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Tactical Nukes

noonereal

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Tactical nukes seem to get a lot of attention these day and for the record Putin will use them if Ukraine does not capitulate and he can't win with conventional forces which it seems he can't.

So, just how powerful are tactical nukes? These are no mere bunker buster bombs kicked up a notch. A tactical nuke has the same strength as the bomb we dropped on Hiroshima. Enough to destroy a medium sized city.

How powerful are strategic nukes? Well, these are unimaginably strong. At 50 miles from detonation expect burns and to be ripped apart by flying glass as all windows will blow out. Inside 50 miles, the closer you get, the worse it gets. Winds will start out at 500 mph from teh blast site. (fade the further out you are of course)
Best to be at ground zero.

So what say you? Still feeling hard line toward Putin over Ukraine, a non NATO member?
 

Putin would have to be an absolute madman to use nukes against Ukraine.

1. Wind would carry some of the radiation into Russia.
2. Any use of nukes would get NATO involved. If his army can't even stand up to Ukraine's, they'd get steamrolled by NATO's.
 
Yes. The only thing worse than Putin using nukes in Ukraine is for NATO to start negotiating with nuclear armed terrorists who are threatening to use their nukes against their neighbors if they don't get everything they demand.
 
Phys251 said:
If his army can't even stand up to Ukraine's, they'd get steamrolled by NATO's.
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Only in a convectional war, no? And who will align with Putin? Will India and China stand beside him? Seems so. Then what? We are no longer the great and powerful are we? We need to completely revisit our place in context of time.
Phys251 said:
Putin would have to be an absolute madman to use nukes
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Call him what you like this kind of behavior has been repeated throughout history. What makes him different than Vlad the Impaler, Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon is more the question, no?
 
lwf said:
Yes. The only thing worse than Putin using nukes in Ukraine is for NATO to start negotiating with nuclear armed terrorists who are threatening to use their nukes against their neighbors if they don't get everything they demand.
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Besides, he is bluffing. Ukraine is right next door to Russia, there will be nuclear fallout. Plus the economic disaster that would follow would be so monumental that it would drive Russia into bankruptcy.

People who give in to bullies, still get bullied.
 
Judging by how the the Russin's always 'go big'. My guess is they don't even have any small tactical nukes and only have big bombs. They are centainly in no position to develop one in a reasonable time frame. To me it's all a bluff. This kind of talk might even indicate that negotiations are on going. We'll have to wait and see.
 
The weakest tactical nuke we built was about 0.02 kt, aka equivalent of 20 tons of TNT, aka a bit under twice as strong as our conventional "MOAB" ("Mother of All Bombs"). Or, either 10 or 20. the "W54"

Tactical nuclear weapon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

But yes, others are quite powerful. But still not really all that much compared to what we'd aim at a city these days.


It basically means "nukes that aren't so powerful that everyone will engage MAD".
 
lwf said:
Yes. The only thing worse than Putin using nukes in Ukraine is for NATO to start negotiating with nuclear armed terrorists who are threatening to use their nukes against their neighbors if they don't get everything they demand.
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I thought you supported Trump. What happened?
 
Yes. Ukraine is still a sovereign nation. Putin threatening to NUKE them doesn't make them any less sovereign. He's a monster and a liar. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the nuclear arsenal of Russia is in as bad a state of disrepair as his military.

Imagine how funny he'd look if he went to launch a nuke and it misfired because it is old and hasnt been properly maintained.

(In fact, I hope that if he does decide to launch a nuke...that's what happens. That Russia's old, decrepit nukes just blow them up instead of harming Ukraine)

India isn't going to go against the United States.

Neither is China.

It would serve neither country any good to pick that fight.
 
You are a very confident soul. You must know more than our intelligence community. They have no such confidences as do you.
 
If you believe that Putin will use weapons of mass destruction, why would you believe that kowtowing to his threats would prevent their use?
 
mrjurrs said:
If you believe that Putin will use weapons of mass destruction, why would you believe that kowtowing to his threats would prevent their use?
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Exactly.

It takes a sadistic type of individual to want to use WMD.

They can't be trusted.

What's the old saying "Don't negotiate with terrorists"
 
mrjurrs said:
If you believe that Putin will use weapons of mass destruction, why would you believe that kowtowing to his threats would prevent their use?
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Did I advocate kowtowing? Of course not.
But this wild west mentality needs to stop.
I repeat, Ukraine is not in NATO and Eastern Europe is not in our sphere of influence.

I wish some postera here could be objective and pragmatic is all.
 
BirdinHand said:
Interesting response. There are plenty posting on this board alone.
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I have run into none.

Maybe you mistake those with differing views as something they are not?
 
Putin can order the use of a tactical nuke. These days I'm not sure that order would be carried out.

It's a good thing we let Hitler have Czechoslovakia and prevented WWII. Appeasing dictators does not work. Read a history book for ****'s sake.
 
BirdinHand said:
Exactly.

It takes a sadistic type of individual to want to use WMD.

They can't be trusted.

What's the old saying "Don't negotiate with terrorists"
Click to expand...
I can't believe that we are at a point where someone is talking about using them. If used, there will be a response. Will there be a response to that response?

The US cannot simply back away. That would empower vlad and he would use the same threat when he moved into other areas. I continue to believe that Russia will not use those weapons (although chemical warfare has been used).

Unfortunately, I could be wrong.
 
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