Russian nuclear exercise drills held near the border with Ukraine are meant to send a message. The message is sent, a message similar to the US-NATO alliance’s F-35A with new configurations for stealth delivery of nuclear weapons by alliance countries
The word used to describe the breakdown of talks before war commenced in Ukraine was “expansion”, the expansion of NATO.
Russia claimed that the next generation of nuclear delivery systems and US modernization of nuclear forces and weapons would become an existential threat if positioned minutes away from striking the the Russian capitol.
One issue, JDAM GPS-guided weapons, new B61-12s equipped with guidance kits, no longer ‘dumb’ gravity bombs but multi-platform delivered ‘smart, usable’ weapons.
Before war commenced between Russia-Ukraine, the entry of Ukraine into NATO was the topic of the hour. What weapons would come into Ukraine alongside the Russian border. Allusions were made to the US reaction during the 1960s Cuban Missile Crisis, when a full-blown nuclear world war came catastrophically close as Soviet missiles were discovered to be minutes away from the US.
The lessons learned from the 1960s close call seem to be neglected as the 21st century rolls forward.
As Strategic Demands has reported, a Nuclear Arms Race 3.0 is upon the world.
Let’s consider, once again as we considered before conflict commenced, elements of “mutual security” that will be needed before a war-ending agreement can be reached.
At the top of the list are tactical nuclear weapons and needed nuclear weapon control and verification agreements.
New nuclear negotiations must commence before a mistake, accident, or provocation brings on nuclear disaster.
References:
Re: Air Force supplied tailkit assembly with digital interface that guides the bomb to its target location
https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/b61-12-life-extension-program-lep-fact-sheet
