The M28/M29 Davy Crockett Nuclear Weapon System

The M28/M29 Davy Crockett Nuclear Weapon System

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.

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.

The M-28 or M-29 Davy Crockett Weapon System was a tactical nuclear recoilless smoothbore gun for firing the M388 nuclear projectile, armed with the W54 nuclear warhead, that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War. It was the first project assigned to the United States Army Weapon Command in Rock Island, Illinois. It remains one of the smallest nuclear weapon systems ever built, with a yield of 20 tonnes of TNT (84 GJ). It is named after American folk hero, soldier, and congressman Davy Crockett.

By the year 1950, there had been rapid developments made in the use of nuclear weapons after the detonation of "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" in 1945. These developments paved the way for nuclear warheads to be created at a smaller size.

By the 1950s, advances in nuclear weapons technology, spurred on by the first detonation of the Soviet nuclear bomb in 1949, led to great reductions in the size of nuclear weapons. By 1957, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) declared that it had created a small fission warhead that could be deployed for frontline use by infantrymen.[disputed – discuss] AEC made Major General John H. Hinrichs the leader in turning the warhead into a weapon system under the Battle Group Atomic Delivery System (BGADS) program, which began at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey in January 1958.

In August 1958, the Army began to officially refer to the BGADS as the Davy Crockett, after the American folk hero, who died at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. After 4 years of testing at Forts Greeley and Wainwright in Alaska, and the Yuma Test Station in Arizona, the M28/M29 Davy Crockett entered service in May 1961.

Davy Crockett sections were assigned to United States Army Europe which included Seventh United States Army, and to Pacific Theater Eighth United States Army armor units and mechanized and non-mechanized infantry battalions.[citation needed] During alerts to the Inner German border in the Fulda Gap the Davy Crocketts accompanied their battalions. All Seventh Army's 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.[citation needed] In addition to the Davy Crocketts (e.g., assigned to the 3rd Armored Division), Seventh Army's V Corps had nuclear artillery rounds and atomic demolition munitions, and these were also for potential use in the Fulda Gap. On the Korean peninsula, Eighth Army 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.[citation needed]

Production of the Davy Crockett began at Picatinny Arsenal following the August 15, 1958, approval of the design. There was approval for funding of 6,247 to be manufactured, but a total of 2,100 were actually 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.[8][9] The weapon was deployed with US Army forces from 1961 to 1971.

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 1⁄2 ton truck per section (three per platoon), were fully air droppable. The units were deactivated in mid-1968.[citation needed]

The Davy Crockett's nuclear warhead, the M388, was removed from US Army Europe (in West Germany) in August 1967. The last nuclear-equipped warhead was retired in 1971. Brigadier General Alvin Cowan, Assistant Division Commander of 3rd Armored Division, while stating the weapon was a "significant advance" in technical terms and that the laboratory responsible deserved "a great deal of credit", further stated that the Army retired the weapon due to the personnel costs associated with it as well as apparent "great fear that some sergeant would start a nuclear war".

The Davy Crockett was never used in actual combat. Since their retirement, Davy Crockett systems have been preserved in many museums throughout the United States.

In 2005 the Army announced that it uncovered 600 pounds of depleted uranium from the training sites used for the Davy Crockett's inert rounds to be practice fired. They said that 12,405 acres of land could likely be tainted by these training days.