For example, records could be divided between the 12th GUMO and four production (dismantlement) facilities in Russia. The official position of our military is that its possible but unlikely that Osama bin Laden has acquired suitcase bombs. Attention to portable nuclear devices (often referred to as "suitcase nukes") peaked in 1997-early 1998 following well-publicized allegations by the late governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai and former Russian Security Council Secretary, General (Ret.) [24]The devices were reportedly stolen prior to the transfer of nuclear weapons to Russia and hidden there until sold to Chechnya. The RDS-220 Tsar Bomba is probably the best-known nuclear weapon. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Warheads produced in the late 1960s or in the 1970s should have undergone major maintenance at least once by the time of the breakup of the Soviet Union. A suitcase nuclear device (also suitcase nuke, suitcase bomb, backpack nuke, snuke, mini-nuke, and pocket nuke) is a tactical nuclear weapon that is portable enough that it could use a suitcase as its delivery method. ( Nuclear weapon) A nuclear device small enough to be carried in a backpack A mini-nuke is a nuclear bomb that generates a smaller explosion than those that are mounted on rockets. This W-48 shell was a cylinder 155mm across and by 846mm long (6.1 x 33.3-inches). [29]Marie Colvin, Holy War with US in his Sights,Times(London), August 16, 1998; see also Dmitri Safonov, Kuzkina Mat Osamy ben Ladena,Izvestiya,September 21, 2001. Several broad considerations suggest that the story about portable nuclear devices should be taken seriously, with a caveat that their existence cannot be viewed as an established fact. The official position of our military is that it's possible but unlikely that Osama bin Laden has acquired suitcase bombs. The shortest-range tactical nuclear device was the Special Atomic Demolition Munition, . Admittedly, the price has risen drastically since the end of the Cold War but in any case, any missing nuclear device using the two point linear implosion assembly probably has a salvage price high enough to make it very unlikely that such a weapon would remain intact for terrorist use. The systems 9Sh16 periscope also offered fixed 8X magnification with a 22.5-degree field of view for targeting over 1,000 meters. Investigative reporter George Knapp spoke with some locals who have some hands-on experience with those kinds of weapons. A suitcase nuke (also suitcase bomb, backpack nuke, snuke, mini-nuke, and pocket nuke) is a tactical nuclear weapon which uses, or is portable enough that it could use a suitcase as its delivery method. To . It doesnt look like a bomb.. Former Green Beret commander James Bo Gritz was a team leader in the SADM program. [8]In an attempt to clarify the situation, he created a special commission under the chairmanship of his assistant, Vladimir Denisov. Among these three scenarios, the presence of portable devices in Kazakhstan is the least likely, since it was not a border republic. In the mid-1990s, for example, nearly 3,500 retired officers continued to live within the closed compounds of the 12th GUMO facilities. The Sagger was designed to be small enough that it could be launched from a protected position, such as a trench, foxhole or bunker. One uncorroborated report in December 2000 claimed that the intelligence agency of an unnamed European country intercepted a shipment of approximately 20 nuclear warheadsoriginating from Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Ukraineintended for bin Laden and the Taliban regime of Afghanistan. The latest content straight to your inbox plus an automatic entry to each of our monthly giveaways! The United States is planning to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to an air base in northern Australia, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday, amid heightened tensions with Beijing. No warheads are missing, and Denisovs commission was simply unable to complete its job (Denisov admitted that the commission was, indeed, disbanded prematurely). Ukraine represented a different case. Thomas B. Cochran, William M. Arkin, and Milton M. Hoenig,Nuclear Weapons Databook, Volume 1: US Nuclear Forces and Capabilities(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Ballinger, 1984), p. 60. One class mentioned was nuclear mines, while another was the portable nuclear devices for Special Forces, which were the subject of Lebeds statement. Still, even using this data, one can assess the nature of these weapons, the probability of an unknown number of them having been stolen, and the level of associated threat. One oft-cited example is a U.S. device called the special atomic demolition munition (SADM), reportedly deployed in various . Based on this information, it seems unlikely that any nuclear devices, including portable ones, were