Green Berets, Nuclear Backpacks, Cold War, Soviet Invasion, Oh My...

[Team Sergeant]

Wow, did any of you guys ever hear about this?
Nuclear backpacks, what will we think of next?

How the U.S. Army planned to use nuclear backpacks to halt Soviet invasion in the Cold War


Device was 18in high and could deliver 1 kiloton nuclear blast
After detonator timer was set troops were expected to stay close by to make sure bomb didn't fall into enemy hands
Mission was so dangerous potential recruits said they would rather return to Vietnam War
Special Forces had to dive, ski and parachute with bomb strapped to them

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 13:41 EST, 30 January 2014 | UPDATED: 17:35 EST, 30 January 2014

At the height of the Cold War the U.S. had a secret plan to help them if the Soviets should try to invade.
Special Forces, wearing 58lb nuclear warheads strapped to their backs, would be parachuted in over enemy lines to set off a devastating obstacle.

It may have been a fraction of the 15 kiloton blast dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War, but the backpack bombs were seen as a valuable asset.

At 18in tall, and encased in aluminum and fiberglass, the bomb could deliver a nuclear blast of about 1 kiloton - the equivalent of thousands of tons on TNT.

Highly trained troops from the U.S. Army would hide the atomic bombs at key targets, in the hope that the wave of destruction unleashed would be enough to halt Soviet advances, or make them rethink their plans.

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz2rw7Nzv7q
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