How Mini Nukes Could Change the Face of Nuclear War
Everyone thinks World War III will pop-off with some catastrophic event. Like an atomic bomb dropped on a major city. But take a look around: the world is already is at war. The tactics have just changed. Nuclear deterrence has also changed a lot since the last world war. And it’s changing a lot more as the U.S. sets their sights on mini nukes.
Events aren’t static, and history doesn’t predict the future. We can analyze history and use it to assess current events, sure. But far too often, people look at history and assume identical events will take place. There will never be another Hitler, Gulf of Tonkin, Franz Ferdinand, or Pearl Harbor. Yeah, there will be more horrible people and cataclysmic events. But diplomatic relationships change, military tactics change, and technology completely changes everything.
All world powers have made substantial progress in the past few decades updating their military technology. Cyber warfare is now a thing, and space war is now legitimately discussed somewhat openly.
Nuclear weapons are no exception. What was once a novelty isn’t really a big deal anymore. (At least until people start throwing threats around.) In fact, nuclear arsenals have become essential to the very survival of many nations. cough Libya cough
The media likes to hype-up North Korea and Iran’s nuclear program. But did you know that nine countries have nuclear weapons? Not only that but an additional five countries host U.S. nuclear weapons as part of NATO. One of those is Turkey. Ya know, the country who is going through a wild post-failed-coup purge and shares a border with Syria?
Now, no one uses nuclear weapons anymore. They’ve turned into a defense tool. I mean, they are pretty cumbersome. But the U.S. wants to change that with mini nukes: nuclear weapons that you actually use. It hasn’t officially been put into practice yet (at least not on paper). But DARPA has long been researching mini nukes and using nuclear weapons in tactical situations. In December, the Defense Science Board urged the Pentagon to incorporate similar technology into ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles).
They just aren’t quite sure how to implement the technology yet. The goal is to create low-yield bombs with high precision and efficiency. What does that mean? Lots of destruction, but in a smaller space than traditional nuclear weapons. So this in practice amounts to nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles launched from ships, planes, vehicles, or drones.
But they could get even smaller. DARPA also has a project going that involves weaponizing robotic insects as either bombs or surveillance tools.
So nuclear weapons aren’t going anywhere. Just don’t expect some huge bomb to drop anytime soon. But mini nukes open up a whole new world of tactical nuclear capabilities that will be very real soon– if it isn’t already.
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Randi Nord lives in Pontiac, Michigan. She the co-founder of Geopolitics Alert independent world news