A
suitcase nuclear device (also
suitcase bomb,
backpack nuke,
mini-nuke and
pocket nuke) is a
tactical nuclear weapon which uses, or is portable enough that it could use, a
suitcase as its delivery method. Thus far, only the
United States and the
Soviet Union/
Russian Federation are known to have possessed nuclear weapons programs developed and funded well enough to manufacture miniaturized nuclear weapons. Both the United States and the Soviet Union have acknowledged producing nuclear weapons small enough to be carried in specially-designed backpacks during the
Cold War, but neither have ever made public the existence or development of weapons small enough to fit into a normal-sized suitcase or briefcase. It has also been reported that
Israel has produced nuclear warheads small enough to fit into a suitcase.