Nuclear Bombs Carried By Special Forces On Infiltration Missions
The war that raged in Ukraine, inevitably raised the issue of the use of nuclear weapons.
And the deployment of nuclear weapons is closely associated with heavy defense equipment, namely ballistic missiles weighing dozens to tens of tons, to bombs released from fighter jets or bombers with special specifications.
However, in the Cold War era, the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons apparently directly involved the individual skills of special forces in infiltration missions.
The concept of deploying special forces to deliver nuclear weapons was pioneered by the United States in the 50's and 60's. Special Forces "Green Light" teams have been trained to deploy small nuclear bombs - called Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) during the turbulent cold war.
These munitions are fitted into specially designed hard/fabric carrier cases for their transport on the back (or between the legs) by special carriers.
The SADM weighs about 68 kg, using the 25 kg W-54/B-54 warhead. SADM has small dimensions, about 60 x 40 cm in length.
So the question is, why do special operations personnel train with this ammunition.?
To unravel this question, one has to go back to the 1950s and 1960s when the US began to diversify its nuclear weapons capabilities.
The idea of using tactical nuclear weapons in a possible conflict involving the Soviet Union became an important component of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's policy during the early to mid-1950s and into the early 1960s.
Thus, scientists and technicians at the Los Alamos and Sandia nuclear weapons laboratories began to miniaturize the warheads used in tactical nuclear weapons.
The assignment of Special Forces teams, known as "Green Light" units, namely to place SADM behind enemy lines, with the aim of carrying out sabotage using nuclear explosives.
However, as expected, SADM was never used, one reason being that it was still considered too heavy to be carried by one or two soldiers.
In an infiltration scenario, once SADM is successfully activated, the special forces personnel retreat to the defense line.
