When elite US forces strapped nukes to their backs

Stars & Stripes ^ | February 9, 2014 | Adam Rawnsley and David Brown

[Timber Rattler]

As Capt. Tom Davis stands at the tailgate of the military cargo plane, the night air sweeps through the hold. His eyes search the black terrain 1,200 feet below. He grips the canvas of his reserve parachute and takes a deep breath.

Davis and the men who make up his Special Forces A-team are among the most highly trained soldiers in the U.S. Army. It's 1972, and Davis isn't far removed from a tour in Vietnam, where he operated along the Cambodian border. His communications sergeant served in Command and Control North, which was responsible for some of the most daring operations in the heart of North Vietnamese territory. But none of the men has ever been on a mission like this before.

Their plan: drop into Eastern Europe, make their way undetected through forested mountains, and destroy a heavy-water plant used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.

(snip)

For 25 years, during the latter half of the Cold War, the United States actually did deploy man-portable nuclear destruction in the form of the B-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM).

Soldiers from elite Army engineer and Special Forces units, as well as Navy SEALs and select Marines, trained to use the bombs, known as "backpack nukes," on battlefronts from Eastern Europe to Korea to Iran — part of the U.S. military's effort to ensure the containment and, if necessary, defeat of communist forces.

[DCBryan1]

We got some training on these at NNSA/OST even though they were being dismantled at Pantex. Very interesting and very specific uses. IIRC OSINT says they were very very maintanence heavy and DoD was glad to be rid of them.

[DCBryan1]

If there were,where are they now?

Disassembled. Plutonium re-enriched and stored at Pantex or Albuquerque, NM.

[zek157]

Here’s a good video. Apparently Bobby Kennedy watched a test. Yes, crew was irradiated as it only had a 3 mile range.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khyZI3RK2lE

[DuncanWaring]

“You ever do this?” Ping.

[PapaBear3625]

From the link of post #12:

on July 17, a Davy Crockett was fired from a stationary 155 millimeter launcher (in tandem with simulated battlefield manuevers under Operation IVY FLATS) and detonated about 20 feet above the ground at a distance of 9,357 feet (1.7 miles) from the launch point (yield was 18 tons).

One and a half miles is well outside the blast radius of 18 tons of TNT. You might get some fallout if you hang around, but you WOULDN'T be hanging around. You would fire, get in your jeep (or better yet, APC) and get out of there.

From a prepared position on a hill top or ridge (to increase range), you would fire, run down the hill to have the hill between you and any gamma rays from the blast, and then into your vehicle.

[LyinLibs]

Why are they publishing this now?

Is this their ‘story’ after Obama slips a tac nuke to al-Qaeda and they vaporize Charleston harbor?

They’ll blame Billy Bob AWOL backpack nuke officer from Milwaukee. Or they’ll just blame an offensive YouTube video.

[The Great RJ]

It is scary to think that this type weapon could fall into the hands of Islamic terrorists and be easily smuggled into the US through our porous borders. Presumably the Russian back pack nukes have all been accounted for, but the plans for such weapons could have been put into the hands of those capable producing them like the Iranians.

[kennyboy509]

I have one in my garage.

I bought it at a yard sale.

[TurboZamboni]

Sounds like the Polish nuclear hand grenade joke.

[tomkat]

.. equivalent to 10 tons of TNT ..

i don't care who ya are, that's still a mighty big BOOM right there !

[DCBryan1]

Russian back pack nukes have all been accounted for

Lets hope so. NNSA/DOE sent alot of OST types to Russia from 92-2005-ish. IIRC, the backpack nukes were the least of their concern, and even the Russians said they were unreliable because of fusing and the constant tritium?? refueling. They said their backpack nukes had a 30% chance of going off at the desired yield past 1985 or so, and even less reliable in the mid-90s. Russian maintanence of their nukes were sub-standard up to the mid-1990s. They had LOTS of space, lots of bunkers, and lots of conscripts to guard them....and they could always make more new ones.

Anyways, it took ten years of US taxpayer money, in the BILLIONS to secure most of the Russian nuclear material, warheads, and delivery system.

