Soviet Nuclear Artillery during the Cold War,In the 1950’s one interesting Cold War concept wa

Soviet Nuclear Artillery during the Cold War,In the 1950’s one interesting Cold War concept was the use of large caliber artillery pieces to deliver nuclear payloads to a target.  The first was an American gun, designated the M65 but nicknamed “Atomic Annie”.  Atomic Annie was designed in 1949 and first tested in 1953, delivering a shell that resulted in a nuclear blast roughly the same size as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.In response to America’s “Atomic Annie”, the Soviets decided they needed a similar type weapon in order to keep up with the Cold War arms race.  The Soviets would create a similar weapon, only bigger and better.  In 1955, the 2A3 Kondensator 2P was introduced, a self propelled nuclear artillery piece which could fire 420mm (16 inch) shell roughly 16 miles. It was a massive gun, the Atomic Annie being only 280mm, although having a range 4 miles greater. The 2A3 Kondensator first became known to the West in 1957 when it was featured in a parade in Red Square in 1957.  Four 2A3 Kondensators were produced.  In 1957, the Soviets upped the ante by building an even larger gun called the 2B1 Oka, which was a 420mm (17 inch) gun with a larger, longer barrel to increase range.Both guns had a very short service life.  In 1960, Nikita Khrushchev instituted a series of military reforms which ended production and research into nuclear artillery.  The invention and perfection of intercontinental ballistic missiles made the nuclear artillery concept obsolete, as ICBM’s have much greater range and power.  After 1960, Soviet research into nuclear warfare focused on rocket and missile delivery systems, abandoning the use of nuclear artillery.  The United States likewise did the same.  -- source link

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