Russia To Test Unstoppable 'Satan 2' Stealth Nuke Capable Of Wiping Out An Entire Nation

[Warren DeMontague]

39. It doesn't really change the logic of deterrence.

The only way a nuclear weapon would be a game-changer in terms of the (admittedly fucked up) reasoning which has underlain the uneasy truce between the nuclear superpowers all these years, would be if one country could somehow knock the other country's nuclear strike capability out entirely, to the point that the other country couldn't hit back. (The environmental impact would be global, of course, but that's another story)

Even with a "stealth doomsday missile"- or a bunch, lets follow the logic, here- even if Putin up and decided one day to incinerate the continental United States, we have a 3 pronged nuclear deterrence (as do they) strategy which is implicitly designed to avoid being able to be neutralized in a first strike scenario. That includes not just hardened missile silos, but also strategic bombers and nuclear subs, all of which are ostensibly ready in just such a dreadful scenario.

I don't know if we keep the bombers in the air 24-7 the way we used to, but the subs are still out there- both ours and theirs - so in reality, it's pretty unlikely any kind of stealth doomsday missile would be able to keep us from striking back if attacked.

Which makes the exercise of nuclear war pretty pointless, to recall the movie where Matthew Broderick is the pale computer nerd kid.