High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A tactical nuclear weapon (or TNW) refers to a nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations. This is as opposed to strategic nuclear weapons which are designed to threaten large populations, to damage the enemy's ability to wage war, or for general deterrence. Tactical nuclear weapons were a large part of the peak nuclear weapons stockpile levels during the Cold War. Tactical weapons include not only gravity bombs and short-range missiles, but also artillery shells, land mines, depth charges, and torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare, with nuclear warheads. Also in this category were the former nuclear-warheaded surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), ground-based or shipborne, and air-to-air missiles.