America is slow in developing mini nuclear weapons

Russia is the target

According to US Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, the Pentagon has just announced a plan to diversify nuclear weapons and develop new, smaller atomic bombs with the aim of dealing with Russia. The plan is part of the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

The reason for this program was because the Pentagon was concerned that its nuclear weapons were no longer effective against Moscow because they were too large, and argued that developing new, smaller weapons would solve this problem.

US Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said nuclear weapons have kept the US safe for 70 years. "We cannot let them become obsolete," he said at a press conference in Washington.

US B61-12 nuclear bomb.

Along with Deputy Secretary Patrick Shanahan, Mr. Hans Kristensen, Director of the Miniaturized Nuclear Weapons Plan under the Federation of American Scientists, also said that this agency is planning to develop a small nuclear weapon for the US Air Force.

The director said that these small nuclear bombs have an explosive yield of less than 20 kilotons, which means that an explosion would be more than 1km away from the detonation area. This generation of weapons will allow the US President more options for devastating attacks on small targets instead of large areas as before.

The special point in the US's plan to develop small nuclear weapons, according to Mr. Hans Kristensen, is that not only weapons but also old-generation weapons can be easily converted into these mini nuclear weapons.

"If the only option the United States has is a high-yield weapon that would create an irresponsible level of destruction, and the President does not accept that, then we cannot offer him that nuclear strike option," the director said, referring to plans to develop small nuclear weapons.

"If the US only has nuclear weapons to respond to an attack, it will still be a catastrophic nuclear attack. In the case of responding with a conventional weapon, it will not have the deterrent effect as declared," he said.

According to Hans Kristensen, this is the reason why the US needs to start developing small nuclear weapons soon. This type of weapon will initially be equipped for the Air Force and will be used for other forces later.

America is behind

Before the US announced its plan to develop mini nuclear weapons, most countries believed to possess nuclear weapons had already begun developing these weapons and had had some success.

According to the Washington Post, Pakistan is developing tactical nuclear weapons with small warheads. These weapons are small enough to be launched from warships or submarines.

If the Navy possesses small nuclear warheads, it will allow Pakistan to disperse its nuclear weapons on both land and sea, thereby better maintaining its nuclear capability.

The source added that the basis for Pakistan to believe in the future of possessing small nuclear warheads is that Pakistan has repeatedly tested the Babur nuclear missile. This domestically manufactured missile can attack targets at sea and on land within a range of 640 km.

Not only Pakistan is focusing on developing this type of weapon, but currently another South Asian country, India, is also developing small nuclear weapons. It is known that India is currently in the process of testing the mini BrahMos missile (BrahMos-M) capable of carrying nuclear warheads for fighter jets.

Although China has not disclosed its nuclear weapons program, it has announced that when it is equipped with Su-35 fighters purchased from Russia, these fighters will be equipped with small-sized weapons carrying nuclear warheads.

With the race to develop small-sized nuclear weapons among countries, North Korea is determined not to stay out of the race. The International Business Times quoted a source from North Korea saying that Pyongyang has secretly established a special military unit, including elite soldiers equipped with "nuclear backpacks" weighing from 9 to 30 kg.

"This backpack can create a small explosion but enough to capsize an enemy aircraft carrier. In addition, it will include nuclear materials to spray on the enemy. Once uranium is sprayed into an area, that place will be uninhabitable for decades due to radiation poisoning. This can also be considered a psychological weapon to help North Korean soldiers not fear war," the source said.

In the race to develop small-sized nuclear weapons, Russia cannot stand aside. Moscow has launched the Kh-101 missile, which is compact in size but has extremely destructive power. Kh-101 is a Russian strategic cruise missile with very high performance. Kh-101 can carry a 400 kg conventional warhead and a nuclear warhead with a range of up to 9,600 km.

It is clear that nuclear powers are focusing on developing small-sized weapons that can be more effective than large-sized weapons in modern warfare. Therefore, it can change the situation on the battlefield.