Tactical nuclear weapon

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

American scientists examine a mockup of a W48 155-millimeter nuclear shell, a very small tactical nuclear weapon.

U.S. and USSR/Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles, 1945–2006.

A tactical nuclear weapon (or TNW) refers to a nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations. This is as opposed to strategic nuclear weapons which are designed to threaten large populations, to damage the enemy's ability to wage war, or for general deterrence. No tactical nuclear weapon has ever been used in an actual conflict. They were a large part of the peak nuclear weapons stockpile levels during the Cold War.

Types

Tactical weapons include not only gravity bombs and short-range missiles, but also artillery shells, land mines, depth charges, and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare, with nuclear warheads. Also in this category were the former nuclear-warheaded surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), ground-based or shipborne, and air-to-air missiles.

Small, two-man portable, or truck-portable, tactical weapons (sometimes misleadingly referred to as suitcase nukes), such as the Special Atomic Demolition Munition, have been developed, although the difficulty of combining sufficient yield with portability could limit their military utility. In wartime, such explosives could be used for demolishing "choke-points" to enemy offensives, such as at tunnels, narrow mountain passes, and long viaducts.

Other new tactical weapons undergoing research include earth penetrating weapons which are designed to target enemy-held caves or deep-underground bunkers.

The yield of tactical nuclear weapons is generally lower than that of strategic nuclear weapons, but they are still very powerful, and some variable-yield warheads serve in both roles. Modern tactical nuclear warheads have yields up to the tens of kilotons, or potentially hundreds, several times that of the weapons used in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Some tactical nuclear weapons have specific features meant to enhance their battlefield characteristics, such as variable yield which allow their explosive power to be varied over a wide range for different situations, or enhanced radiation weapons (the so-called "neutron bombs") which are meant to maximize ionizing radiation exposure while minimizing blast effects.

Controversy and criticism

One famous tactical nuclear weapon was the "atomic cannon" tested in shot Upshot-Knothole Grable in 1953.

The development of tactical weapons has often been criticized along a number of grounds. Many have argued that the promise of being able to wage a "limited" nuclear war with tactical weapons is dangerously misleading, and that any confrontation between nuclear powers could lead to escalation and eventually the use of strategic weapons. Additionally, the small size of many tactical weapons make them potential targets for theft and nuclear terrorism, especially during times of political instability (such as the case of Russia immediately after the dissolution of the Soviet Union). Tactical nuclear weapons have in the past made up a large part of the nuclear arsenals of the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France, and they were a major part in the peak stockpile levels in the 1960s. For example, the British Army of the Rhine in Germany formerly was nuclear-armed, but not anymore.

Conversely, some theorists argued during the Cold War that without tactical nuclear weapons, the United States and the United Kingdom would not have had a credible threat against the large armies of the Soviet Union, since it was unlikely that they would want to be the first to use strategic nuclear weapons in warfare. Because many felt that the use of any nuclear weapons against the Soviet Union would have triggered an exchange of strategic missile launches, though, the practical distinctions between tactical and strategic weapons might not have existed, in a way.

Uses

The uses on the battlefield for TNWs would include:

• Against a large ground force
• Against a fortified underground bunker
• Against remote and/or heavily-defended target locations difficult or impossible to reach with conventional weapons
• Against a carrier battle group or any collection of surface vessels
• Against a large amphibious invasion force
• Against a 100+ vehicle supply convoy
• Against a squadron of strategic bombers

Appearances

• In the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 the player can utilize a Tactical Nuke as a "killstreak perk" in the game's multiplayer. Once the player has achieved 25 kills without dying, he may activate the device resulting in a premature ending of the game and an automatic victory for whichever team the device was detonated by. When it is detonated all the players in the match will witness a 10 second countdown next to a radioactive symbol on their screen. When the countdown reaches zero, time seems to slow down slightly, a bright white light overwhelms the screen and the player instantly dies, concluding the game.

• In Season 6 of 24 the terrorists have acquired Russian suitcase nukes, which may be considered tactical nuclear devices. In one of the first five episodes, the terrorists succeed in detonating the device in Valencia, California just as a CTU S.W.A.T. team closes in.

Common names

SADM

• Backpack nukes
• Suitcase bombs (however, this name can be misleading as it can encompass other types of non-nuclear munitions)
• Tactical nukes
• Atomic bazookas

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tactical nuclear weapons

• List of nuclear weapons

Examples

• B57 nuclear bomb
• Category:Nuclear mines
  • Blue Peacock
  • Medium Atomic Demolition Munition
• M-388 Davy Crockett
• Red Beard
• Special Atomic Demolition Munition

External links

• CRS Report for Congress