Скачать или смотреть The World’s Smallest Tactical Nuke: The W54, a Bomb That Could Fit in A Man-Portable Carry Case

The Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) was a classified nuclear weapons program developed by the United States Navy in the 1960s. It utilized the W54 nuclear warhead, which was housed in an H-912 container and deployed by Special Operations Forces.

A two-man team was assigned to place the device at its target, set the timer, and make a rapid escape. For extraction, the team was typically retrieved by a submarine or a high-speed watercraft, allowing for a quick and discreet exit.

The W54, also known as the Mark 54 or B54, was a tactical nuclear warhead developed in the late 1950s. It is notable for being the smallest nuclear weapon ever deployed by the United States, both in weight and explosive yield.

The compact design featured a plutonium-239 implosion device, with modifications enabling yields ranging from 10 to 1,000 tons of TNT (42 to 4,184 gigajoules). The warhead had two primary applications: one version was integrated into the AIM-26 Falcon air-to-air missile and the Davy Crockett recoilless gun, while another was specifically designed for the SADM system.

Development of the man-portable version began in June 1960, leading to the creation of an interim model, the Mark 54 Mod 0 (later B54-0), in April 1963. A more refined version, the B54 Mod 1, entered production in August 1964. The weapon measured 12 inches (305 mm) in diameter, 18 inches (457 mm) in length, and weighed 58.5 pounds (26.5 kg). It included a warhead, a fuzing and firing system with a mechanical timer, a ferroelectric firing set, and a sealed housing.

The warhead’s body was constructed using aluminum forgings and molded fiberglass, with foam-rubber insulation between the warhead and its casing. To support nighttime operations, tritium-phosphor paint illuminated the dials, and a specialized housing allowed for underwater deployment with external controls.

In June 1965, production of the B54 Mod 2 began. While it retained similar dimensions, the Mod 2 incorporated design improvements and weighed slightly more, at 70 pounds (32 kg).

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