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59-480: Atomic demolition munitions ( ADMs ), colloquially known as nuclear land mines , are small nuclear explosive devices . ADMs were developed for both military and civilian purposes. As weapons, they were designed to be exploded in the forward battle area, in order to block or channel enemy forces. Non-militarily, they were designed for demolition, mining or earthmoving. Apart from testing, however, they have never been used for either purpose. Instead of being delivered to

118-538: A Mk 30 warhead installed in a XM-113 case. The XM-113 was 26 inches (660 mm) in diameter and 70 inches (1,800 mm) long, and looked like corrugated culvert pipe. The whole system weighed 840 pounds (380 kg). Production of the TADM started in 1961 and all were removed from stockpile by 1966. A weapons effect test of the TADM was made in the 1962 Johnny Boy ("Johnnie Boy") shot of the Dominic II series (which

177-483: A harbor , or a mountain pass , or possibly large underground cavities for use as storage space. It was thought that detonating a nuclear explosive in oil-rich rock could make it possible to extract more from the deposit, e.g. note the Canadian Project Oilsand . From 1958 to 1973 the U.S. government exploded 28 nuclear test-shots in a project called Operation Plowshare . The purpose of the operation

236-699: A combat army, via the arrival of four combat divisions from the United States. Thus, from 1951 until 1972, the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) patrolled the Fulda Gap. After the return of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment from Vietnam in 1972, the 11th ACR relieved the 14th ACR, and took over the reconnaissance mission in the Fulda Gap until the end of the Cold War. The mission of the armored cavalry (heavy, mechanized reconnaissance units equipped with tanks and other armored vehicles) in peacetime

295-585: A key entry route for the Soviet Bloc to western Europe in any hypothetical battle in Cold War Europe. Both armies were well equipped, and held high-priority for receiving new equipment. Beginning in 1975, the Soviet Union's strategy for attacking Western Europe involved the use of operational manoeuvre groups to outflank NATO defensive positions such as the Fulda Gap. From 1976 to 1984,

354-739: A later interview with American investigative program 60 Minutes he revised his estimate, saying that they had lost more than 100 units - a claim that the Russian government rejected. On 23 February 1999, the PBS investigative program Frontline aired a special on Russian nuclear security that included a series of interviews with several of the individuals who spoke publicly during the 1997 debate on suitcase nukes. Alexei Yablokov appeared and reasserted his position that some number of small atomic charges had been built, even going so far as to speak of their weight ("thirty kilos, forty kilos"). Yablokov accused

413-619: A spacecraft. A similar application is the proposal to use nuclear explosives for asteroid deflection . From 1958 to 1965 the United States government ran a project to design a nuclear explosive powered nuclear pulse rocket called Project Orion . Never built, this vessel would use repeated nuclear explosions to propel itself and was considered surprisingly practical. It is thought to be a feasible design for interstellar travel. Nuclear explosives were once considered for use in large-scale excavation. A nuclear explosion could be used to create

472-482: A total of several dozen kilograms." According to Rumyantsev "all of these [miniature nuclear devices] are registered   ... it is technically impossible for such charges to find their way into the hands of terrorists." Nuclear explosive device Other, non-warfare, applications for nuclear explosives have occasionally been proposed. For example, nuclear pulse propulsion is a form of spacecraft propulsion that would use nuclear explosives to provide impulse to

531-510: Is more accurately referred to as Operation Sunbeam ), the yield of Johnny Boy/Johnnie Boy was about 0.5 kt. A preceding ADM test that resulted in a comparable yield, was test shot "Danny Boy" of Operation Nougat , also producing a yield of about 0.5 kiloton. The Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) was a family of man-portable nuclear weapons fielded by the US military in the 1960s, but never used in actual combat. The US Army planned to use

590-635: Is no definitive open source information on the number, location, security, or status of these suitcase nuclear bombs. No Soviet suitcase bomb or any of its presumed components has ever been found, much less used, in the three decades after the collapse of the USSR. As of 2018, it is likely they would not work or would fizzle at worst by lack of the required specialized maintenance common to all nuclear weapons, if they ever existed. In May 1997 General Alexander Lebed told an American Congressional delegation that Russia had lost dozens of atomic demolition units. In

649-489: Is probably the least informed person as far as this topic is concerned   ... an expert in military folklore." The former commander of U.S. nuclear forces, retired General Eugene Habiger , also appeared on Frontline and expressed doubt about the size of such devices, calling the term suitcase "a little optimistic." Additionally, Habiger spoke of the systems set up by the Russians to track their nuclear weapons, saying "If

