Tactical nuclear weapon
（重定向自Tactical atomic bomb）
![U.S. officials view a W54 nuclear warhead (with a 10 or 20 ton explosive yield) as used on the Davy Crockett recoilless gun. The unusually small size of this tactical nuclear weapon is visible.](/Images/godic/202502/14/Davy_Crockett_bomb0623.jpg")
![US scientists with a full-scale cut-away model of the W48 155-millimeter nuclear artillery shell, a very small tactical nuclear weapon with an explosive yield equivalent to 72 tons of TNT (0.072 kiloton). It could be fired from any standard 155 mm (6.1 inch) howitzer (e.g., the M114 or M198)](/Images/godic/202502/14/W48_155-millimeter_nuclear_shell0623.jpg")
![Russian 2S3 Akatsiya 152mm self-propelled artillery, capable of firing a 'ZBV3' (designated RFYAC-VNIITF) 1 kiloton nuclear artillery shell a distance of 17.4 km](/Images/godic/202502/14/2S3_Akatsiya0623.jpg")
![An American eight-inch W33 nuclear artillery shell. This warhead had a number of different yield options (e.g., five kilotons). It could be fired from any standard eight-inch (203mm) howitzer (e.g., the M110 or M115)](/Images/godic/202502/14/Mk330623.jpg")
A tactical nuclear weapon (or TNW) also known as non-strategic nuclear weapon refers to a nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations, mostly with friendly forces in proximity and perhaps even on contested friendly territory. This is opposed to strategic nuclear weapons which are designed to be mostly targeted in the enemy interior away from the war front against nuclear forces, cities, factories, and other hardened or larger-area targets to damage the enemy's ability to wage war. Tactical nuclear weapons were a large part of the peak nuclear weapons stockpile levels during the Cold War.