Elite soldiers carried lightweight nuclear weapons in backpacks during cold war

US and Soviet Union had run deep into Cold War twenty years after the end of World War II, leading to high tension.

According the Verge, the Soviets had the Americans outgunned in terms of conventional arms, while the US on the other hand had a vastly superior store of nuclear power.

However, Dwight D. Eisenhower's "New Look" security policy, which claimed that any form of Soviet aggression would be met with massive retaliation, meant a swift nuclear response resulting into loss of life on both sides.

In order to reduce loss of life, military engineers sought after tactical nukes that could strategically destroy enemy infrastructure without killing millions.

This gave birth to the Special Atomic Demolition Munition, a "lightweight" nuclear weapon that elite Special Forces units would literally carry onto the battlefield, by parachute, on foot, or even while skiing.