lost or stolen outside Russia prior to their removal to the Russian territory. Official and unofficial sources in 1997-98 asserted that the design of miniature nuclear devices was more complex than that of common warheads and could not be performed at home (thereby indirectly confirming that small devices did exist in the Soviet Union). That was the 9M14 Malyutka (Russian for Little One), a weapon that is commonly known by its NATO reporting name, AT-3 Sagger. Sifting through available evidence, one can conclude that if such devices existed, they likely had the following characteristics: Several of these statements require an in-depth discussion. But, it does verify the story, above, that our satellites can sense high-velocity particles coming from nuclear warheads. A suitcase nuclear weapon, or suitcase nuke, was a term used to describe various types of nuclear devices developed by the former Soviet Union. Spetsnaz representatives flatly denied possession of nuclear weapons,[21]but their statements might refer to the fact that in peacetime, nuclear weapons remained in the custody of the 12th GUMO and were released to troops at a special command. In fact, while some NATO analysts may have feared the weapon, it was first only employed by units from the Peoples Army of Vietnam (North Vietnamese Army) during clashes with South Vietnamese tanks in Quang Tri Province in April 1972. In a world where you can't trust former members high ranking members of the Soviet military and GRU defectors, who can you trust? Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved, a nuclear torpedo, landmine, or other small and easily transportable devices, the limited use of nuclear weapons would take place, to prevent the enemy from using certain areas of the battlefield. The scenario offered by Denisov, namely, that a number of portable nuclear devices were left outside Russia when nuclear weapons were withdrawn to its territory, appears unlikely. Around March 2014, a rising insurgency known as the People's Liberation and Resistance have been seen increasing activity across the Iran-Iraq border. In the only case in which an attempt to conceal a limited number of nuclear weapons could be suspectedin Ukrainethe removal was subject to enhanced accounting procedures. Another report about a Chechen bomb appeared in the fall of 1999, when Russian troops were starting a new war in Chechnya. The smallest possible bomb-like object would be a single critical mass of plutonium (or U-233) at maximum density under normal conditions. It is sufficient here to briefly list the most relevant factors for the case of portable nuclear devices: The situation is similar at production and dismantlement facilities, where components of warheads could be stolen by employees. Available evidence suggests that these stories were most probably not true, and that they were generated by incomplete information or ulterior motives. According to the chief of the 12th GUMO, Igor Valynkin, small munitions required replacement of components every several months (other sources mentioned six months). However, this does not seem plausible: Design and production of nuclear weapons were concentrated solely in Russia, and, in all probability, nuclear research centers in other republics simply lacked specialized knowledge. Consequently, it is necessary to continue efforts aimed at acquiring better and more reliable information about the status of Soviet/Russian portable nuclear devices, as well as about the parameters of threat they might pose in the hands of terrorists. What is especially noteworthy is that the weapons history still remains somewhat shrouded in mystery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_Man_%28nuclear_bomb%29 The lightest nuclear warhead ever acknowledged to have been manufactured by the U.S. is the W54, which was used in both the Davy Crockett 120mm recoilless rifle-launched warhead and the backpack-carried version called the Mk-54 SADM (Special Atomic Demolition Munition). Thus, it would be safe to assume that without proper maintenance, portable nuclear devices might still produce chain reaction, but yield would be minimal, and with time, possibly non-existent. Only one was ever built and tested. None were ever functional, and couldnt be converted into any type of functional weapon, but they are still impressive as a conversation piece. It was fought between the United States of America, Russian Federation, and the People's Liberation and Resistance. [13] Lunev said that he had personally looked for hiding places for weapons caches in the Shenandoah Valley area[12] and that "it is surprisingly easy to smuggle nuclear weapons into the US" either across the Mexican border or using a small transport missile that can slip undetected when launched from a Russian airplane. The electronics required to do this, for instance, are far smaller in 2011, or even just prior to 1997 when Lebed's