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词条 Davy Crockett (nuclear device)
释义

  1. Development

  2. Proposed German military use

  3. In Fiction

  4. Museum examples

  5. References

  6. Further reading

  7. External links

The M-28 or M-29 Davy Crockett Weapon System was the tactical nuclear recoilless gun (smoothbore) for firing the M-388 nuclear projectile that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War. It was one of the smallest nuclear weapon systems ever built, with a yield between 10 and 20 tons TNT equivalent (40–80 gigajoules).

It is named after American folk hero, soldier, and congressman Davy Crockett.

Development

The Davy Crockett recoilless spigot gun was developed in the late 1950s for use against Soviet and North Korean armor and troops in case war broke out in Europe or the Korean peninsula. Davy Crockett Sections were assigned to United States Army Europe and Eighth United States Army armor and mechanized and non-mechanized infantry battalions. During alerts to the Inner German border in the Fulda Gap the Davy Crocketts accompanied their battalions. All V Corps (including 3rd Armored Division) combat maneuver battalions had preassigned positions in the Fulda Gap. These were known as GDP (General Defense Plan) positions. The Davy Crockett sections were included in these defensive deployment plans. In addition to the Davy Crocketts (e.g., assigned to the 3rd Armored Division), V Corps had nuclear artillery rounds and Atomic Demolition Mines, and these were also targeted on the Fulda Gap. On the Korean peninsula, units assigned the Davy Crockett weapons primarily planned to use the passes that funneled armor as killing grounds, creating temporarily deadly radioactive zones roadblocked by destroyed tanks and other vehicles.

The M-388 round used a version of the Mk-54 warhead, a very small sub-kiloton fission device. The Mk-54 weighed about 51 lb (23 kg), with a yield equivalent to somewhere between 10 and 20 tons of TNT—close to the minimum practical size for a fission warhead,[1] and comparable in yield to the largest conventional bombs developed at the time.[2] The only selectable feature with either version of the Davy Crockett (M28 & M29) was the height-of-burst dial on the warhead. Post-Davy Crockett versions of the W54 nuclear device apparently had a selectable yield feature (see below for Hi/Lo Switch and Launching Piston references). The complete round weighed 76 lb (34.5 kg). It was 31 in. (78.7 cm) long with a diameter of 11 in. (28 cm) at its widest point; a subcaliber piston at the back of the shell was inserted into the launcher's barrel for firing.[3] The "piston" was considered a spigot prior to the discharge of the propellant cartridge in the recoilless gun chamber of the Davy Crockett. The M-388 atomic projectile was mounted on the barrel-inserted spigot via bayonet slots. Once the propellant was discharged the spigot became the launching piston for the M-388 atomic projectile. The nuclear yield is hinted at in FM 9-11: Operation and Employment of the Davy Crockett Battlefield Missile, XM-28/29 (June 1963).

The M-388 could be launched from either of two launchers known as the Davy Crockett Weapon System(s): the 4.7-inch (120 mm) M28, with a range of about 1.25 mi (2 km), or the 6.1-in (155 mm) M29, with a range of 2.5 mi (4 km). Both weapons used the same projectile, and were either mounted on a tripod launcher transported by an armored personnel carrier, or they were carried by a Jeep (M-38 & later M-151). The Jeep was equipped with an attached launcher for the M28 or the M29, as required, whereas the Davy Crockett carried by an armored personnel carrier was set up in the field on a tripod away from the carrier. The Davy Crocketts were operated by a three-man crew.[4] In the 3rd Armored Division in Germany in the 1960s many Davy Crockett Sections (all of which were in the Heavy Mortar Platoons, in Headquarters Companies of Infantry or Armor Maneuver Battalions) received what became a mix of M28 & M29 launchers [e.g., one of each per D/C section]. Eventually, the M28s were replaced by M29s, so that both the armored personnel carriers and the Jeeps carried the M29.

