Poking the Bear Again

[Smitty-48]

for exercise scenario, one UGM-133A Trident II could take the Russians out in Crimea, in 5-7 minutes

12 tactical nuclear strikes pretty much covers every target on the peninsula

if you were at the same time targeting the Russians in the South Caucasus ?

that would be another Trident going there

again, tho, just one SSBN-726 Ohio class with 24 Trident II's

that's enough tactical nuclear weapons for the whole theater

[Smitty-48]

bear in mind that W76-2 at 2-5 kilotons yield is not a giant nuclear explosion like Castle Bravo

these are very small and therefore very usable bombs

you're talking more like the explosion in Beirut, that was tac nuke sized

[Smitty-48]

the difference with the tactical nuclear bomb is radiation

even with a Beirut sized blast, you get the secondary effects of nuclear weapons

1. Electromagnetic Pulse

2. Neutron Flash

3. Thermal Wave

for a moment, the bomb is hotter than the sun, 6 million degrees

so it more fries the targets than it does destroy them with the subsequent blast wave

if you take this to its logical conclusion, eventually you get down to the Neutron Bomb

Enhanced Radiation Weapon, the blast is only 1 kiloton yield, but it kills with radiation alone, and no fallout after

[Smitty-48]

this is how you take out enemy ICBM's in the silos with a counterforce

your MIRV pops right above their silo

the heat & radiation cooks the enemy ICBM in its silo, fries its electronics, renders it inert

that's a strategic counterforce

in a theater counterforce you are using smaller bombs against tactical targets,

like air bases, ships, command posts, etc

[Montegriffo]

the difference with the tactical nuclear bomb is radiation

even with a Beirut sized blast, you get the secondary effects of nuclear weapons

1. Electromagnetic Pulse

2. Neutron Flash

3. Thermal Wave

for a moment, the bomb is hotter than the sun, 6 million degrees

so it more fries the targets than it does destroy them with the subsequent blast wave

if you take this to its logical conclusion, eventually you get down to the Neutron Bomb

Enhanced Radiation Weapon, the blast is only 1 kiloton yield, but it kills with radiation alone, and no fallout after

[Smitty-48]

see, when you load a Trident II with W76-2, that is only a maximum 60 kilotons for all the MIRV's combined

that is less firepower than a B61 freefall bomb which can be set for up to 340 kilotons

so it's 12 small bombs, that pepper the same target, for example all the Russian military around Sevastopol

[Smitty-48]

the difference with the tactical nuclear bomb is radiation

even with a Beirut sized blast, you get the secondary effects of nuclear weapons

1. Electromagnetic Pulse

2. Neutron Flash

3. Thermal Wave

for a moment, the bomb is hotter than the sun, 6 million degrees

so it more fries the targets than it does destroy them with the subsequent blast wave

if you take this to its logical conclusion, eventually you get down to the Neutron Bomb

Enhanced Radiation Weapon, the blast is only 1 kiloton yield, but it kills with radiation alone, and no fallout after

back in 1983 that was the case perhaps

the N-bombs would target Soviet tank formations coming over the Trace

but that was before precision guidance

now you can make your ERW's accurate down to the meter

you can drop one right down the chimney, at which point, you can kill the rich in their bunkers too

[Smitty-48]

this is where the cruise missiles come in

you employ the ballistic & cruise missiles together in combined arms

if you want to strike fast, preempt the adversary, that is the Prompt Global Strike with tactical ballistic missiles

at the same time, you have the cruise missiles coming to take out secondary smaller targets with precision

eventually everything goes Hypersonic

SSBN launched Hypersonic Glide Vehicles ( HGV ) at Mach 20 +

SSGN launched Hypersonic Cruise Missiles ( HCM ) at Mach 5 +

[Smitty-48]

now of course it is an Arms Race so there is a countermeasure side of the equation

this is how ABM 72' & INF 87' are linked

if you deploy ABM, the countermeasure is INF

if you deploy INF, the countermeasure is ABM

more INF forces you to deploy more ABM

more ABM forces you to deploy more INF

this was the escaltory spiral in the 1980's

the two treaties came together to stop it in 1987

when ABM 72' collapsed, that collapsed INF 87'

and all of a sudden the Cold War Arms Race was back, just like that

[Smitty-48]

the Cold War actually ceased to be an ideological confrontation when Nixon went to China

Nixon proved that not all Communists were the same

we could make a cold peace with the Chinese Communists

so this was never about Communism at all, this was just about the Soviets

suddenly the Soviets were surrounded by both America & China together

this is when they got desperate, invaded Afghanistan and deployed INF's in Europe

then America responded by invoking Ballistic Missile Defense in the face of that, with the SDI in 1983