The W54 is the smallest nuclear warhead ever deployed, weighing just over 50 pounds. It was used by specially trained infantry units and in the Davy Crockett recoilless rifle. Its low weight made it ideal for the Special Atomic Demolition Munition project.
The W54 is the smallest nuclear warhead deployed by the United States and the smallest known nuclear warhead overall. It is similar in size to a computer printer, measuring 10.75 inches (270 mm) in diameter, about 15.7 inches long (400 mm), and weighing slightly more than 50 pounds (23 kg). The W54’s low weight made it ideal for deployment with specially trained infantry units, such as those stationed in West Germany during the Cold War.
The W54 warhead can fit into a large backpack, and a US Navy and Marines design in the mid to late 1960s was developed to take advantage of this. Called the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) project, it involved a paratrooper descending to a valuable target, such as a port, deploying the atomic bomb, then swimming out to sea and being picked up by a submarine or high-speed surface craft . Around this time the W54 package would be detonated and the value target detonated.
Another application of the W54 was in the Davy Crockett recoilless rifle, which was more like a mortar than a rifle. Operated by a three-man crew, the nuclear-armed Davy Crocketts would have been used to defend Europe from the Soviets if they invaded during the Cold War. These devices were dial-a-yield, meaning the yield could be set between 10 and 250 tons, enough to vaporize an area equal to several city blocks and deliver a lethal dose of radiation to everything within 400m , even at the lowest setting. With the W54, a team of just three American soldiers could have eliminated hundreds or even thousands of Soviet troops.
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