allegations took place, than they were in 1945! [3] The W48 however, does fit the criteria of small, easily disguised, and portable. MW INTERVIEW: Desert Oracle author Ken Layne, MW INTERVIEW Rey Hernandez discusses changes after, MW INTERVIEW: Dr. Dan Laird on Opioid Conspiracy, MYSTERY WIRE Animal medical testing interview with, Hidden Las Vegas History: the Hughes House (aka:, MYSTERY WIRE DMT: The Spirit Molecule Dr David, Mystery Wire Wild horse advocate Jerry Reynoldson, Nevada landed in UFO spotlight 75 years ago, Skinwalker Ranch and the hitchhiker effect. Lebed apparently referred to such munitions in his statements (some sources, including himself, mentioned the weight of 30 kg). Alpha particles emitted from the polonium liberate a flood of neutrons from the beryllium, helping to initiate the chain reaction. Will this fit in an overhead bin, or do I have to pay extra to check it at the counter??? The threat was too scary to stay secret, government officials said, and word leaked out. The assessment of the validity of that scenario should take into account two considerations: In at least one case, in Azerbaijan, the local pro-independence Popular Front attempted to prevent the removal; the Soviet military had to fire warning shots to disperse the crowd that was blocking the runway at the Air Force base from which bombers with nuclear weapons were taking off. Suitcase Nukes have been a fascination of hollywood and spy television shows, as well as a concern for members of Congress throughout the Cold War and after. Russian MOD and Minatom officials could be expected to deny anything, regardless of whether allegations were completely or even partially correct. Russians make cavites for gas with those devices. . 1-2; Former Yeltsin Aide Discusses Pocket-Sized Atomic Bombs,La Stampa, December 27, 1997, p. 8 (FBIS-SOV-97-362). The troops of the 12th GUMO, which controlled all nuclear devices, were privileged and passed through, by Soviet standards, a very rigorous selection process. . It is not even known who the members of the commission were. Even with the scientific expertise and tons of sophisticated equipment at its disposal, NEST would have to get very lucky to catch someone smuggling a small atomic bomb into a major city, Wade admits. A suitcase nuclear device (also suitcase nuke, suitcase bomb, backpack nuke, snuke, mini-nuke, and pocket nuke) is a tactical nuclear weapon that is portable enough that it could use a suitcase as its delivery method. For example, in the manuscript of a major study of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, an expert from the Moscow-based PIR Center, Ivan Safranchuk, referred to them as so-called and ultimately dropped the reference in the final version of the study published in 2000. @ Zsolt Jasko: Had there been any nukes used the radiation would have been detected by now. Though the Sagger hasnt had its close-up in a movie, the weapon has become popular with collectors in just the past year after a cache of Communist Block trainers hit the market. If the battery runs low, the weapon has a transmitter that sends a coded message either by satellite or directly to a GRU post at a Russian embassy or consulate. They can strike the nucleus of a fissile atom and split it, yielding, again, energy and more neutrons. Without additional data, it is impossible to say with an acceptable level of certainty whether any number of these weapons was stolen during and following the breakup of the Soviet Union, as Alexander Lebed and a few other Russians claimed. [4]Russia: Defense Expert Surikov on Baltic NATO Entry, (FBIS-SOV-96-085), April 30, 1996. Radioactive Iodine (I-131) exposure from nuclear bombs. [1][2], Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union have ever made public the existence or development of weapons small enough to fit into a normal-sized suitcase or briefcase. Among one of the most ominous even insidious pieces of military hardware developed during the Cold War was suitcase nuclear device. If its non-essential bullet-shaped nose cone was not present, and the fusing system was mounted alongside the device, this or similar shells could fit within the 24 x 16 x 8 inch space alleged by Lebed. Nuclear mines are a well-known class of nuclear weapons. The Russian government reacted to Lebed's claim in classic Soviet style, combining wholesale denial with efforts to discredit the messenger. The question remains unsettled (and unsettling), but there seems small doubt that suitcase nukes are buildable, since plenty of portable if not exactly Samsonite-sized A-weapons were in fact built during the cold war. Even as more advanced anti-tank weapons have been developed, the Sagger and numerous variations continue to be produced in China, North Korea, Iran and Serbia. The shortest-range tactical nuclear device was the Special Atomic Demolition Munition, . Also, there is unconfirmed information