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I was personally more astounded when I first discovered the Davy Crockett nuclear warhead recoilless rifle: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nucl

I was personally more astounded when I first discovered the Davy Crockett nuclear warhead recoilless rifle: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_devic... When I told my dad (who grew up in the Cold War) about the weapon, he said "Oh yeah, I had the toy model version." I'm often astonished any civilizations survived the Cold War.

api 7y ago
Even better is the name. What a good old cornpone American name for... just wow. The cold war does make me wonder about quantum immortality. Maybe consciousness just happens to exist here in a timeline where consciousness still exists.
- sb057 7y ago
  Per Wikipedia: >Howze is credited with starting the convention of naming US Army helicopter types after Native American tribes, because he found the names suggested by the manufacturers too insipid. The Bell H-13, which had already been in service for some years, was renamed "Sioux" at his suggestion and the tradition continues to the present day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_H._Howze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_H._Howze
matheusmoreira 7y ago
Yeah. No guidance, no nuclear codes for authorization, no way to abort the launch, nothing but a "handle with care" message on the nuke itself. The only reason humanity survived is nobody dared to actually use this stuff. They also made backpack nukes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suitcase_nuclear_device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suitcase_nuclear_device The USA also has chemical weapons stockpiles that haven't been fully destroyed to this day. The Honest John rocket could be fitted with sarin warheads: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demonstration_cluster_bomb.jpg https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demonstration_clus...
- Animats 7y ago
  * No nuclear codes for authorization* It had a 3-digit arming code, set by turning three rotary switches with a screwdriver. "Code must be correct or weapon will dud", says the comic-book training manual.
  - mysterydip 7y ago
    Is there a scan of this manual online somewhere? I'd love to read it but not sure what to search.
    - Animats 7y ago
      I can't find it any more. It's probably lost in the Internet Archive somewhere. It was done by Will Eisner, who also did many of the long-running US Army series of preventive maintenance comic books.[1] Those are still being published, 66 years on.[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS,_The_Preventive_Maintenance_Monthly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS,_The_Preventive_Maintenance... [2] https://www.logsa.army.mil/#/psmag https://www.logsa.army.mil/#/psmag
- chipsa 7y ago
  You have a range of 2-4km, reaching that range in a couple seconds, and a lethal range of several hundred feet. Why do you need guidance, or a way to abort after launch? If you don't want it to go boom, don't launch it in the first place. And we're working on destroying the chemical weapons. It's just tricky. Some of the chemical weapons were corrosive, which makes them difficult to move.
vilhelm_s 7y ago
The Davy Crockett made an appearance in some 1959 plans for an Army base on the moon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Horizon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Horizon): > The base would be defended against Soviet overland attack by man-fired weapons: > Unguided Davy Crockett rockets with low-yield nuclear warheads > Conventional Claymore mines modified to puncture pressure suits
Nicksil 7y ago
Non-mobile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device)
jcims 7y ago
It boggles my mind that they were able to miniaturize a weapon to that extent ~60 years ago.
knolan 7y ago
It’s easy to think of the technology[0] portrayed in games like Fallout as a parody of the time but then you see something like that. [0] https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fat_Man https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fat_Man
tim333 7y ago
Video of the Crocket firing https://youtu.be/eiM-RzPHyGs?t=216 https://youtu.be/eiM-RzPHyGs?t=216 Actually quite a modest bang by nuclear standards.

api 7y ago

Even better is the name. What a good old cornpone American name for... just wow. The cold war does make me wonder about quantum immortality. Maybe consciousness just happens to exist here in a timeline where consciousness still exists.

sb057 7y ago
Per Wikipedia: >Howze is credited with starting the convention of naming US Army helicopter types after Native American tribes, because he found the names suggested by the manufacturers too insipid. The Bell H-13, which had already been in service for some years, was renamed "Sioux" at his suggestion and the tradition continues to the present day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_H._Howze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_H._Howze

matheusmoreira 7y ago

Yeah. No guidance, no nuclear codes for authorization, no way to abort the launch, nothing but a "handle with care" message on the nuke itself. The only reason humanity survived is nobody dared to actually use this stuff. They also made backpack nukes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suitcase_nuclear_device https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suitcase_nuclear_device The USA also has chemical weapons stockpiles that haven't been fully destroyed to this day. The Honest John rocket could be fitted with sarin warheads: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demonstration_cluster_bomb.jpg https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Demonstration_clus...

Animats 7y ago
* No nuclear codes for authorization* It had a 3-digit arming code, set by turning three rotary switches with a screwdriver. "Code must be correct or weapon will dud", says the comic-book training manual.
- mysterydip 7y ago
  Is there a scan of this manual online somewhere? I'd love to read it but not sure what to search.
  - Animats 7y ago
    I can't find it any more. It's probably lost in the Internet Archive somewhere. It was done by Will Eisner, who also did many of the long-running US Army series of preventive maintenance comic books.[1] Those are still being published, 66 years on.[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS,_The_Preventive_Maintenance_Monthly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PS,_The_Preventive_Maintenance... [2] https://www.logsa.army.mil/#/psmag https://www.logsa.army.mil/#/psmag
chipsa 7y ago
You have a range of 2-4km, reaching that range in a couple seconds, and a lethal range of several hundred feet. Why do you need guidance, or a way to abort after launch? If you don't want it to go boom, don't launch it in the first place. And we're working on destroying the chemical weapons. It's just tricky. Some of the chemical weapons were corrosive, which makes them difficult to move.

vilhelm_s 7y ago

The Davy Crockett made an appearance in some 1959 plans for an Army base on the moon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Horizon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Horizon): > The base would be defended against Soviet overland attack by man-fired weapons: > Unguided Davy Crockett rockets with low-yield nuclear warheads > Conventional Claymore mines modified to puncture pressure suits

Nicksil 7y ago

Non-mobile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device)

jcims 7y ago

It boggles my mind that they were able to miniaturize a weapon to that extent ~60 years ago.

knolan 7y ago

It’s easy to think of the technology[0] portrayed in games like Fallout as a parody of the time but then you see something like that. [0] https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fat_Man https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fat_Man

tim333 7y ago

Video of the Crocket firing https://youtu.be/eiM-RzPHyGs?t=216 https://youtu.be/eiM-RzPHyGs?t=216 Actually quite a modest bang by nuclear standards.