M65 Recoiless Nuclear Rifle

[Chee-to]

M65 Recoiless Nuclear Rifle................

Make sure to wear your eye & ear protection..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khyZI3RK2lE&feature=related

Read More

 

[absoluterik07]

And make sure you have your running shoes on after firing it!

 

[Sawdust]

I saw one of these on display at the Infantry Museum at Fort Benning back when I was stationed there -90'/91'. We all laughed and thought that the designers were crazy. BTW there were two different sizes at the display.

 

[coctailer]

Would that be a Destructive Device?
$200 Tax Stamp?

 

[ZachS]

Would that be a Destructive Device?
$200 Tax Stamp?

I'd think you'd need at least two stamps!

 

[Cougfan2]

As I remember, the joke about these things was that the recoiless rifle didn't have enough range to put the nuke far enough away from where the poor dumb GI's that fired it were that they would be in the blast zone when the thing detonated.

Sucks to be them.

 

[jordanvraptor]

.01 kilotons is pretty small. Equivalent to 10 tons of TNT would be around the explosive power of the BLU-82 "daisy cutter" or the new MOAB bombs. I think 3 miles is plenty far enough as long as you are not downwind for the fallout. I think its value was its portability and ease of employment rather than having to have a cargo aircraft slide a huge conventional bomb out its ramp.

A Tomahawk cruise missile warhead is only slightly larger and can be as powerful as 150 kiloton yield (10 Hiroshimas give or take). Now, that would ruin your day...

 

[Cougfan2]

.01 kilotons is pretty small. Equivalent to 10 tons of TNT would be around the explosive power of the BLU-82 "daisy cutter" or the new MOAB bombs. I think 3 miles is plenty far enough as long as you are not downwind for the fallout. I think its value was its portability and ease of employment rather than having to have a cargo aircraft slide a huge conventional bomb out its ramp.

A Tomahawk cruise missile warhead is only slightly larger and can be as powerful as 150 kiloton yield (10 Hiroshimas give or take). Now, that would ruin your day...

You're right. I should have said fallout zone rather than blast zone. Still, I wouldn't want to bet my life on a wind shift.

 

[clearconscience]

I can't imagine being a soldier that was in a position to have to test that.
What did we do to this world.

When is a country going to make a bomb big enough to destroy the world???
It's not the first strike weapon, it's a final strike weapon.

 

[ZachS]

When is a country going to make a bomb big enough to destroy the world???
It's not the first strike weapon, it's a final strike weapon.

Russia came closest, and that was almost 50 years ago. After that, people figured out that huge bombs were both inefficient (if you can destroy a city with 100kt why go bigger) and strategically dangerous (too many eggs in one basket for the enemy to destroy).

 

[yskippy]

When my Dad was stationed in Germany in the early 60's, he was in charge of a Davy Crocket Platoon. I have the army filed manual for these things and it is quite an amusing read. I'll see if I can get a couple of the more humorous pages scanned and posted.

 

[chemist]

I like the name on the bomb in the museum: "Hi there" was also the name on the nose of one of the bombs in the B-52 that appeared in the movie "Dr. Strangelove." The other bomb was "Dear John."

 

[jordanvraptor]

The future of Davy Crockett... The MK-55 Tactical Nuclear Launcher. When it absolutely, positively, has to be totally vaporized...

 

[Cougfan2]

the future of davy crockett... The mk-55 tactical nuclear launcher. When it absolutely, positively, has to be totally vaporized...

do you want to know more?

 

[Trlsmn]

"We have a doomsday weapon gap"

 

[jimwsea]

I want a pair of those "walk on the water" shoes for by bug-out kit.