IAFF 1005 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Threshold Test Ban Treaty, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
26 Mar 2020
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Fusion (hydrogen or thermonuclear ), never used in battle. Largest nuclear weapon test: castle bravo at bikini atoll. Us and ussr, limited tests to 150kt. Comprehensive test ban treaty 1996, not in effect. Has not been ratified by multiple countries such as us and china. Also theater/tactical and naval systems (medium-short range) External options (new allies) didn"t improve the strategic balance. Fear of falling behind, surprise attack, fear on both sides. Ussr was closed and secretive, added to us fear. Eisenhower: emphasis on nukes to control spending more bang for the buck . General curtis lemay, usaf commander and chief. Saw no difference between combatants and noncombatants in war. To deter an attack, the defender needed a credible threat. This depended on having a survivable retaliatory force. Once both sides had survivable forces, deterrence was generated by prospect of mutual assured destruction (mad) Pretty stable, but not certain and potentially catastrophic.
