A tripod mounted Davy Crockett (Public domain)

The Most Terrifying Weapon Ever Devised

It posed a severe danger to the user as well as enemy combatants

Grant Piper
Exploring History
Published in
6 min readNov 17, 2020

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When people think of terrifying weapons from human history, they usually focus on the macro-scale “doomsday” weapons of the 20th century — especially Cold War weaponry. Things such as germ warfare bombs and thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles often make the cut. However, the most terrifying weapon ever designed comes to us from a smaller more tactical level.

The Davy Crockett Weapon System was a recoilless gun that was just as likely to kill the user as it was to kill the enemy. A single shot from the Davy Crockett Weapon System also known as the M-28/M-29 was almost guaranteed to lead to dozens of friendly fire casualties, hundreds of enemy casualties and the outbreak of a world ending thermonuclear war.

So what exactly was this weapon and what was it used for?

A Nuke For The Common Man

The Davy Crockett is a miniaturized nuclear warhead capable of being launched from a recoilless rifle by a single man or a tandem team. The warhead itself was an Mk-54 which weighed only 50lbs. This allowed a single dedicated operator, or pair, to setup, aim and fire a nuclear warhead at the tactical level.

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Grant Piper
Exploring History

Professional writer. Amateur historian. Husband, father, Christian.