M28 Davy Crockett - During the Cold War, beginning in the early 1950s, the U.S. military deployed a variety of other systems capable of carrying unguided rockets, guided missiles, artillery shells, demolition charges, and nuclear warheads, with yields ranging from a fraction of a kiloton to several megatons. spread out Among the smallest weapons in the Army's nuclear arsenal was the M28/M29 Davy Crockett, a three-man crew-operated recoilless rifle system that entered service in the early 1960s.

The development of nuclear weapons during World War II, and their use against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ushered in a new and potentially catastrophic era. Entire cities can be destroyed in seconds with one weapon. Some military planners believed that expensive, large-scale ground forces were now obsolete because nuclear bombs provided "more bang." However, early versions of these weapons were primarily for strategic use. The two devices that landed in Japan, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man," were large, heavy weapons, each weighing more than 10,000 pounds and nearly ten feet long. Only the B-29 Superfortress was capable of carrying and dropping bombs, and they had little tactical use on the battlefield.

M28 Davy Crockett

M28 Davy Crockett

In the early 1950s, advances in nuclear weapons development, the Cold War, and the detonation of an atomic bomb by the Soviet Union in 1949 allowed the size and weight of nuclear warheads to be greatly reduced. As a result, the military began developing and deploying tactical nuclear weapons systems in Europe, starting with the M65 "Atom Cannon" capable of firing 600-800 pound nuclear shells with fifteen kiloton directions. The nuclear-tipped Corporal and Honest John missiles followed.

Postwar By Rival Colour

With the size of atomic warheads shrinking and the reliance on tactical nuclear weapons to offset the Soviet Union's large advantage in conventional forces in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Army Ordnance Corps began to explore new weapon systems for nuclear battlefield use. Those that can be manned by small groups of forward infantry. For munitions officers, the ideal system is an easily transportable weapon that can carry a simple nuclear warhead with a sub-kiloton yield and a range of 500 to 4,000 yards.

In late 1957, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the government agency responsible for developing nuclear weapons, announced that it had successfully developed a lightweight sub-kiloton yield fission warhead that could be used as a front-line weapon. The AEC then assigned the task of incorporating the work into a weapons system, and the Army's Ordnance Chief, Major General John H. Work on the project began in January 1958 at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey.

Ordnance officials investigated about twenty potential delivery systems, including guided missiles, standard artillery, and mortars, and the Army settled on a recoilless rifle system that represented the simplest and lightest option. Additional work on what is now known as the Battle Group Atomic Delivery System (BGADS) was done at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois. Frankford Arsenal, Pennsylvania; Watervliet Arsenal, New York; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; Lake City Armory, Missouri; and the Watertown Armory, Massachusetts. Army Chief of Staff General Maxwell D. Taylor considered the development of BGADS a high priority, a key component of the Army's new "pentomic" divisions, a reorganization of the Army's force structure believed to improve the Army's ability to fight on the nuclear battlefield.

In August 1958, the Army officially began referring to the BGADS as Davy Crockett, the name the American folk hero, frontiersman, and politician had used months earlier after he died at the Alamo in 1836. In November 1958, the Ordnance Corps delivered the first prototype Davy Crockett recoilless rifle barrel to the Picatinny Arsenal. After several years of development and testing at various Army arsenals, Forts Greeley and Wainwright in Alaska, and the Yuma Test Center in Arizona, the M28/M29 Davy Crockett entered service in May 1961.

Davy Crockett, Si \

The Davy Crockett was produced in two variants: the "light" M28 120 mm recoilless gun and the "heavy" M29 155 mm. The M28 has a range of approximately 1.25 miles (2 km), while the larger M29 can launch a projectile up to 2.5 miles (4 km). Both variants fire the 76-pound M388 nuclear projectile, which is eleven inches in diameter and thirty-one inches long. After firing, four fins on the round's tail appeared to stabilize it in flight. Some soldiers called the projectile an "atomic watermelon" because of its oblong shape. The M388 carried the W54 warhead, making it the smallest nuclear weapon ever fired by the United States. The V54 weighed fifty-one pounds and had an explosive yield of .01-.02 kilotons of TNT (equivalent to approximately 10-20 tons). The workpiece is also used in special atomic destruction bombs and the Air Force's AIM-26 Falcon air-to-air missile.

The Davy Crockett was manned by a three-man crew and mounted on an M38 or M151 jeep. Both variants can be launched from jeeps, but they can also be launched from a tripod placed on the ground. The M28 launcher weighs 185 pounds. The large 440-pound M29 was often carried by an M113 armored personnel carrier (APC), but it was fired only from a tripod mounted on the ground near the vehicle, not from the APC.

After firing a "spot" round from a 20mm (M28) or 37mm (M29) gun mounted on the Davy Crockett launcher tube to determine the proper distance and angle to the target, the crew inserted the propellant charge down the muzzle. , then metal pistons. It then loads the sub-caliber mirror on the back of the M388 projectile into the launcher barrel like a rifle grenade. A switch on the warhead allowed the crew to select the height of detonation. When fired, the M388 Lancer exited the vehicle with a loud bang and a plume of white smoke, reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour. Since the launch tube was smooth, accuracy was always a problem. However, what the Davy Crockett lacked in accuracy, it made up for in power, but the initial radiant heat and blast effects created by detonating the W54 warhead could be more lethal to the enemy. Because the warhead posed a threat to the crew firing it, the Army recommended that soldiers operating Davy Crockett choose firing positions in protected locations, such as the back slope of a hill. Soldiers are also encouraged to keep their heads down to protect themselves from the detonation of the warhead.

M28 Davy Crockett

The Army began deploying the first M28/M29 systems to Europe in 1961 to arm the Davy Crockett sections of the Seventh Army's armored and infantry battalions, particularly those guarding the Fulda Gaps in West Germany, the expected line of attack for Warsaw Pact forces advancing west. Davy Crockett units were also deployed to Guam, Hawaii, Okinawa, and South Korea. Eventually the M28 ladder was phased out and replaced by the M29 in all Davy Crockett armored units.

Davy Crockett Equivalent Of Nasr

The Army conducted dozens of live-fire tests of the Davy Crockett with practice rounds, detonating only two live M388 atomic projectiles. The first occurred on July 7, 1962, at the Nevada Test Site, when a small Feller II weapon fired, detonating an M388 suspended by wire a few feet off the ground. Ten days later, in the small feller I shot, an army team fired a live M388 with an M29 sniper rifle. The warhead exploded about twenty feet high and 1.7 miles from the launcher. The test was conducted in conjunction with Operation IVY FLATS, a series of maneuvers to train soldiers under nuclear battlefield conditions. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the president's military adviser, General Maxwell D. Taylor made Davy Crockett a priority when he served as Army Chief of Staff. Little Feller I also marked the last nuclear test at the Nevada Test Range.

Like other Cold War-era nuclear weapons, the Davy Crockett was fortunately never used in combat, and its service with the military was relatively short. In 1967, the military began withdrawing the Davy Crockett from Europe, and it was retired from service in 1971. Today, a number of Davy Crockett systems can be found in several museums across the United States, including the Don F. Pratt Museum at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and the West Point Museum in West Point, New York.

The Army Historical Foundation is the designated official fundraising organization

Green mountain davy crockett, davy crockett coonskin cap, davy crockett pellet grill, davy crockett hotel, davy crockett ranch, davy crockett bbq, gmg davy crockett cover, disneys davy crockett ranch, gmg davy crockett grill, davy crockett ranch paris, gmg davy crockett smoker, davy crockett smoker