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Russia is developing smaller tactical nukes in a similar vein which is what I heard on NPR as the rationale for our own development and deployment of these weap
by wavefunction 9y ago
Russia is developing smaller tactical nukes in a similar vein which is what I heard on NPR as the rationale for our own development and deployment of these weapons.
NPR also asserted that there is a feeling among Russians (?) that they could use a small nuke against the US and we wouldn't retaliate because we only have overwhelmingly large nuclear weapons.
I don't know what the basis is for the claim of non-retaliation though NPR isn't necessarily known as some sort of portal of nationalist rhetoric so I'm left confused by the report.
- mlvljr 9y agoThere is no such feeling among us, I assure you :)
- duggan 9y agoThe logic would presumably be that using a significantly larger missile constitutes escalation rather than retaliation. Which begets escalation, which begets mutually assured destruction. Game theory, rather than rhetoric.
- michaelt 9y agothey could use a small nuke against the US and we wouldn't retaliate because we only have overwhelmingly large nuclear weapons. Given that America could simply fire a large nuclear weapon at a low-population-density area if they wanted a controlled number of deaths, no rational person would gamble their family's life on that.
- mikeash 9y agoOur response to 9/11 was to invade two countries, one of which wasn’t even involved. I’m pretty sure that even a small nuke detonating on American territory would be met with the complete destruction of the attackers. We don’t really have the concept of a proportional response for this sort of thing.