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       I have blogged before about the horrible results of all out global nuclear war. Billions would die in hours and most of the rest would die in months as the temperature plunged and crops failed all over the world. However, there is another type of nuclear war that must be considered. Major nuclear power such as the U.S. and Russia have many low yield tactical nuclear weapons that are intended for supporting a conventional war on a battlefield. What effect would a limited use of tactical nuclear weapons have on the region in which the conflict was fought?
     During the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, it was considered possible that war could break out between the Soviets and Western European nations such as Germany. In the early days of the Cold War, it was not well understood what effects tactical nuclear weapons would have on a war in Europe. The terrible destructive power of major nuclear weapons was made clear when the U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The specific effects of tactical nuclear weapons were not well understood.
     This lack of understanding was especially true for U.S. allies such as West Germany and France who lacked nuclear weapons of their own and also lacked a detailed understanding of nuclear weapon capabilities and effects. Such understanding required the knowledge gained in designing and developing nuclear weapons.
     As tactical nuclear weapons were developed following World War II, there arose a need to developed a thorough understanding of what a limited exchange of tactical nuclear weapons would do. Military planners anticipated that tactical nuclear weapons were needed to offset the imbalance between Soviet hardware and troops and NATO weapons and forces. It was hoped that tactical nuclear weapons might help restrict a regional conflict to a specific area of the globe and reduce the risk of all out global nuclear war with strategic weapons.
     In 1954, NATO approved the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the event of a war between NATO and the Soviet Union. The NATO decision was dubbed MC 48. In included the following: “It is militarily essential that NATO forces should be able to use atomic and thermonuclear weapons in their defense.” NATO understood that if they were going to included tactical nuclear weapons in their self-defense, it was important to carry out exercises that would simulate their use and effects.
     In 1954, NATA had carried out an exercise that included a limited nuclear engagement during a regional conflict. The exercise was called Battle Royal. It simulated the detonation of just ten tactical nuclear shells used by NATO against a Soviet tank division.
     In 1955, about three hundred NATO aircraft from eleven member nations participated in a major military exercise called Carte Blanch. Over twelve thousand aerial missions were carried out to deploy three hundred and thirty fictional nuclear weapons.
     The exercise simulated two hostile powers with “Southland” standing in for the NATO nations. American, Canadian and French forces represented Southland. The Fourth Allied Tactical Air Forces provided air support along with the U.S. Sixth Fleet based in the Mediterranean. Belgian, British and Dutch forces represented “Northland” which was a stand-in for Soviet forces. They were supported by the Second Allied Tactical Air Force.
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