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Tactical Nuclear Weapons: The Debates within NATO
Brian Burton
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What are Tactical Nuclear Weapons?Lance missile
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MADM warhead (1-15 kt) W54 SADM (.02-1kt, 163 lbs.)
Atomic Demolition Munitions
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Short-Range AircraftA-7 Corsair II
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Background: the 1950s• Korean War 1950-3: US considers use of nuclear weapons
against North Korea and China
• Policy of the Eisenhower administration was to respond to any direct Soviet aggression with “massive retaliation”
• NATO Carte Blanche exercise, 23-28 June 1955: war-game simulates future European conflict with Warsaw Pact involving tactical nuclear weapons; the outcome was 355 nuclear detonations in West Germany, the Low Countries, and northern France and 5.2 million immediate civilian casualties
• First US Army divisions in Europe are equipped with nuclear capability
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Should NATO rely on tactical nuclear weapons to offset the Warsaw Pact’s
conventional superiority?
• With development complete, there is less overhead to maintain large nuclear forces than large conventional forces
• Warsaw Pact/Soviet Union will be deterred, knowing that in the event of war their conventional forces will be destroyed by NATO’s nuclear weapons
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Should NATO rely on tactical nuclear weapons to offset the Warsaw Pact’s
conventional superiority?
• Political constraints among the allies
• Issues of authorization and control
• Due to massively increased casualties on a nuclear battlefield, more rather than fewer conventional forces would be required to carry out military objectives
• Cost of maintaining nuclear infrastructure absorbs resources that could otherwise be used to achieve conventional parity with the Warsaw Pact
• “Slippery slope:” use of tactical nuclear weapons in war could lead to a full-scale strategic nuclear exchange
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Background: the 1960s-1970s
• Under Kennedy, the US policy shifts from “massive retaliation” to “flexible response:” the ability to respond in kind to any Soviet aggression; conventional arms race with the Soviet Union heats up
• US involvement in Vietnam• Period of détente with the Soviet Union; SALT
talks under Nixon• Détente comes to an end in the late ‘70s during the
Carter administration
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Issues in the late 1970s-1980s
• Enhanced Radiation Weapons
• Deployment of new Intermediate Nuclear Forces to Europe
• Possible Employment and Reagan’s “Winnable War”
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ERW: the “Neutron Bomb”
• Relies on prompt radiation effects with minimal blast damage
• Fraction of the explosive yield of other battlefield nuclear weapons
• Designed for tactical use: radiation kills troops inside armored vehicles, while the lesser explosive power supposedly lessens collateral damage effects
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ERW: the “Neutron Bomb”
• NATO leaders are prepared to allow President Carter to deploy ERW in Europe despite political repercussions
• April 1978: Carter decides not to proceed with production
• 1981: Reagan orders production of ERW to proceed, but keeps the weapons stockpiled in the United States
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Modernization of NATO INF
• Soviet deployment of SS-20 IRBMs and Tu-26 Backfire bombers worries Western European leaders, who request more US nuclear support
• US prepares to deploy Pershing II SRBMs and Tomahawk cruise missiles to Europe
• Deployment sparks massive protests in Europe; political support wavers
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The “Winnable War”
• ERW development and new deployments of INF and battlefield systems=preparations for an imminent war?
• SecState Haig: in a conventional war, NATO might fire a “nuclear warning shot”
• Reagan: “I could see where you could have the exchange of tactical weapons against troops in the field without it bringing either one of the major powers to pushing the button.”
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The Post-Cold War Era
• August 1991: Dissolution of the USSR• September 1991: President George Bush orders
withdrawal and retirement of all US battlefield nuclear systems
• Where might tactical weapons be needed in the future?– Rogue states– Heavy shelter penetration– Future conventional conflict?
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Sources
• Boutwell, Jeffrey D., Paul Doty, and Gregory F. Treverton, eds. The Nuclear Confrontation in Europe. Dover, MA: Auburn House Publishing Company, 1985.
• Daalder, Ivo H. The Nature and Practice of Flexible Response. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.
• Kromer, Robert. New Weapons and NATO: Solutions or Irritants? Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, Inc., 1987.
• Nurick, Robert, ed. Nuclear Weapons an European Security. Hampshire, England: Gower Publishing Company Limited, 1984.
• Olive, Marsha McGraw, and Jeffrey D. Porro. Nuclear Weapons in Europe. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1983.
• Pierre, Andrew J., ed. Nuclear Weapons in Europe. New York: New York University Press, 1984.