16. Atomic demolition munitions and suitcase bombs
Beginning in the 1950s and continuing through the 1960s, and in some cases beyond, the United States and the Soviet Union developed miniature nuclear weapons for use as mines and demolition charges. The weapons were intended to be used on the battlefield as a means of destroying advancing troop formations, forcing them to use routes which were advantageous to defending troops or changing the extant landscape in a manner which was beneficial to the defenders. The W54 warhead developed for the Davy Crockett weapons system was the basis for the design of many of these weapons, but other, even smaller nuclear weapons were adapted from it for specialized use. The Tactical Atomic Demolition Device (TADM) was a portable nuclear weapon, resembled a section of culvert pipe, and about 850 pounds. The weapon was in production from 1961 – 66, when it was withdrawn from deployment in Europe.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and with the knowledge that Soviet nuclear weapons were scattered throughout several of the former Soviet Socialist Republics, the United States and former Soviet military leaders created the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program, to ensure that all of the miniaturized Soviet nuclear weapons were located and destroyed. Euphemistically called “suitcase” bombs, these weapons posed a special concern should they fall into the hands of groups such as Chechen rebels (to the Russians) or rogue nations and terror groups (to the west). Despite persistent rumors of the existence of such weapons, no weapon or components of size compatible with the suitcase description has ever been found, or at least such a finding has never been made public. The potential existence of such weapons is a special concern of security specialists dealing with the global war on terror.