Glen Beane wrote: > > > Kilian CAVALOTTI wrote: >> On Thursday 19 June 2008 10:11:18 am you wrote: >>>> To add some more OT stuff to this thread, I don't think a nuclear >>>> weapon has ever been used (or even considered being used) to kill >>>> troops on a battlefield. >>> look up "tactical nukes". These were the USA's only hope of >>> defending Europe from a Soviet ground invasion. >> >> Well, what would have been the effect of launching nuclear weapons to >> defend Europe in case of a Soviet invasion? They would have been >> either launched to where the Soviet troops actually were, ie, on >> Europe, with the main effect of wiping up the countries they were >> supposed to protect. Not so appealing. >> Or, and it's probably the most plausible scenario, they would have >> been aimed to USSR, and likely to major cities, where they would have >> killed mostly civilians, not troops. With the hope that the Soviet >> government would withdraw from Europe. > > > This is terribly off topic, but you are thinking of strategic nuclear > weapons. You couldn't aim a tactical nuke at a city in the USSR unless > you were a mile or so from the city. These were small rocket or > artillery fired warheads of less than 100 pounds. Tactical nukes are > not large enough to destroy cities. The main effect would not be wiping > out the countries they were meant to protect, the main effect would be > to wipe out large tank formations and make small areas temporarily > irradiated to block the movement of troops. Many (most?) scenarios had the Soviets making tactical and subtactical use of chemical munitions. With a largely unprotected civilian population, there wouldn't be many people left to collaterally kill anyway.
>> That's why I think nuclear weapons are hardly a mean to kill military >> troops on a battlefield. > > Strategic nukes, no. Tactical nukes, yes. Now find an effective way of preventing a tactical exchange from escalating to a strategic exchange. -- Geoffrey D. Jacobs _______________________________________________ Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf@beowulf.org To change your subscription (digest mode or unsubscribe) visit http://www.beowulf.org/mailman/listinfo/beowulf
