What is tactical nuclear weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this month he's not bluffing about using nuclear weapons. If he were to follow through on that threat, it's likely his weapon of choice would be tactical nuclear weapons. He's also not the only one talking about these weapons. North Korea's What are tactical nuclear weapons? Tactical nuclear weapons are sometimes referred to as "small nukes," even though they still cause devastating fatalities and destruction. They are designed for limited strikes against relatively close specific targets, like command posts, instead of destroying cities from afar. The explosive yield of tactical nuclear weapons can range from under one kiloton to about 100 kilotons, whereas strategic nuclear weapons can have a yield up to one thousand kilotons. The bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 were between 12 and 21 kilotons. The one dropped on Hiroshima weighed Tactical nuclear weapons can have a similar yield or greater — up to several times as powerful as the Nagasaki bomb — but they are often smaller and more portable. For instance, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union developed devices small enough to fit into a suitcase-sized container. Why were tactical nuclear weapons developed, and have they ever been utilized? No one has ever used a tactical nuclear weapon in combat. Both the U.S. and the Soviet Union developed them early on during the Cold War as a method of deterrence. The NATO allies had them in Europe as part of their "flexible re...

Author • Nina Srinivasan Rathbun Professor of International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences Disclosure statement Nina Srinivasan Rathbun does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Partners Tactical nuclear weapons have burst onto the international stage as Russian President Vladimir Putin, facing battlefield losses in eastern Ukraine, has threatened that Russia will “ U.S. President Joe Biden You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, I am an international security scholar who has Tactical by the numbers Tactical nuclear weapons, sometimes called battlefield or nonstrategic nuclear weapons, were designed to be used on the battlefield – for example, to counter overwhelming conventional forces like large formations of infantry and armor. They are smaller than strategic nuclear weapons like the warheads carried on intercontinental ballistic missiles. While experts For reference, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 15 kilotons, so some tactical nuclear weapons are capable of causing widespread destruction. The Delivery systems for tactical nuclear weapons also tend to have shorter ranges, typically under 310 miles (500 kilometers) compared with strategic nuclear weapons, which are typically designed to cross continents. Because low-yield nuclear weap...

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is going poorly enough that President Vladimir Putin might decide to use what are known as tactical nuclear weapons, according to both Ukrainian and U.S. leaders. In an interview, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Nuclear weapons haven’t been detonated as tools of war since 1945. But with increasing concern about their risks, we researched what tactical nuclear weapons are, what Russia would seek to accomplish by using them, and how the West might respond. What is a tactical nuclear weapon? Nuclear experts say the term "tactical nuclear weapon" is typically used to describe a nuclear weapon with comparatively low impact and fired from a relatively close distance. Sometimes these are referred to as "low yield" nuclear weapons. "Their intended purpose is for attacks on military formations in the field or bases and logistics hubs," said Brendan Green, a professor at the University of Cincinnati who studies military doctrine and international affairs. The targets could be as limited as a group of tanks or a large infantry unit, said Richard K. Betts, a professor of war and peace studies at Columbia University. But just because these nuclear weapons are considered small doesn’t mean their impacts would be minor. In the Russian nuclear arsenal, Green said, most nuclear weapons that would be considered "tactical" would be "as large or larger than the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki" to end World War II. Because the U.S. bombs were dr...

Oct 12 (Reuters) - From the war in Ukraine to North Korea's recent missile testing spree, tactical nuclear weapons are being debated and developed in a way not seen since the Cold War. There is no universal definition of such weapons, and analysts note that the use of any type of nuclear device would break the "nuclear taboo" in place since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, the only time they have been deployed in war. Here are the characteristics of tactical nuclear weapons and why they have drawn so much attention. WHAT MAKES A NUCLEAR WEAPON 'TACTICAL'? Tactical nuclear weapons are often characterized by their size, their range, or their use for limited military targets. They are often referred to as "non-strategic weapons", in contrast with strategic weapons, which the U.S. military defines as designed to target "the enemy’s warmaking capacity and will to make war," including manufacturing, infrastructure, transportation and communication systems, and other targets. Tactical weapons, by contrast, are designed to accomplish more limited and immediate military goals that win a battle. The term is often used to describe weapons with a lower "yield", or the amount of power released during an explosion. They are typically many times larger than conventional bombs, cause radioactive fallout and other deadly effects beyond the explosion itself, and there is no agreed upon size that defines tactical weapons. Tactical weapons are often mounted on as missi...

Putin in March Leading NATO countries say they will support Ukraine and help it defend itself for as long as it takes from what Kyiv casts as an imperial-style land grab by Russia which threatens the survival of the Ukrainian state. “Everything is going according to plan,” Putin told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko when discussing the planned nuclear deployment during talks at the Russian leader’s Black Sea summer retreat in Sochi. “Preparation of the relevant facilities ends on July 7-8, and we will immediately begin activities related to the deployment of appropriate types of weapons on your territory,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript of his remarks. Lukashenko said: “Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich.” Putin, 70, casts the war as a battle for Russia’s own survival in the face of what he says is an ever-expanding NATO. He has warned the West that Moscow will not back down. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine will not rest however until every last Russian soldier is ejected from his country, which he wants to join NATO as soon as possible. Putin’s nuclear move is being watched closely by both the United States and its NATO allies in Europe and by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict. After the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, the United States and Russia worked hard to return the vast Soviet nuclear arsenal, then also deployed in newly independent republics such as Ukraine, Kazakhst...

Authors • Robert K. Niven Associate Professor, UNSW Canberra, UNSW Sydney • Chi-King Lee Professor of Civil Engineering, UNSW Canberra, UNSW Sydney • Damith Mohotti Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering, UNSW Canberra, UNSW Sydney • Paul Hazell Professor of Impact Dynamics (UNSW Canberra), UNSW Sydney Disclosure statement Robert K. Niven receives funding from The Australian Research Council. Chi-King Lee, Damith Mohotti, and Paul Hazell do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Partners The Conversation UK receives funding from these organisations View the full list There has been widespread discussion of Russia’s Russia is estimated to have thousands of tactical nuclear weapons – possibly the world’s In this article we examine what would happen during a tactical nuclear bomb explosion, including the three stages of ignition, blast and radioactive fallout – and how one might be able to survive this. Ignition You see a sudden flash in the sky, as bright as (or even brighter than) the sun. You quickly turn your face away and run for cover. The brightness suddenly vanishes, but returns again a short while later and continues – the distinctive double flash caused by competition between the fireball and shock wave. It gets incredibly hot and bright, and you shield your eyes to avoid retina burns. The intense therma...