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What do you mean by Soviets never bought into it? Did they think they could win without themselves being destroyed by American nukes?
by dba7dba 12y ago
What do you mean by Soviets never bought into it? Did they think they could win without themselves being destroyed by American nukes?
- hga 12y agoYes. Although emphasize could, it was hardly certain. (And if this strikes you as crazy, well, remember that since a little before 1920 they explicitly were planning on taking over the world, and got uncomfortably close to achieving that goal.) This was one of the reasons SDI, even on paper/in the lab, was so terribly effective. Against an even partly effective ABM system a counterforce first strike becomes impossible, since you can't choose which warheads or boosters get intercepted. Counterforce is an attack on your opponent's strategic forces, aimed at preventing them from retaliating. That's one of the reasons we had to build the expensive "Triad" of ICBMs, SLBMs, and manned bombers. Reliably taking all three out is very difficult.