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708-797: The Knüllgebirge and continues around the northern flank of the Vogelsberg Mountains . The narrower southern route passes through the Fliede and Kinzig Valleys, with the Vogelsberg to the north and the Rhön mountains and Spessart mountains to the south. More importantly, on emerging from the western exit of the Gap, encounters flat terrain from there to the river Rhine , which would have counted in favour of Soviet attempts to reach and cross

767-606: The Outer Space Treaty , has led to the termination of most of these programs. Fulda Gap The Fulda Gap ( German : Fulda-Lücke ), an area between the Hesse-Thuringian border, the former Inner German border , and Frankfurt am Main , contains two corridors of lowlands through which tanks might have driven in a surprise attack by the Soviets and their Warsaw Pact allies to gain crossing(s) of

826-665: The Rhine River . Named for the town of Fulda , the Fulda Gap became seen as strategically important during the Cold War of 1947–1991. The Fulda Gap roughly corresponds to the route along which Napoleon chose to withdraw his armies after defeat (16–19 October 1813) at the Battle of Leipzig . Napoleon succeeded in defeating a Bavarian - Austrian army under Wrede in the Battle of Hanau (30–31 October 1813) not far from Frankfurt. From there he escaped back to France . From 1815,

885-601: The 1st, 3rd, and 14th Constabulary Regiments, arranged from north to south, had assumed responsibility for inter-zonal border security, in an area that later became famous as the Cold War Fulda Gap. The U.S. Constabulary as a headquarters was subsequently drawn down. Individual constabulary regiments were retitled armored cavalry regiments . This coincided with the 1951 upgrade of the U.S. Army's mostly administrative and occupation responsibilities in Germany to

944-400: The 4th Armor Group. The Seventh Army troop list of 30 June 1956 shows 4th Armor Group attached to V Corps , along with the U.S. divisions, 2d Armored Div, 3d Armored Div, and 10th Infantry Div. USAREUR Troop Lists dated 30 June 1958 show V Corps as containing 3rd Armored Div.(HQ Frankfurt), 8th Infantry Div. (HQ Bad Kreuznach), 4th Armor Group (HQ Frankfurt), and 3rd Infantry Div., which

1003-479: The 4th Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division was garrisoned in Wiesbaden and also subordinated to U.S. V Corps. From 1979 onwards, the first V Corps unit detailed to reinforce the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Fulda Gap in the event of hostilities was the 8th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment (1-68 Armor) , stationed at Wildflecken to the south of the Gap. The mission of 1-68 Armor

1062-1065: The Atomic Energy Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan declared that all nuclear weapons had been removed "long ago" from Kazakhstan and that suitcase nuclear devices were never built in Kazakh territory. The head of counterintelligence for the Kazakhstani Committee on National Security told Komsomolskaya Pravda that all nuclear weapons were removed from Kazakhstan in 1995 in accordance with the START I treaty and denied reports that bin Laden had attempted to purchase nuclear weapons there. Bodansky's claims surfaced again on 25 October 1999 when The Jerusalem Report published an article on bin Laden and suitcase nuclear devices. In this report, Bodansky's claim of "a few to twenty" weapons

1121-578: The Chechens.″ Two months later, on 5 October, the Moscow daily Komsomolskaya Pravda published an interview in which Bodansky, citing "various intelligence sources," claimed that bin Laden had acquired, through Kazakhstan , "from several to twenty tactical nuclear warheads." Bodansky also claimed that bin Laden had attempted to buy "nuclear suitcases" in Kazakhstan. In the same article, the director of

1180-474: The Fulda Gap became a predominant element of NATO war planning during the Cold War . With such an eventuality in mind, weapons were evolved such as nuclear tube and missile artillery, the nuclear recoilless gun/tactical launcher Davy Crockett , Special Atomic Demolition Munitions , the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, and A-10 ground attack aircraft . The northern route through the Gap passes south of

1239-521: The Fulda Gap, along the lines of Seven Days to the River Rhine , could have also potentially cut the territory of West Germany in two parts, making the long-term existence of a West German state untenable. Strategists on both sides of the Iron Curtain understood the Fulda Gap's importance, and accordingly allocated forces to defend and attack it. The defense of the Fulda Gap was a mission of

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1298-465: The Fulda Gap, as well as provide critical engineering services to enable 1-68th Armor to ease the engagement of Soviet forces. In September 1980, the 533rd Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion was reactivated in Frankfurt and assigned to the 3rd Armored Division. The 533rd MI Battalion deployed assets in the Fulda Gap to provide electronic warfare capability for the 3rd AD Commander. The missions of

1357-716: The Rhine before NATO could prevent this. The intervening Main River would have been less of an obstacle. The Fulda Gap route was less suitable for mechanized troop movement than the North German Plain , but offered an avenue of advance direct to Frankfurt am Main . Furthermore the capital of the Federal Republic in Bonn , was situated only 200 km to the west. A rapidly advancing Soviet or Warsaw Pact attack through

1416-669: The Russian government of misleading the public on the situation, pointing to the inconsistencies in denials by the FSB , MINATOM , and the information that was publicly available on the Internet ("...   if I'm looking at a [picture] of an American weapon, I must be sure that we have an analogy   ..."). On the same program, Congressman Curt Weldon recounted a meeting he held in December 1997 with Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev . During this meeting, Weldon asked Sergeyev specifically about

1475-609: The Russian nuclear arsenal. In August 1999, Voice of America broadcast a story about the threat posed by bin Laden. In it, Yossef Bodansky , an American terrorism analyst, author, and head of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Non-Conventional Warfare claimed that he had learned, through sources in Russia and the Middle East, that bin Laden had "a few of the ex-Soviet 'suitcase' bombs acquired through

1534-449: The Russians were as deadly serious about the accountability of the nuclear weapons that I saw and have been involved with, I can only surmise that they have the same concerns with the smaller weapons." By late 1999, the concern had expanded from nuclear armed Chechen rebels to include concerns about Osama bin Laden 's al-Qaeda network. Although unsubstantiated, some reports suggested that bin Laden had already managed to acquire weapons from

1593-623: The Soviet test program. The Soviet Union tested the use of nuclear devices for mining and natural gas extraction (stimulating gas flow in a similar manner to fracking ) on several occasions starting in the mid-1960s, as part of the Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy program. Tests for similar purposes were carried out in the United States under Operation Plowshare , but due to radioactive contamination caused by

1652-457: The U.S. V Corps . The actual Inner German border in the Fulda Gap was guarded by reconnaissance forces, the identification and structure of which evolved over the years of the Cold War. From June 1945 until July 1946, reconnaissance and security along the border between the U.S. and Soviet zones of occupation in Germany in the area north and south of Fulda was the mission of elements of the U.S. 3rd and 1st Infantry Divisions . By July 1946,

1711-502: The United States and Russia developed a deep cooperation designed to assure the security of Russia's nuclear arsenal. While a number of steps were taken to consolidate and improve the security of Russia's strategic nuclear arms, particularly under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, concern remained over the security of the Russian tactical nuclear weapons arsenal. In particular, a serious debate arose over

1770-406: The United States. The following is a summary of US Cold War history in Germany from the 1950s. US Forces were headquartered at Frankfurt and therefore had an orientation that included the Fulda Gap. The 19th Armored Cav Group activated at Frankfurt on 2 January 1953. On 1 October 1953, the 19th Armd Cav Gp was redesignated as the 19th Armor Group. On 1 July 1955, the 19th Armor Group was replaced by

1829-536: The ammunition slated for the 8th Infantry Division and the 3rd Armor Division, as well as operating ASP #3 in Wildflecken. 144th Ord. was also responsible for chemical and nuclear ammunition for the Fulda Gap sector, operating ASP #3 and multiple Forward Storage and Transportation Sites. The 54th Engineer Battalion (United States) , also garrisoned at Wildflecken, was tasked with destroying critical bridges, roads, and other channels to impede any Soviet advance through

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1888-650: The area appeared of minimal strategic importance, as it lay deep within the borders of the German Confederation and from 1871 of the German Empire . German military planning presumed any war would be effectively lost, long before an enemy reached that far into the homeland. The route became important again at the end of World War II when the U.S. XII Corps used it in their advance eastward in late March and early April 1945. The U.S. advance had little consequence for Germany's strategic position, which

1947-458: The cavalry fought delaying actions. In order to defend the Fulda Gap and stop a Warsaw Pact advance, as opposed to conducting screening and delaying actions, U.S. V Corps planned to move two divisions, one armored and one mechanized, forward from bases in the Frankfurt and Bad Kreuznach areas. From 1947 until 1951, the 1st Infantry Division was the sole U.S. division in Germany, although

2006-493: The event of war, due to the vast numbers of tanks and infantry that the Soviets were able to field. In response to the quantitative superiority of the Soviet forces, the U.S. deployed Atomic Demolition Mines for many years in the Fulda Gap. In the early '60s, the Fulda Gap was also protected by V Corps Artillery units equipped with the medium-range MGM-5 Corporal guided missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. In 1962,