that some small nuclear devices (munitions for 152-mm howitzers) were kept during peacetime in half-assembled state, i.e., parts were kept separately, although quick assembly in the case of war was possible. The final, shorter version was published under the title Takticheskoe Yadernoe Oruzhie v Novom Mire i Nestrategicheskie Yadernye Sily Rossii in the series Doklady (Reports) No. It is, of course, impossible to reliably verify Lebeds claim that nearly a hundred of these miniature nuclear devices could not be accounted for in 1996. With my background, that is not a very comfortable answer.. Short life span between scheduled maintenance. No such weapons exist,' a ministry spokesman told AFP. In 1991, the government announced a decision to become non-nuclear, but in early 1992 began to explore the possibility of keeping nuclear weapons. As Yablokov speculated, portable nuclear devices were not entered into logs of the 12th GUMO, since they were under control of the KGB. An explosion is seen behind a soldier during a joint exercise called the 'Great Prophet 17',in the southwest of Iran, in this picture obtained on December 22, 2021. A red tail light emitted from the rocket motor to serve as a visual guide to the operator before the missile impacted. According to one Russian expert, the size of these shells (15 cm in diameter and 50 cm in length) apparently represents the smallest size of the nuclear device Russian designers were able to achieve (the 130-mm naval guns did not have nuclear shells).[18]. In regard to suitcase bomb, images that abound on the web showing a gun-type weapon mounted in a suitcase do not accurately reflect just how large such a device would have to be to functionAnother method, which works using plutonium, uranium, or a composite of the two, is to compress a mass of fissile material using explosives. The first and only reliable line of defense against the acquisition or use of suitcase nuclear weapons by terrorists lies in the countries that possess such devices or have the capability to produce them. missile had reportedly peaked at 25,000 missiles a year during the 1960s and 1970s. [2]Alexei Arbatov, ed., Yadernye Vooruzheniya i Bezopasnost, Moscow: Institute of World Economy and International Relations, 1997. Both the United States and the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons small enough to be portable in specially-designed backpacks during the 1950s and 1960s. In any event, the probability of assembly of a portable nuclear device is much smaller than the probability that a crude nuclear weapon could be assembled in a non-nuclear state or by terrorists. Tested in October 1961, it was the largest man-made explosive ever detonated. There is (or was) no single, complete, readily accessible repository of records, and comprehensive checks were not conducted before the creation of the Denisov commission in 1996. To aid this, at the center of the fissile mass is a device known as an initiator. [5]A subsequent study of these weapons written by the deputy director of the PIR Center, Yuri Fedorov, did not mention them either. Thus, possession of nuclear weapons was simply not in line with its mission. He suggested that although it would add to the size of the device, a thin reflector of beryllium would reduce the mass of fissile material needed to produce an explosion, and thus the overall weight. Radioactive Iodine is a byproduct of nuclear fission processes in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons such as atomic bombs and suitcase bombs. Without scheduled maintenance, these devices apparently can produce only minimal yield and eventually possibly no yield at all, and can only serve as a source of small amounts of weapons-grade fissile materials. Deliver a nuclear weapon, or fissile material and receive Big Bucks; In 1997, a former Soviet general, Alexander I. Lebed, gave an interview to60 Minutesin whichhe contendedthat the Soviet Union had created around 250 suitcase-sized portable nuclear weapons, similar to the United States B-54. The Pu-239 weighs 10.5 kg and is 10.1 cm across. The fear is that a few may have ended up on the black market. Since the majority of feasible scenarios involve Chechens, and since the period of greatest risk was in the early 1990s, the inactivity of Chechens in this matter is significant. This man portable weapon was intended to be used to destroy structures such as bridges. Consequently, the possibility that nuclear weapons could have been intercepted and captured by a local group seems low: Information about such an event could not have been concealed within the MOD and, furthermore, we would have known about the use of force to defend or recapture nuclear weapons. Information is lacking on compact Soviet weapons, but a fair amount of information is available on compact US designs which provides a good basis for comparison. There is also the eerie acronym, SADM, or