US Military Eyes New Mini-Nukes for 21st-Century Deterrence
August 3, 2017 As the article reports:
But Congressional critics who say the proliferation of such weapons would bring less, not more security.
“I have no doubt the proposal to research low-yield nuclear weapons is just the first step to actually building them,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told Roll Call in February. “I’ve fought against such reckless efforts in the past and will do so again, with every tool at my disposal.”
She also sounded a skeptical note against ‘tactical nukes in general. “There’s no such thing as limited nuclear war, and for the Pentagon’s advisory board to even suggest such a thing is deeply troubling.”
Describing the difference in blast effects from so-called "mini-nukes" and nuclear weapons orders of magnitude more powerful, the article reports:
The Air Force currently has gravity bombs that either have or can be set to low yields: less than 20 kilotons. Such a bomb dropped in the center of Washington, D.C., wouldn’t even directly affect Georgetown or Foggy Bottom. But a Minuteman III missile tipped with a 300-kiloton warhead would destroy downtown Washington and cause third-degree burns into Virginia and Maryland. [emphasis added]
But stating that areas just blocks outside the blast zone "wouldn't even [be] directly affected[ed]" ignores such impacts as conflagrations that would erupt and spread over a wide area, hazardous radioactive fallout blowing on the wind and flowing with the water, and the obliteration of the seats of each of our three branches of federal government -- the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court. Of course, the entire country would be affected from the detonation of even a so-called "mini-nuke" in such a location! In fact, the entire world could well be affected, especially considering the potential U.S. response(s) to such an attack!