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What tactical nuclear weapons will Russia deploy in Belarus?

  • March 26, 2023
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President of Russia, Vladimir Putinannounced an agreement with Belarus on the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear bombs on the territory of Belarus in response to the UK’s announcement

President of Russia, Vladimir Putinannounced an agreement with Belarus on the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear bombs on the territory of Belarus in response to the UK’s announcement of the supply of depleted uranium munitions for the Ukrainian army.

Depleted uranium ammunition is primarily used to penetrate armor. military equipment as battle tanks or troop transport vehicles, and also useful against the hull of warships.

Tactical nuclear weapons, by definition, have combat utility, real military use against hostile forceand the most common academic definition is bombs ranging from 1 to 50 kilotons in projectiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers.

To get an idea of ​​its scale, one may recall that the bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima in 1945 had a yield of 15 kilotons and was dropped from a bomber. However, tactical nuclear weapons can be delivered in the case of Russia from ships, aircraft and even ground forces.

They are much more destructive than a conventional warhead, although they have the same explosive energy and cause radiation contamination that affects the air, soil, water, and food chain.

These types of tactical nuclear weapons were not included in any nuclear arms control agreement, and medium-range nuclear weapons were only included in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which was in force from 1987 to 2018.

Strategic nuclear weapons, on the other hand, have a mutually assured deterrence and destruction capability that has dominated cold war. The United States and Russia have reduced their arsenal of these weapons from 19,000 and 35,000 to 3,700 and 4,480 by January 2022.

“Large-scale nuclear attacks are considered impossible. strategic nuclear weapons they lose their deterrent value in a war between nuclear powers. Theoretically, tactical nuclear weapons are more likely to be used, so their possession will increase the deterrence of the country,” said Nina Srinivasan Rathbun, professor of international relations at the University of Southern California, USA.

Despite their greater power, the military usefulness of tactical nuclear weapons is questionable, since bombs with conventional explosives they are becoming more powerful, to the point that the United States has reduced their numbers. Most of its arsenal of 150 B61 nuclear gravity bombs is located in Europe.

France and Great Britain have completely eliminated their tactical arsenals, although Pakistan, China, India, North Korea The United States and Israel have such bombs.

U.S. military research concluded that a 1-kiloton tactical nuclear bomb would need to be detonated within 90 meters of a main battle tank to cause serious damage. Research on its use in nuclear conflict Between India and Pakistan, it is speculated that a Pakistani 5 kiloton tactical nuclear bomb used against a regiment of Indian main battle tanks could destroy about thirteen tanks and vehicles.

Russia, for its part, has about 2,000 nuclear bomb a tactic that plays a very important role in its nuclear strategy, mainly due to its lower yield and technological advances in conventional weapons.

Most of them are prepared for use in air rocketsground-based, short-range ballistic missiles, gravity bombs, and depth charges carried by medium-range tactical bombers or anti-ship or anti-submarine torpedoes.

In recent years, Russia has developed dual-use conventional and nuclear missiles, which has caused some corporation in Washington, since it is not known until the last moment what type of explosive head it carries. In particular, the production of Iskander-M missiles, which have already been used to hit specific targets on the territory of Ukraine, has been expanded, always with non-nuclear explosives.

However, the use of Russian nuclear weapons in Ukraine doesn’t look very logical. “I think that this will not achieve any military goal. This will affect the territory that Russia considers part of its historical empire, and probably also affect Russia itself. This would increase the possibilities of direct intervention NATO and this will destroy the image of Russia in the world,” Nina Srinivasan Rathbun emphasized.

For this reason, its deployment in Belarus is more associated with the Tsar Bomba. H-bomb developed by the Soviet Union and blown up in the Barents Sea. It had a yield of over 50 megatons, and its size made it not very useful on a military level, but it served its purpose on a propaganda level.

Europe Press

Source: Aristegui Noticias

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