What would be the Western response to a Russian detonation of a ‘demonstration’ nuclear bomb?
NATO had battlefield (tactical) nukes in Europe in case of a Soviet invasion. The yield could be dialed in to as low as 0.1 kiloton, less than 1% of the Hiroshima detonation. Presumably Russia has similar weapons. What if they did a small explosion, say, over the Black Sea as an example of what they could do?
DB2
If that did not result in WWIII, then the whole point of MAD was forever a fraud. Watch out.
If that did not result in WWIII, then the whole point of MAD was forever a fraud. Watch out.
Yes, I am sure that a “demonstration” nuke, no matter what the yield, would result in an immediate speech reminiscent of JFK to the effect of “any use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine would require an immediate, total nuclear response by the United States on the country of Russia.”
It worked once, but there is no guarantee that it would work a second time, given Putin’s deteriorating brain, so MAD might not work, after all.
What would be the Western response to a Russian detonation of a ‘demonstration’ nuclear bomb?
Like everything else Putin has planned lately, the response would be exactly the opposite of what Putin thought would happen.
Seriously, the FSB needs to have him “retire” ASAP. He’s welcome to join the Retirement Investment board here at MF.
AW
What would be the Western response to a Russian detonation of a ‘demonstration’ nuclear bomb?
A big smoking hole where the Kremlin used to be?
The Captain
I sure hope that the military personnel who tend U.S. nukes are carefully inspecting them to make sure they will actually work if/ when we use them.
Wendy
What would be the Western response to a Russian detonation of a ‘demonstration’ nuclear bomb?
The world has already seen many real and demo nuclear bombs. Nobody would be impressed with a Putin demo nuclear bomb. I do not see any reason or advantage for Putin to do a demo nuclear bomb. He does not want to have the full force of NATO attacking Russia. Putin’s demo nuclear bomb will not scare NATO, but it would have an immediate NATO response.
What kind of response?
My guesses:
NATO forces going into Ukraine for direct conflict with Russian forces with full force of the US air power to chase all Russians forces out of Ukraine. Any Russian aircraft over Ukraine will be destroyed. Any missile bases in Russia launching missiles at Ukraine will be destroyed.
NATO will secretly offer Russian Army and/or FSB tons of money to eliminate Putin and his closest defenders. This will result in a mini civil war in Russia with the end result of Putin and his closest defenders being killed.
My guesses:
Can I expand on your first guess?
Once Russian forces are expelled from Ukraine and missile bases in Russia are destroyed, the conflict would continue further to destroy as much Russian military equipment as is practical. So all military basis inside Russia would become targets, as would depots for various armaments and supplies. To the extent possible, Russian nuclear weapons would be destroyed, dismantled, or confiscated.
I’m not entirely sure this needs to wait for some kind of a demonstration nuclear explosion. The longer this conflict goes on, the better the argument becomes for a dismantling of the Russian military. At the moment, the US (unilaterally) and NATO don’t really have an excuse to become too directly involved. But as more atrocities are exposed, the more pressure will be on the UN to do something.
We - as a world - may have a unique opportunity here to completely eliminate Russia as a military threat for decades to come. This might be our one chance to finally end the Cold War that dominated the 20th century.
–Peter
PS - Or maybe not. Maybe the cold war just switches from US vs. USSR/Russia to US vs. China. 22nd century historians might refer to them as Cold War I and Cold War II, discussing how the failures of CWI lead directly to CWII. Maybe history will rhyme once again. Only time will tell.
1. NATO forces going into Ukraine for direct conflict with Russian forces with full force of the US air power to chase all Russians forces out of Ukraine. Any Russian aircraft over Ukraine will be destroyed. Any missile bases in Russia launching missiles at Ukraine will be destroyed.
2. NATO will secretly offer Russian Army and/or FSB tons of money to eliminate Putin and his closest defenders. This will result in a mini civil war in Russia with the end result of Putin and his closest defenders being killed.
I agree with Jaagu’s guesses. However, I might add the following:
A bounty of $100,000,000 ($100 Million USD), payable immediately to the person(s) who take(s) out Putin (or their family/ies if they are killed in the process).
A levy against all Putin’s gold and assets for rebuilding every square inch of Ukraine he has destroyed.
A UN special council to determine the future fate of Russia’s status within the UN. I am not sure that the position of the Soviet Union should have been allowed to pass to Russia when the Soviet Union was dissolved.