Davy Crockett (nuclear Device) - Proposed German Military Use

Proposed German Military Use

One of the most fervent supporters of the Davy Crockett was West Germany's defense minister Franz Josef Strauss, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Strauss promoted the idea of equipping German brigades with numbers of the weapon to be supplied by the US, arguing that this would allow German troops to become a much more effective factor in NATO's defense of Germany against a potential Soviet invasion. He argued that a single Davy Crocket could replace 40-50 salvos of a whole divisional artillery park - allowing the funds and troops normally needed for this artillery to be invested into further troops, or simply not having to be spent at all. However, US NATO commanders strongly opposed Strauss' ideas, as they would have made the use of tactical nuclear weapons almost mandatory in case of war, further reducing the ability of NATO to defend itself without resorting to atomic weapons.