Since it's obvious but never stated in the article, ultimately the U.S. military did decide the risks heavily outweighed the benefits and put the plan on whatev

Since it's obvious but never stated in the article, ultimately the U.S. military did decide the risks heavily outweighed the benefits and put the plan on whatever dusty shelf such ideas end up on. The history of nuclear weapons is full of stories like this, where something crazy is proposed or prescribed by policy but ultimately cooler heads prevailed. It's not widely known for example that during the Cuban missile crisis nuclear weapons were deployed and Russian forces were told to use them if pressed. The U.S. did not know this, and pressed, heavily, but ultimately Russian forces opted not to use them against their orders. It's also worth noting - again, since the article doesn't - the Soviets had a corresponding project and in the end came to the same conclusion. As the article states China may indeed have or be toying with this idea as well, but in the end will in all probability come to the same conclusion. I'm reminded of a Q&A Putin did in the mid 2000s where a student asked him what Russia would do if provoked too much, and in a rare candid moment Putin responded despite all the rhetoric countries may throw out, the truth is no one wants nuclear war and in such a war there are no winners.