Nuclear artillery
The United Kingdom planned and partially developed such weapon systems (the Blue Water missile and the Yellow Anvil artillery shell) but did not put them into production.
These nations fielded artillery units trained and equipped to use nuclear weapons, but did not control the devices themselves.
This second group has included such North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries as Belgium, Canada, West Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
The fission warhead was a linear implosion type, consisting of a long cylinder of subcritical fissile material which is compressed and shaped by explosive into a supercritical sphere.
The M423 ordnance training rounds and their associated "bird cages" can be seen at the National Atomic Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[3] A further development program began in the 1980s: the W82, for the XM-785 (a 155 mm shell), was intended to yield up to two kilotons with an enhanced radiation capability.
At its test, it yielded only 190 tons; it failed to achieve fusion, and only the initial fission explosion worked correctly.
There are unconfirmed reports that work on similar concepts continued into the 1970s and resulted in a one-kiloton warhead design for 5-inch (127 mm) naval gun rounds; these, however, were never deployed as operational weapons.
In 1991, the US unilaterally withdrew its nuclear artillery shells from service, and Russia responded in kind in 1992.
Delivery units were organic to tank and motor rifle divisions and higher echelons.
The control and custody of nuclear weapons was the responsibility of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and its special units.
The Soviet Union developed and eventually deployed both rocket- and projectile-type nuclear artillery systems.
The first system developed was the SM-54 (2А3) 406 mm gun, nicknamed "Kondensator" (Russian: Конденсатор, "Capacitor"); this was released in 1956.
The purpose-built weapons suffered from the same deficiencies of the American M-65 Nuclear Cannon to which they are analogous; large, unwieldy, and quickly obsolete.