Special Atomic Demolition Munitions. Records are full and complete, as Igor Valynkin announced. One of these tactical nuclear devices is the so-called backpack or suitcase nuke essentially a nuclear device so small, it could be transported in a backpack or in a persons luggage. Like all nuclear weapons that are not permanently deployed on delivery vehicles, portable nuclear devices should be kept at storage facilities, controlled by the personnel of the 12th GUMO. Post on 23 September 2002 by Anne Marie Steiger tagged: Copyright 2021 James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). After launch, the operator was able to guide the course via a control panel and joystick. To get to the bottom of this it is necessary to consider what makes a nuclear weapon function. Two potential candidates are tritium and the neutron generator, which may use radioactive materials that decay over time. This 'W-54"' warhead, in the form of the M388 projectile, formed the heart of a strange weapons system known as the Davy Crocket which was a nuclear recoilless rifle. Any condition where there are more neutrons present than during the previous fission generation can be said to be "supercritical" and this is what is required for a nuclear detonation. In that case, even modest degradation of tritium could have resulted in a significant drop of yield. One should be sensitive to the possibility that GRU Spetsnaz, as well as KGB Spetsnaz, if necessary, could have used the smaller versions of nuclear mines, which were technically within the purview of the Engineering Troops. [26]Strobe Talbott,The Russia Hand(New York: Random House, 2002), p. 444 (fn. There have been many myths and rumors about suitcase nukes and the ability of non-state actors to build Improvised Nuclear Devices. These devices were specifically designed to be mobile and difficult to detect by the hostile military units and intelligence . [12] The devices, "identified as RA-115s (or RA-115-01s for submersible weapons)" weigh from fifty to sixty pounds. [12] US Congressman Curt Weldon supported claims by Lunev but noted that Lunev had "exaggerated things" according to the FBI. [10], Despite the Russian governments rejection of Lebeds claims however, the resulting public interest from Lebed's television appearances would eventually provoke a congressional hearing held between 1-2 October 1997 intended on discussing "Nuclear Terrorism and Countermeasures. This law was repealed in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004. Not sure why you'd need to import it, though, when there are like ~50 labs around the country that work with or can generate nuclear materials. There was no nuclear weapons production outside Russia; consequently, the probability that parts of nuclear weapons could be found outside its territory is very unlikely. In the late 1990s, a shocking story involving so-called suitcase nuclear weapons came to light. [14] Searches of the areas identified by Lunev have been conducted, "but law-enforcement officials have never found such weapons caches, with or without portable nuclear weapons. Live The Armory Life. Lebed stated that these devices were made to look like suitcases, and that he had learned of their existence only a few years earlier. A nuclear briefcase is a specially outfitted briefcase used to authorize the use of nuclear weapons and is usually kept near the leader of a nuclear weapons state at all times. Most, if not all, portable nuclear warheads are equipped with some protection devices (e.g., PALs), making their unauthorized use difficult, though not completely impossible. Article discussing the development of smaller nuclear weapons in the U.S.A. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suitcase_nuclear_device&oldid=1144538937, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 14 March 2023, at 07:53. In effect, portable nuclear devices, if stolen, will hardly be usable, at least not in the fashion that they were originally designed for. Even NEST is unable to simply fly over a city and zero in on all the nuclear materials there. This article first appeared in March 2020 and is being republished due to reader interest. In some of these limited use scenarios, small-yield nuclear weapons could be usedto prevent the enemy from using certain areas of the battlefield, or for taking out high-value targets or persons with one large explosive device, or for causing the collapse of a mountain to shape the battlefield landscape with a tactical nuclear bomb. [9], Among these releases, Lebed in an interview with CBS newsmagazine Sixty Minutes on 7 September 1997 claimed that the Russian military had lost track of more than a hundred out of a total of 250 "suitcase-sized nuclear bombs". He holds a Master of Public Policy and covers U.S. and Russian security, European defense issues, and German politics and culture.
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