Davy Crockett ( nuclear device ) The M - 28 or M - 29 Davy Crockett Weapon System ( s ) was a tactical nuclear recoilless gun for firing the M388 nuclear projectile that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War . Named after American soldier , congressman , and folk hero Davy Crockett , it was one of the smallest nuclear weapon systems ever built . Development . The Davy Crockett recoilless spigot gun was developed in the late 1950s for use against Soviet armor and troops , had war broken out in Europe . Davy Crockett Sections were assigned to USAREUR ( United States Army Europe ) armor and mechanized and non - mechanized infantry battalions . During alerts to the Inner German border in the Fulda Gap the Davy Crocketts accompanied their battalions . All 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 . In addition to the Davy Crocketts ( e . g . , assigned to the 3rd Armored Division ) , V Corps had nuclear artillery rounds and Atomic Demolition Mines , and these were also targeted on the Fulda Gap . The M - 388 round used a version of the W54 warhead , a very small sub - kiloton fission device . The Mk - 54 weighed about 51 lb ( 23 kg ) , with a yield equivalent to somewhere between 10 or 20 tons of TNT — very close to the minimum practical size and yield for a fission warhead . The only selectable feature with either versions of the Davy Crockett ( M28 & M29 ) was the height - of - burst dial on the warhead . Post - Davy Crockett versions of the W54 nuclear device apparently had a selectable yield feature ( see below for Hi / Lo Switch and Launching Piston references . ) The complete round weighed 76 lb ( 34 . 5 kg ) . It was 31 in . ( 78 . 7 cm ) long with a diameter of 11 in . ( 28 cm ) at its widest point ; a subcaliber piston at the back of the shell was inserted into the launcher ' s barrel for firing . The " piston " was considered a spigot prior to the discharge of the propellant cartridge in the recoilless gun chamber of the Davy Crockett . The M388 atomic projectile was mounted on the barrel - inserted spigot via bayonet slots . Once the propellant was discharged the spigot became the launching piston for the M388 atomic projectile . The nuclear yield is hinted at in FM 9 - 11 : Operation and Employment of the Davy Crockett Battlefield Missile , XM - 28 / 29 ( June 1963 ) . The M - 388 could be launched from either of two launchers known as the Davy Crockett Weapon System ( s ) : the 4 - inch ( 120 mm ) M28 , with a range of about 1 . 25 mi ( 2 km ) , or the 6 . 1 - in ( 155 mm ) M29 , with a range of 2 . 5 mi ( 4 km ) . Both weapons used the same projectile , and were either mounted on a tripod launcher transported by an armored personnel carrier , or they were carried by a Jeep ( M - 38 & later M - 151 ) . The Jeep was equipped with an attached launcher for the M28 or the M29 , as required , whereas the Davy Crockett carried by an armored personnel carrier was set up in the field on a tripod away from the carrier . The Davy Crocketts were operated by a three - man crew . In the 3rd Armored Division in Germany in the 1960s many Davy Crockett Sections ( all of which were in the Heavy Mortar Platoons , in Headquarters Companies of Infantry or Armor Maneuver Battalions ) received what became a mix of M28 & M29 launchers [ e . g . , one of each per D / C section ] . Eventually , the M28s were replaced by M29s , so that both the armored personnel carriers and the Jeeps carried the M29 . Both recoilless guns proved to have poor accuracy in testing , so the shell ' s greatest effect would have been its extreme radiation hazard . The M - 388 would produce an almost instantly lethal radiation dosage ( in excess of 10 , 000 rem ) within 500 feet ( 150 m ) , and a probably fatal dose ( around 600 rem ) within a quarter mile ( 400 m ) . The warhead was tested on July 7 , 1962 in the Little Feller II weapons effects test shot , and again in an actual firing of the Davy Crockett from a distance of 1 . 7 miles ( 2 . 72 km ) in the Little Feller I test shot on July 17 . This was the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site . Production of the Davy Crockett began in 1956 , with a total of 2 , 100 being made . The weapon was tested between 1962 and 1968 at the Pohakuloa Training Area on Hawaii island , with 714 M101 spotter rounds ( not live warheads ) that contained depleted uranium . The weapon was deployed with U . S . Army forces from 1961 to 1971 . It was deactivated from U . S . Army Europe ( in West Germany ) in August , 1967 . Versions of the W54 warhead were also used in the Special Atomic Demolition Munition project and the AIM - 26A Falcon . 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 , ( 3 per platoon ) were fully air droppable . The units were deactivated in mid - 1968 . Proposed German military use . One of the most fervent supporters of the Davy Crockett was West Germany ' s defense minister Franz Josef Strauss , in the late 1950s and early 1960s . Strauss promoted the idea of equipping German brigades with the weapon to be supplied by the US , arguing that this would allow German troops to become a much more effective factor in NATO ' s defense of Germany against a potential Soviet invasion . He argued that a single Davy Crocket could replace 40 – 50 salvos of a whole divisional artillery park — allowing the funds and troops normally needed for this artillery to be invested into further troops , or not having to be spent at all . US NATO commanders strongly opposed Strauss ' s ideas , as they would have made the use of tactical nuclear weapons almost mandatory in case of war , further reducing the ability of NATO to defend itself without resorting to atomic weapons . Museum examples . Below is a list of museums which have a Davy Crockett casing in their collection :