time to mobilize and regroup.
The main purpose of "Davy Crockett" was to confront the Soviet tank columns, which, in the opinion of Western strategists, could attack Western Europe at the beginning of the Third World War. These recoilless guns were equipped with special battle groups that were on duty at the borders of the Warsaw Pact countries in the period from 61 to 71 years of the last century. In total, about 2,000 of these guns were deployed throughout Europe. However, in the early 1970s, the parties came to the conclusion that full-scale hostilities between them were apparently impossible, and small nuclear charges quickly lost their significance. All this led to the decline of "Davy Crockett", while conventional weapons were quite enough for waging wars in third world countries.
In addition to being the smallest nuclear device ever developed in the United States, Davy Crockett was also the last nuclear weapon tested in the atmosphere. The 1962 test run in the Nevada desert confirmed the effectiveness of the concept. With a destructive capacity of 20 tons in TNT equivalent and the size of a melon, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to bypass this munition in terms of destruction efficiency per 1 cubic centimeter of volume. Moreover, even such a small ammunition could trigger such a chain reaction that could lead to the complete extinction of humanity.
The trials were codenamed Little Feller I and Little Feller II (Little Lumberjack 1 and Little Lumberjack 2). Robert Kennedy personally watched the nuclear land mine flying out of Davey Crockett.
In the late 60s, the mortar was removed from service. Now, several of its samples are kept in American military museums.
During Little Feller's tests, the US military tested another small tactical nuclear weapon - the so-called. "Special Nuclear Landmine". It was a metal satchel with a nuclear filling. The knapsack could be carried by one soldier and had a capacity of about 15 kilotons in TNT equivalent.
Video: chronicle of Little Feller's trials: