Weapons & delivery systems

Tactical Nuclear Weapon

A nuclear weapon designed for battlefield use, typically with low yield (sub-kiloton to ~50 kilotons) and short range.

Tactical (or "non-strategic") nuclear weapons include artillery shells, depth charges, short-range missiles, and gravity bombs. Modern tactical weapons like the B61 and Russian Iskander-K warhead have variable yields (sometimes called "dial-a-yield"). The line between tactical and strategic blurs at higher yields.

Related terms

See the full Nuclear Weapons Glossary.