Nuclear weapons are the most terrifying weapons on our planet. And that's why those weapons exist. The purpose of nuclear weapons is to prevent war. And that's why some nations developed nuclear weapons. But the fact is that if nuclear weapons existed, there is always the possibility that somebody uses those weapons.
Some people say that nuclear weapons are a shield. That allows governments to do anything that they want if they have nuclear stockpiles. And this is why we should take any threats to use nuclear weapons seriously.
Public doctrines of those weapons are always similar. No state that owns nuclear weapons is not going to use them at the first. But the reality is that the beginning of global thermonuclear warfare is in a situation where another side of conflict seems that it must use nuclear weapons against the enemy.
The first strike will happen when own conventional troops cannot win the conflict. And then the next step is the use of tactical nuclear weapons. The opponent will answer to that strike with their weapons. And then somebody shoots some other nuclear state. So the beginning of global thermonuclear warfare is in the tense international situation.
Things like stealth systems make the warning time for those strikes very short. And that thing can cause the commander to misunderstand the situation in the command center. When the command center sees that something comes suddenly into the atmosphere. They must confirm what is coming. Is that object a nuclear weapon or harmless space junk?
Things like possible FOBS (Fractional Orbital Bombardment System), which means orbital nuclear weapons are causing the possibility that the commander makes the wrong analysis. The FOBS weapon is not always a megaton-size nuke.
It's only the satellite where is a nuclear bomb. And that thing makes those weapons very frightening.
FOBS weapons are prohibited. But there is a possibility that some nations have those systems.
The purpose of FOBS can be to destroy the enemy's electric system. In that case, the system is acting as an EMP weapon that detonated in a high atmosphere. The EMP weapon is not as harmless as we think. It can drop large numbers of aircraft, jam communication, and traffic networks, and destroy things like civilian computers. That kind of weapon can also destroy computers that are operating nuclear reactors. Those things can cause many casualties.
That kind of weapon can destroy Air Force One, and the death of the president can cause a situation where the commander must react to the nuclear threat. But those kinds of weapons also deliver radioactive pollution into the high atmosphere.
Or the target of that weapon is the command bunkers. The fact is that task force commanders cannot just expect that some object that falls from the sky is automatically harmless. And when the commander must decide on the counterstrike in minutes. That very stressful situation causes the possibility that the task force commander presses the red button.
The nuclear war is like all other wars. If we are thinking about the people who would injure because of strikes. The launching personnel who are in deep underground launching bunkers can survive because they must make their job. And that thing is a counterstrike. But the biggest group of casualties that the nuclear strike makes are civilians. Normal civilians have no protective suits. Or their shelters are not made to protect them against nuclear winter.
The nuclear war requires lots of food inside the shelter. Because the ground is poisoned by radioactive fallout. The temperature on Earth will collapse very soon after the global nuclear war. And a large part of people and animals will die because of radioactive fallout. The nuclear winter means the political and environmental situation that follows nuclear war.
The next thing that follows a nuclear strike is the fallout. The military personnel has their NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) protective suits. And those suits protect them against nuclear particles. Those suits are protecting the lungs and skin from radioactive dust, but those suits are not protecting the users against straight radioactive radiation. But things like water and food are the big problem.
https://bigthink.com/life/who-what-survives-nuclear-war/