2065-611: The forefront of the debate, stated "Do I think he [bin Laden] has a [ sic ] small atomic demolition munitions, which were built by the Soviets in the Cold War? Probably doubtful." On 17 January 2002, Russia's Atomic Energy Minister, Aleksandr Rumyantsev, told Interfax it would be impossible for terrorists to construct a portable nuclear weapon, citing a lack of "necessary potential and materials." The Interfax report went on to state "major nuclear powers have an effective system of control over miniature nuclear charges, which weigh

2124-576: The former Soviet Union. In the same segment, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution discounted Lunev's claims: "Our view is that this is not a major worry. If those devices ever existed, they were under the control of the Soviet state, and not available to terrorists." On 20 December 2001 UPI reported that the FBI had stepped up its investigation into terrorist access to Russian nuclear stockpiles. Representative Weldon , once again at

2183-476: The heat produced, which would be absorbed by a molten salt coolant which would also absorb neutrons. The 1970s PACER (fusion) project investigated fusion detonation as a power source. Failure to meet objectives, along with the realization of the dangers of nuclear fallout and other residual radioactivity, and with the enactment of various agreements such as the Partial Test Ban Treaty and

2242-532: The line agreed upon in Yalta . During the Cold War, the Fulda Gap offered one of the two obvious routes for a hypothetical Soviet tank attack on West Germany from Eastern Europe , especially from East Germany . The other route crossed the North German Plain . A third, less likely, route involved travelling up through the Danube River valley through neutral Austria . The concept of a major tank battle along

2301-524: The more reliable solid fuel MGM-29 Sergeant missile was deployed and remained in use until 1973 when it was replaced by the MGM-52 Lance missile. For many years, V Corps' principal adversary was the Soviet 8th Guards Army , which was to be followed by additional armies, including the four armored divisions and one mechanized infantry division of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army, making the Fulda Gap

2360-771: The movement of enemy forces and thus channel them into prepared killing zones . According to official accounts, the United States deployed ADMs overseas in Italy and West Germany ( Fulda Gap ) during the Cold War . The most modern types (SADM and MADM) were deployed in South Korea. Seymour Hersh referred to the deployment of ADMs along the Golan Heights by Israel in the early 1980s. ADMs have never been used commercially although similar small devices, often modified to cut down on fission yield and maximize fusion, have been deeply buried to put out gas well fires as part of

2419-403: The past. A serious concern was that al-Qaeda terrorists might attempt to obtain Russian warheads or weapon-usable nuclear materials. Former GRU Colonel Stanislav Lunev 's 1998 statements were resurrected following the attacks. During an appearance on CBS , Lunev reasserted his claim that suitcase bombs existed, even going so far as to claim that bin Laden had obtained several of the devices from

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2478-565: The small ADM devices. According to Weldon, Sergeyev's response was: "Yes, we did build them, we are in the process of destroying them, and by the year 2000 we will have destroyed all of our small atomic demolition devices." Weldon went on to express confidence in Sergeyev's statement but also raised concern as to whether or not the Russian government had accounted for all of its nuclear devices. Frontline also featured several American and Russian experts and officials who presented differing views on

2537-457: The status of what are known as "suitcase nuclear weapons", very small Soviet-era nuclear devices. The term suitcase nuke is generally used to describe any type of small, man-portable nuclear device although there is serious debate as to the validity of the term itself. In a worst case analysis, a suitcase nuke would be small enough to be hand-carried into a major population or leadership center undetected and then detonated. Although, by most accounts,

2596-583: The subject. General Vladimir Dvorkin, a former officer in the Strategic Rocket Forces and subsequently Director of the Fourth Central Research Institute in Moscow, admitted that "some small devices existed in the United States and Russia" but that something that small would have a very limited shelf life and would have little deterrent value. Dvorkin discounted the validity of statements, saying "...   Lebed

2655-473: The target by missiles, rockets, or artillery shells, ADMs were intended to be emplaced by soldiers. Due to their relatively small size and light weight, ADMs could be emplaced by military engineers or special forces teams, then detonated on command or by timer to create massive obstructions. By destroying key terrain features or choke points such as bridges, dams, mountain passes and tunnels, ADMs could serve to create physical as well as radiological obstacles to

2714-561: The tests, no direct commercial use was made of the technology although they were successful at nucleosynthesis and probing the composition of the Earth's deep crust by Vibroseis , which has helped mining company prospecting . In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States developed several different types of lightweight nuclear devices. The main one was the W54 , a cylinder 40 by 60 cm (about 16 by 24 inches) that weighed 23 kg (50 lb). It

2773-488: The various Constabulary units taken together were equivalent in size to another division. U.S. Army forces in Germany were increased in 1951 as a result of President Truman's 10 December 1950 declaration of a national emergency as a result of the Korean War , with four divisions arriving from CONUS . This included the 4th Infantry Division , which was stationed in the Frankfurt area, and the 2nd Armored Division , which

