For Dr Strangelove

[vetran]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...BOMB-legs.html

As they finished briefing the group, another vehicle pulled up, containing a box the men were more than familiar with.

They had been training for one like it for many hours; or at least, an inert version of it. This time, however, they were about to use the real thing.

The SADM (Special Atomic Demolition Munition) was a top secret nuclear weapon no different from the one dropped on Hiroshima, but with one crucial difference: it was small enough to fit inside a rucksack.

In his new book We Defy, about the lost chapters of Special Forces history, Jack Murphy reveals the US military's special nuclear program - called Green Light - was developed in 1962, in preparation for World War III, and remained an active part of its training until 1986.

[DoctorStrangelove]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Atomic_Demolition_Munition

https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa.../Allbombs.html

I wonder how they got the 20T yield of the Mk54 up to 1kT for the SADM.

Still bigger than a briefcase. .

Neat getting spherical implosion on something that small. .

https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq4-2.html

The W54 warhead used in the Davy Crockett had a minimum mass of about 23 kg, and had yields ranging from 10 tons up to 1 kt in various mods (probably achieved by varying the fissile content).

The warhead was basically egg-shaped with the minor axis of 27.3 cm and a major axis of 40 cm.

The W-54 probably represents a near minimum diameter for a spherical implosion device (the U.S. has conducted tests of a 25.4 cm implosion system however).

Using an advanced flying plate design it is possible to compress a 1 kg plutonium mass sufficiently to produce a yield in the 100 ton range.

This design has an important implication on the type of fissile material that can be used.

The high compression implies fast insertion times, while the low mass implies a low Pu-240 content.

Taken together this means that a much higher Pu-240 content than normal weapon grade plutonium could be used in this type of design without affecting performance.

In fact ordinary reactor grade plutonium would be as effective as weapon grade material for this use.

Fusion boosting could produce yields exceeding 1 kt with this system.

Ooooer, Mrs.