Nuclear Weapons 306 - U.S. Military and U.S. President Are Pushing For The Development Of New Tactical Nuclear Weapons
Big multi-megaton nuclear warheads get most of the press these days but there are other types of nuclear weapons with yields in the kilotons that are intended for use on battlefields. These are known as tactical nuclear weapons. Russia has many tactical nukes and has threatened to use them if it is losing a land war with NATO forces in Eastern Europe. Pakistan also has many tactical nukes and they are stationing them on the border with India. If India invades Pakistan, Pakistan will use tactical nukes on its own side of the border. The U.S. has some tactical nuclear weapons left over from the Cold War.
Currently, about one third of the U.S. nuclear arsenal consists of low-yield tactical nukes or nukes that can be “dialed” back to lower yields. President Obama had a policy of prohibiting the development of new nuclear weapons. The U.S. has not tested a new nuclear weapon in twenty five years.
President Trump ordered a Nuclear Posture Review in January following his inauguration. It has been reported that the panel that was convened for the NPR is recommending that the U.S. develop new low-yield nuclear bomb for tactical use. President Trump is currently considering adding more “mini” (tactical) nuclear weapons to the U.S. nuclear arsenal as suggested by the NPR panel.
Any plan to expand the U.S. nuclear arsenal would have to be approved by Congress and any bills that were introduced with that intention would definitely trigger a fierce debate. The Pentagon wanted to modify nuclear weapons for smaller targets during the George W. Bush administration but Congress failed to approve the Pentagon plan.
The Defence Science Board, a Pentagon advisory group, made a similar request to Congress in February of this year. In response, Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic Senator from California, made a public statement about nuclear policy. She said, “There’s one role – and only one role – for nuclear weapons, and that’s deterrence. We cannot, must not, will not ever countenance their actual use. I’ve fought against such reckless efforts in the past and will do so again, with every tool at my disposal.”
In July, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the U.S. military was definitely interested in the development of new tactical nukes. He said, “Whether we do it with a ballistic missile or re-entry vehicle or other tool in the arsenal, it’s important to have variable-yield nukes. If the only options we have are to go with high-yield weapons that create a level of indiscriminate killing that the President can’t accept, then we haven’t presented him with an option with an option to respond to a nuclear attack in kind.”
Advocates for low-yield tactical nukes say that we need them to counter the threat of Russian tactical nukes in Eastern Europe. Critics say that the very existence of tactical nukes makes it more probable that someone will use nuclear weapons in a regional dispute. This could obviously escalate into a full blow nuclear war that would destroy human civilization.
Russian 100 kiloton OTR-21 Tochka missile on launcher:
U.S. MGR-3 Little John missile with a 10 kiloton yield on launcher:
