At the time they were first developed, tactical nuclear weapons were intended to be used in a full-scale war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. There was an opi

At the time they were first developed, tactical nuclear weapons were intended to be used in a full-scale war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. There was an opinion in the military establishment that chemical and low-yield nuclear weapons would be used to a limited degree on the battlefields of an otherwise conventional war. I don't think this view is as crazy at it sounds on the surface. I don't think the US and UK would launch a general nuclear strike if, say, Soviet Frontal Aviation put a nuclear-tipped cruise missile into the USS Eisenhower or Seventh Army engineers blew strategic bridges with nuclear demolition charges. It's a dangerous line to flirt, though.