The T4 Atomic Demolition Munition (ADM) was a nuclear weapon derived from the American W9 nuclear artillery shell.
6-479: The T4 was produced in 1957 from recycled W9 fissile components and was in service until 1963, when it was replaced with W30 Tactical Atomic Demolition Munitions and W45 Medium Atomic Demolition Munitions . The weapon weighed 160 pounds (73 kg) and could be broken down into four 40 pounds (18 kg) sections for transport by a four-man crew. An article in the mid-1990s in Soldier of Fortune magazine by
12-515: A former US Navy Underwater Demolition Team member described the T4 ADM without naming it. The description was moderately detailed, including that the T4 was assembled out of a number of separate components: These five components would be assembled by first transporting all five components to the target area, then loading the three uranium rings into the base assembly, then screwing the gun barrel assembly into
18-480: A heavy load, having them all land close together, while being sufficiently uninjured to be able to finish transporting the weapon's components and assemble them. Several practice exercises failed to complete when one or more team members landed too far away or were injured. Future ADM units were single-component and while they might require several people's codes to arm, were a single physical unit which did not need field assembly. W9 (nuclear warhead) The W9
24-445: The base. According to the article, two combination locks with different combinations were then activated by different team members, then the weapon could be armed and the timer set. Each component was reportedly heavy enough that it was a full load for one team member. Reportedly, a major operational issue with planned usage of the T4 was the poor projected success rate of parachuting five team members into hostile territory at sea with
30-578: Was an American nuclear artillery shell fired from a special 280 mm howitzer . It was produced starting in 1952 and all were retired by 1957, being superseded by the W19 . The W9 was 11 inches (280 mm) in diameter, 54.8 in (1,390 mm) long, and weighed 850 lb (390 kg). It had an explosive yield of 15 kt (63 TJ ). The W9 was a gun-type nuclear weapon, using around 50 kg (110 lb) of highly enriched uranium in one large rings assembly and one smaller bullet , which
36-573: Was fired down a tube by conventional explosives into the rings assembly to achieve critical mass and detonate the weapon. The W9 units which were retired in 1957 were recycled into lower yield T-4 Atomic Demolition Munitions . These were the first (semi) man-portable nuclear weapons. The W9 is only the second gun-type nuclear weapon known to have been detonated; the first was the Little Boy nuclear weapon used in World War II. The W9 artillery shell
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