Alex Hollings, SandBoxx: Russia's Massively Powerful Nukes Are Strategic Duds
Although economic sanctions have all but neutered much of the nation’s military modernization efforts, Russia has managed to keep itself relevant in the 21st century by fielding headline-grabbing exotic weapons, including massive nukes far greater in scale than anything Uncle Sam has to offer.
With nuclear weapons like the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM and the Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System submersible drone, Russia can cause greater devastation to its targets today than at any point during the Cold War. The thing is… that just doesn’t really matter anymore.
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WNU Editor: They may be viewed as strategic duds in Washington, but in Moscow they view having this massive firepower as their insurance that the U.S. will be totally obliterated in any nuclear exchange.
3 comments:
I don't think they are seen as duds by a long shot, but I also don't believe in the megatonnage listed in that article. In reality I think it is much lower.
I must say I like the optimism that this author has regarding America's military prowess relative to Russia. Unfortunately I do not share it. It reads like the typical puff piece whereby US officials both overestimate our capabilities while underestimating those of adversaries and potential adversaries.
Furthermore, while the author of the puff piece rightly acknowledges the issues with our aging nuclear arsenal, he blithely downplays the issue. To say this is "arguably" an issue is a bit like saying stage 4 cancer is "arguably" a serious issue!! Of course these are serious issues that need urgent attention. There's nothing "arguable" about it!!
Candidate Trump rightly questioned whether or not our arsenal would work if we needed it. After becoming president he stated the first thing he did was to fix the problem. I hope and pray he did as I hope and pray this author is correct and such optimism is warranted.
As Sun Tzu taught, know your enemy, know yourself, and you prevail every time. With the tendency to overestimate our abilities while underestimating those of adversaries and potential adversaries this strongly suggests leadership who neither understand themselves nor our adversaries and potential adversaries. As Sun Tzu taught, this leads to defeat every time. I will reiterate I hope abd pray the author of this puff piece is actually right.
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