Both recoilless guns proved to have poor accuracy in testing, so the shell's greatest effect would have been its extreme radiation hazard. The M-388 would produce an almost instantly lethal radiation dosage (in excess of 10,000 rem, 100 Sv) within 500 feet (150 m), and a probably fatal dose (around 600 rem, 6 Sv) within a quarter mile (400 m).[5] The weapon did not have an abort function; if fired, the warhead would explode.[6]

The warhead was tested on July 7, 1962 in the Little Feller II weapons effects test shot, and again in an actual firing of the Davy Crockett from a distance of 1.7 miles (2.72 km) in the Little Feller I test shot on July 17. This was the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site.

Production of the Davy Crockett began following the 15 August 1958 (at) Picatinny Arsenal approval of the design, with a total of 2,100 being made. The weapon was tested between 1962 and 1968 at the Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaiʻi island, with 714 M101 spotter rounds (not live warheads) that contained depleted uranium.[7][8] The weapon was deployed with US Army forces from 1961 to 1971. It was removed from US Army Europe (in West Germany) in August 1967.[9]

Versions of the W54 warhead were also used in the Special Atomic Demolition Munition project and the AIM-26A Falcon.

Mk-54 (Davy Crockett): 10 or 20 ton yield, Davy Crockett Gun warhead

Mk-54 (SADM): variable yield 10 ton to 1 kiloton, Special Atomic Demolition Munition device

W-54: 250 ton yield, warhead for AIM-26 Falcon air-to-air missile

The 55th and 56th Infantry Platoons, attached to the Division Artillery of the US 82nd Airborne Division, were the last units equipped with the M-29 Davy Crockett weapons system. These two units were parachute deployed and, with a {{sfrac|1|2}} ton truck per section (three per platoon), were fully air droppable. The units were deactivated in mid-1968.

Proposed German military use

One of the most fervent supporters of the Davy Crockett was West Germany's defense minister Franz Josef Strauss, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Strauss promoted the idea of equipping German brigades with the nuclear weapon, to be supplied by the US, arguing that this would allow German troops to become a much more effective factor in NATO's defense of Germany against a potential Soviet invasion. He argued that a single Davy Crockett could replace 40–50 salvos of a whole divisional artillery park – allowing the funds and troops normally needed for this artillery to be invested into further troops, or not having to be spent at all. US NATO commanders strongly opposed Strauss's ideas, as they would have made the use of tactical nuclear weapons almost mandatory in case of war, further reducing the ability of NATO to defend itself without resorting to atomic weapons.[10]

In Fiction

  • The Fallout series of video games features the M-42 "Fat Man" Tactical Nuclear Catapult, a shoulder-mounted launcher that fires small nuclear bombs. While not faithful to the design, this weapon was inspired by the Davy Crockett, and carries out much the same role as an infantry-portable, tactical nuclear delivery device.
  • In the video game Metal Gear Solid 3, a version of the Davy Crockett gun is fired in the prologue by main antagonist Colonel Volgin, who uses it to destroy a secret Soviet weapons research facility, setting off the chain of events that leads to the game's main storyline.
  • In the Jack reacher novel Night School (2016), by author Lee Child, the protagonist Jack Reacher and his associate, sergeant Neagly, are trying to trace an American who is planning to sell to Middle-Eastern terrorists some object, its essence unknown except being worth one hundred million Dollars. As the plot unfolds, Reacher discovers the secret object to be 10 Davy Crockett H-912 Special Atomic Demolition Munitions (SADMs).

Museum examples

The following museums have a Davy Crockett casing in their collection:

  • Air Force Space & Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
  • National Atomic Museum, adjacent to Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning, Georgia
  • United States Army Ordnance Museum, Fort Lee, Virginia
  • Watervliet Arsenal Museum, Watervliet, New York
  • West Point Museum, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York
  • Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Don F. Pratt Museum, Fort Campbell, Clarksville, Tennessee

