NATO's Substrategic Nuclear Forces and Strategy: Where do we go from here?

Abstract

One of the key implications of the fundamental changes currently underway in European security affairs has been the diminished importance of short-range nuclear forces (SNF) to NATO security requirements. The disintegration of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, and the scheduled withdrawal of the Soviet Western Group of Forces from eastern Germany by the end of 1994, combine to make the continued role of nuclear weapons in NATO strategy ambiguous. President Bush's September 27, 1991, initiative to remove unilaterally all U.S.-ground-launched SNF will leave the alliance with an on- call substrategic nuclear force limited to gravity bombs carried by dual-capable aircraft. The author of this monograph argues that the possibility of nuclear proliferation resulting from the disintegration of the Soviet Union and possible future risks from the south make it an opportune time for the alliance to contemplate future nuclear strategy and force options.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 13, 1992
Accession Number
ADA247135

Entities

People

  • Thomas-Durell Young

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Bombs
  • Governments
  • Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles
  • Military Organizations
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • Nuclear Bombs
  • Nuclear Proliferation
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Security
  • United States
  • Ussr
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction
  • Western Europe

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).
  • Strategic Security Studies