2832-461: The weapon package and place it in a harbor or other strategic location that could be accessed from the sea. Another parachutist without a weapon package would follow the first to provide support as needed. The two-person team would place the weapon package in the target location, set the timer, and swim out into the ocean where they would be retrieved by a submarine or a high-speed surface water craft. The Medium Atomic Demolition Munition (MADM)

2891-589: The weapons in Europe in the event of a Soviet invasion. US Army Engineers would use the weapon to irradiate, destroy, and deny key routes of communication through limited terrain such as the Fulda Gap . Troops were trained to parachute into Soviet occupied western Europe with the SADM and destroy power plants, bridges, and dams. The weapon was designed to allow one person to parachute from any type of aircraft carrying

2950-474: The yield of such a device is likely far less than ten kilotons, its combined effects may have the potential to kill tens of thousands, if not more. There is a great deal of confusion over just how many of these suitcase devices exist or if they even exist at all. By some accounts, the Soviet Union built hundreds of these devices, of which several dozen were missing. Based on other reports, suitcase nukes were never built in large numbers or were never deployed. There

3009-414: Was a tactical nuclear weapon developed by the United States during the Cold War. They were designed to be used as nuclear land mines and for other tactical purposes, with a relatively low explosive yield from a W45 warhead , between 1 and 15 kilotons . Each MADM weighed around 400 lb (181 kg) total. They were produced between 1965 and 1986. In the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union,

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3068-593: Was fired by a mechanical timer and had a variable yield equivalent to between 10 tons and 1 kt of TNT . A field non-variable yield version of the W54 nuclear device (called the "Mk-54 Davy Crockett" warhead for the M-388 Crockett round) was used in the Davy Crockett Weapon System . The Mk 30 Mod 1 Tactical Atomic Demolition Munition (TADM) was a portable atomic bomb, consisting of

3127-401: Was headquartered at Würzburg . After the 1963 ROAD reorganization, the 4th Armor Group was inactivated, and the 3rd Infantry Division headquartered at Würzburg was reassigned to VII Corps. The deployment of the 3rd Armored Division and the 8th Infantry Division to V Corps remained stable until the end of the Cold War . In practice, it was unknown how effective V Corps would have been in

3186-573: Was hopeless by that point, but it allowed the Americans to occupy vast swaths of territory which the Yalta Conference of February 1945 had assigned to the Soviet occupation zone . This did much to compel the Soviets to honor the Yalta Conference agreement, meaning that Western Allies got access to Berlin . In exchange, the U.S. Army withdrew in July 1945 from Thuringia and Saxony , to

3245-543: Was located with its headquarters at Bad Kreuznach to the west of the Rhine River. Both of those were the divisions assigned to the newly activated V Corps . In May/June 1956, the 3rd Armored Division (3rd AD) arrived, and was stationed around Frankfurt. In December 1957, the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) (8th ID) arrived, and was stationed in the Bad Kreuznach area. The two replaced divisions returned to

3304-424: Was repeated. In addition, Bodansky claimed that bin Laden had purchased the weapons using "$ 30 million in cash and two tons of Afghan heroin." Very little information is available to back Bodansky's claims, however, and they remain in doubt. Following the 11 September terrorist attacks on the United States, fresh attention was focused on al-Qaeda's desire for weapons of mass destruction but with more urgency than in

3363-414: Was to establish a defensive line across part of the Gap, providing a shield behind which other V Corps units could advance and defend. Also located in Wildflecken was the 108th Military Intelligence (MI) Btn, to which Delta Company Rangers was assigned. The Rangers' mission was to strike at the supply lines and command structures of any invading Soviet forces. 144th Ordnance Company was in charge of much of

3422-603: Was to use peaceful nuclear explosions for moving and lifting enormous amounts of earth and rock during construction projects such as building reservoirs. The Soviet Union conducted a much more vigorous program of 122 nuclear tests, some with multiple devices, between 1965 and 1989 under the auspices of Program No. 7 – Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy . As controlled nuclear fusion has proven difficult to use as an energy source, an alternate proposal for producing fusion power has been to detonate nuclear fusion explosives inside very large underground chambers and then using

3481-593: Was to watch the East-West border for signs of pre-attack Soviet army movement. The armored cavalry 's mission in a war, was to delay a Soviet attack until other units of the U.S. V Corps could be mobilized and deployed to defend the Fulda Gap. The armored cavalry would have also served as a screening force in continuous visual contact with the Warsaw Pact forces, reporting on their composition and activities, and forcing advancing Warsaw Pact forces to deploy while

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