Tactical Nuclear Weapons: The Debates within NATO

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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 Pacts 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 NATOs
  nuclear weapons

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Should NATO rely on tactical nuclear weapons to
offset the Warsaw Pacts 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 Reagans 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 systemspreparations 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.