The Soviets were anything but blind to these weapons and kept a close watch on the Annies. As such, Annie positions could be overrun by a fast-moving enemy before her nuclear projectiles.
The major drawback of the Annie was in that it took a full day to position and set up for firing.
The United States maintained a full tank division along the border and this was further backed by three M65 atomic cannons (known as 'Atomic Annie') that, if necessary, could be used to answer a large Soviet tank attack from the east. West German authorities and US forces knew the tank force just over the border could destroy them by simple conventional means through massed numbers. In 1949, the defeated Germans had been divided into an eastern and western section, the east under the control of the communist Soviets. After its strong showing against the German Army in World War 2 (1939-1945), the Soviet military comprised of thousands of proven battle tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery pieces, aircraft and constantly evolving air defense systems. The Cold War in Europe spanned from 1947 into 1991 and the undisputed enemy to the democratic world was the nuclear-armed Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin.