They are up to date now with a pretty good storage and maintenance program, mainly due to the muzzy threat and unpaid science and engineer types in Russia.....and yes, your taxpayer dollars paid for back salaries + bonus' for Russian nuclear program personnel.

Some of our JSOC personnel got the Strategic Rocket Forces (or whatever they are called now) up to speed on physical security measures and QRF tactics that we use. Up until then, they would typically fly an officer in a helicoptor to the facility to see what was up before activating a full QRF/counter action team. Maybe Travis knows some OSINT on this?

[DCBryan1]

and be easily smuggled into the US through our porous borders.

DOE had a few missions with Mexican military to see if they could sneak in a large box into the US with a simulated tacnuc...they succeeded a half dozen times and reported it to Congress, who ignored it.

Same type of operation when TSA FAMs smuggle drugs and guns through airports to see if security catches it.

[onedoug]

“A Beautiful Mind”

[njslim]

problem was the lethal radius for even the smallest
Davy Crockett (10 ton, .01 KT) was 350 meters for 500 rem radiation (400 meters for the larger 20 ton warhead)

This minimum range was inside the lethal radius

Another problem wa that Davy Crockett used a mechanical timer to detomate - the firing crew would have to consult
a range chart to calc

uate time of flight to target and set
fuse accordingly. Strong head or cross winds could slow the
projectile and cause it to burst short.

There were 2 Davy Crockett - 120 mm with max range of 2000
meters (1.25 mile) and larger 155 mm with max range of 400 meters (2.5 miles)

here is calculator to determine lethal radius of nuclear
weapon - need Excel (or something similar or calculator to do fractional exponent)

Yield in tons ( 1kilton = 100 tones, 1 megaton = 1 million)

Divide by 2500

Take result and raise to .41 power for thermal
.33 power for blast
.19 for radiation

ie yield (Y) (.4^.19)
1 kiloton = 1000 ton

y= 1000/2500

y^.41 = blast (4.7 psi over pressure)
Y ^.33 = thermal ( 3rd burn on exposed skin)
Y ^.19 = radiation (500 rem dose)

result is in meters

[MasterGunner01]

Let us not forget the US Army actually fielded a real live version of the “atomic grenade” called the Davy Crockett weapon system. From 1961 to 1971, the Davy Crockett was deployed by US Army units. Davy Crockett was either a 120mm recoilless rifle (M28) or a slightly larger and longer ranged, increased yield 155mm variant (M29). In both cases the payload was a tactical nuclear warhead called the W54.

The problem for the Davy Crockett crews was they were still WITHIN the blast radius of the weapon they launched to stop the advancing forces of The Evil Empire! Soldiers we told to fire the weapon from behind prominent natural cover or, failing that, to dig a deep slit trench. The W28 weapon was deployed on a tripod and fired remotely like the current M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel mine. The larger M29 variant was usually deployed from an M38A1D jeep conversion so the crew could “shoot and scoot”. The M29 launcher also carried a 37 mm spotting gun underneath the barrel as a targeting aid for the Davy Crockett launch crew. Firing of the M29 from the jeep was also done remotely.

Here's the Davy Crockett story: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device).

[donozark]

The Mu Gia Pass in N. Vietnam was a proposed target for such an attack. Tons of military supplies flowed freely through this pass, and down the Ho Chi Minh Trail into Laos and entered S. Vietnam via the A Shau/A Luoi Valley. As far back as 1966 plans were formulated to drop a SOG Team or similar clandestine operators in via HALO. Armed with a small back pack nuke.

The purpose being to place the nuke in such a manner as to collapse the mountain pass and seal off the roadway. Obviously, this was not done...

[pluvmantelo]

Fascinating. Thanks for posting.

[DCBryan1]

It should have been done, and Mac should have nuked the commies on the Yalu river. September 12, 2001, we should have worked with the Russians to get rid of all nuclear weapons by firing them on the Muzzies. Pros: Get rid of nukes, get rid of muzzies, get rid of global warming due to nuclear winter ;) Trifecta!