Dangers of tactical nukes

(This is Part 1 of 2 on nuclear war scenarios)

Tactical nukes or “small nukes” are intended for limited battlefield situations. But the danger is that they can easily escalate rapidly to “big nukes” in the blink of an eye.

Tactical nukes are designed to be used in limited battlefield situations rather than larger theaters of war. But the danger is that, in despair over a losing battle, they can be used to target densely populated small cities or industrial areas. The crude version of tactical nukes normally do not have a guidance or delivery system and are literally “just dropped,” like in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The sophisticated and more dangerous version has a delivery system.

Tactical nukes had never been used before (as of this writing), so their effects are not known until Man starts using them. For example, if a tactical nuke is taken out by a defense missile in midair before it can hit the target, will it cause radiation fallout even if there is no nuclear explosion?

The effects of this fallout may be “semi-irreversible,” meaning semi-permanent and hard to clean up or contain, just like in Chernobyl. In other words, the effect would be equal to or greater than an exploded tactical nuke. In a real war of tactical nukes, an exchange of even just four to six tactical nukes between two opposing forces can have massive semi-permanent effects on people and the environment.

The US tactical nuclear warhead W54 is the equivalent of the “small” 20-kiloton atomic bomb used in Hiroshima. Small is a matter of perspective. When the “small” 20-kiloton nuke was dropped on Hiroshima, the first time ever in the history of Man, 250,000 died instantly and millions followed in slow radiation sickness over the next few years.

To this day, remnants of that sickness still linger in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The prevailing 5-megaton nukes that nuke nations have today are intended to wipe out the entire nation of the enemy. It is an old mindset born of World War II. The entire global inventory of 5-megatons can wipe out mankind a hundred times over. It is an overkill.

Sophisticated tactical nukes today include “short-range missiles, artillery shells, land mines, depth charges and torpedoes which can be equipped with small nuclear warheads.” (Wikipedia)

In other words, because of their portability and mobility, you can use a variety of delivery systems from suitcases to mobile trucks to stealth bombers, which are not applicable to big nukes like ICBMs. So, the large variety of delivery systems make tactical nukes so easy to install, transport and use.

Suitcases can carry tiny tactical nukes which can be hand-carried by two men. They are called “suitcase nukes.” They can be brought undetected into the enemy’s cities and even to their armies on the battlefield by men disguised as friendly forces. It is thus a perfect weapon for terrorists, which makes tactical nukes more dangerous, whether they are the crude or sophisticated version.

The US W89 200-kiloton warhead, ten times that at Hiroshima, “is intended to arm both the tactical Sea Lance anti-submarine rocket-propelled depth charge and the strategic bomber-launched SRAM II stand-off missile. Modern tactical nuclear warheads have yields up to the tens of kilotons, or potentially hundreds, several times that used in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

North Korea, which is not part of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, has an edge over South Korea which respects the NTP. In the same way, Israel, which is also not part of the NTP, has an edge over Iran which is subject to IAEA investigation. This “edge” is very tempting for nations like North Korea and Israel to use in an actual battlefield situation.

The US believes tactical nukes are a “deterrent” to North Korea’s big nukes, namely, the ICBMs that it has tested many times, sending shivers to the US and Western European nations. The North Koreans, of course, laugh this off as not being logical. Quite the opposite, North Korean tactical nukes may perhaps be a deterrent to US or South Korean big nukes. (Source: “Tactical nuclear weapon, Wikipedia.org)

In truth, big nukes and small nukes are both a deterrent and a catalyst for a full blown nuclear war.

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