Nuclear Weapon

The Tactical Nuclear Weapon is the most powerful weapon in the Fallout universe.

History
The Nuclear weapon was first developed by the United States during World War II, in the Manhattan project, to use a weapon that could easily force the surrender of a nation such as Japan, which in the summer of 1945, ended the war with the 'Nuking' of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

By the 1950's, both the Americans and the Soviet Union possesed nuclear weapons, allowing the threat of a nuclear war, and the extinction of humanity.

By 2077, all such fears had been realised, as China and America, after years of fierce fighting, launched nukes at one another, obliterating not only each other but most of the developed world, within two hours, from which civilisation would not get back to it's pre-war status after 200 years of silence.

Use (2077-2277)
In the United States, the Nuke had been minturised into handheld forms such as the Fatman, which saw widespread infantry use, and after the war, organisations such as the Brotherhood of Steel adopted it for use against Super Mutants and the Enclave.