References

1. ^The theoretical minimum critical mass for 233U is close to 16 kg. (nuclearweaponarchive.org, [https://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/criticalmass.htm euronuclear.org]).
2. ^Grand Slam (1943) had a yield of 6.5 tons; T-12 Cloudmaker (1944) was designed for a yield of 11 tons. The largest yield for a conventional bomb reported as of 2017 was that of the Russian ATBIP (2007), at 44 tons.
3. ^{{Citation | title = USA weapons | publisher = Nuclear weapon archive | url = http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/Allbombs.html | contribution = Characteristics of all US nuclear weapons designs | accessdate = October 20, 2006}}.
4. ^{{Citation | url = http://www.guntruck.com/DavyCrockett.html | title = Gun truck | contribution = Davy Crockett | accessdate = October 20, 2006 | deadurl = yes | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20061027175600/http://www.guntruck.com/DavyCrockett.html | archivedate = October 27, 2006 | df = }}.
5. ^{{Citation | url = http://www.nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq5.html#nfaq5.6 | title = Nuclear Weapons | type = FAQ | chapter = Section 5.6, Mechanisms of Damage and Injury | accessdate = October 20, 2006 | publisher = Nuclear weapon archive}}.
6. ^{{cite web|title = Davy Crockett: King of the Atomic Frontier|url = http://www.damninteresting.com/davy-crockett-king-of-the-atomic-frontier/|website = www.damninteresting.com|accessdate = 2015-07-24}}
7. ^{{cite news | title= Military says DU at PTA likely harmless: Army reports 'no likely adverse impacts' from spotting rounds | first = Erin | last = Miller |newspaper = West Hawaii Today | date= September 1, 2010 | url = http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2010/09/01/local/local01.txt | accessdate = September 2, 2010 }}
8. ^{{cite web | format = PDF | work = Cabrera Services Radiological Engineering and Remediation |title= Pohakuloa Training Area Firing Range Baseline Human Health Risk Assessment for Residual Depleted Uranium |publisher = Army | place = Hawaii, US |date= June 2010 |url= http://www.garrison.hawaii.army.mil/du/PTA%20BHHRA%20Report%20Rev%202.pdf | accessdate = September 2, 2010}}{{dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
9. ^History of the Custody and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons(U): July 1945 through September 1977; "Prepared by Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Atomic Energy) February 1978", Page B-7.
10. ^{{cite news | title = Bedingt abwehrbereit | newspaper = Der Spiegel | number = 41 | year = 1962 | language = German | place = DE | url = http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-25673830.html}}

Further reading

  • Davy Crockett King of the Atomic Frontier
  • [https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a470429.pdf Title: “Project Management of the Davy Crockett Weapons System 1958 – 1962”]
  • [https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a023513.pdf Title: “Engineering Design Handbook: Recoilless Rifle Weapon Systems – Army Material Command” (Note: The ONLY Davy Crockett Weapon System, namely the Davy Crockett Recoilless Smoothbore GUN, is included on pages 1-32 to 1-34 of this Army Material Command Handbook, although “Recoilless Rifle” is retained as the Handbook’s only Title.)]

External links

{{Commons category|M388 Davy Crockett}}
  • M-28/29 Davy Crockett, uses the World’s Smallest Nuclear Weapon
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20080709011829/http://www.brookings.edu/projects/archive/nucweapons/davyc.aspx Facts about the "Davy Crockett" launcher and warhead]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120229143454/http://www.1-33rdar.org/Detailed_M29.jpg Loaded and unloaded M29 Davy Crockett]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719064557/http://www.1-33rdar.org/M388.jpg and Height of Burst Switch]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120607000457/http://www.1-33rdar.org/Page12_Bottom_Right_Corner.jpg D/C Launching Piston]
  • Characteristics of all US nuclear weapons designs
  • DCs in 3rd Armored Division
  • DCs on the highway
  • President Kennedy questions Davy Crockett crewmen
  • DC Souvenirs
  • See John Marshall's Davy Crockett write up in the 3rd Bn, 36th Infantry section
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110719064514/http://www.1-33rdar.org/fulagap.htm Davy Crocketts in Southern Avenue of Fulda Gap]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20161009113509/http://www.1-33rdar.org/jchorazy.htm Davy Crocketts during Oct 62 Cuban Crisis (Southern Avenue of Fulda Gap)-- see especially bottom of jchorazy's Page 12]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khyZI3RK2lE Video showing testing of device on youtube.com]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv_q8q6Z9_I Operation Ivy Flats] — testing of the Davy Crockett, 1962 (17:46)
  • Wee Gwen - a UK weapon similar to Davy Crockett

5 : Recoilless rifles|Nuclear artillery|Cold War weapons of the United States|Nuclear weapons of the United States|1950s in the United States

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