Chapter 1086 Deterrence
In the field of nuclear weapons, the nuclear triad refers to a country's ability to simultaneously possess three nuclear strike methods: land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers.
When a country possesses the nuclear triad capability, it is equivalent to having a comprehensive nuclear deterrence capability.
Because it has the ability to counterattack after the first strike, no country can destroy the other party's nuclear strike capability at one time without being retaliated by the other party.
At present, only the five permanent members of the UN have nuclear weapons. Israel and South Africa, which originally possessed nuclear weapons, have given up nuclear weapons for various reasons.
Among the five permanent members of the UN, only the United States and the Soviet Union were recognized as countries with the nuclear triad capability in the past, and the other three permanent members did not have it.
After entering the 1990s, especially after the millennium, China was also recognized by countries around the world as having the nuclear triad capability.
The nuclear triad capability can also be understood as the secondary nuclear strike capability!
Since there is a secondary nuclear strike capability, there is a primary nuclear strike capability.
The so-called primary nuclear strike capability is the ability to actively launch a nuclear attack on the enemy.
This attack capability is very low-level. Israel and South Africa had this one-strike capability back then. Real nuclear powers would not care too much about this.
Because you have the ability to launch a nuclear strike, it does not mean that you can launch this attack. If I bomb you first, maybe all your nuclear weapons will be destroyed by me before they are launched.
Obviously, if you only have the ability to launch a nuclear strike, you cannot form a deterrent to nuclear powers, because others can completely destroy you as long as they take the initiative.
If you want to form the ability of nuclear deterrence in your country, it is definitely not that I bet you don’t dare, but that if you dare, I dare!
Therefore, real nuclear powers are pursuing the ability of a second nuclear strike.
Even if you attack first and completely blow up my country, my last struggle can completely blow up your country, and we will all perish together.
The key to having a second nuclear strike capability is to hide your nuclear weapons and hide your nuclear weapons in a place where the opponent cannot find or hit them.
In the early 1960s, the United States always kept a number of B52 strategic bombers flying in the sky, and took off several more after landing, just to ensure its secondary nuclear strike capability.
The Soviet Union also created the "Doomsday Train", with several trains pulling intercontinental nuclear missiles running around, with erratic positions, ensuring that it was difficult to be destroyed by the first round of nuclear strikes from the United States, and ensuring the ability to counterattack nuclearly.
Of course, from a certain perspective, the strongest secondary nuclear strike capability is not land-based intercontinental nuclear missiles, nor is it strategic bombers carrying nuclear missiles, but strategic nuclear submarines!
Only major powers with strategic nuclear submarines can be regarded as true nuclear powers, so nuclear submarines are really difficult to detect.
The density of water is much greater than that of air, and seawater has a strong absorption effect on electromagnetic wave energy, so conventional electromagnetic waves are almost impossible to pass through seawater. To detect submarines/nuclear submarines, only sonar detection can be used.
Whether it is anti-submarine aircraft throwing a large number of sonar beacons for detection, or surface warships using ship sonar systems for detection, sonar detection is essentially used.
Conventional powered submarines have a very obvious flaw, that is, limited endurance and limited tonnage.
Nuclear submarines can solve these problems of conventional powered submarines.
Submarines are recognized as strategic weapons. Their research and development requires high and comprehensive industrial capabilities. Currently, only a few countries can design and produce them on their own. In particular, ballistic missile nuclear submarines are the key pole of the nuclear trinity and are extremely important.
Taking the North Wind God nuclear submarine of the polar bear as an example, it can carry 16 intercontinental missiles, each of which can carry 10 nuclear warheads, that is, 160 nuclear warheads. If all these 160 nuclear warheads are launched and hit, I am afraid that even the United States will be destroyed.
And this kind of is very difficult to detect and very difficult to defend. First, the time is short, and second, multiple nuclear warheads can be mounted.
Nuclear deterrence refers to nuclear deterrence between nuclear-armed countries. The essence of nuclear deterrence is nuclear retaliation capability. If nuclear weapons are used, they will also be subject to nuclear retaliation. This is also the reason why there has been no war between nuclear-armed countries since World War II. The most dangerous thing is the "Cuban Missile Crisis". In the end, the United States and the Soviet Union retreated and compromised.
As for nuclear-weapon states threatening non-nuclear states, that is not called nuclear deterrence, but nuclear blackmail.
The entire world has been in a nuclear balance for so many years, which has ensured that there has been no world-class war in the world for more than half a century after World War II.
So far, nuclear weapons still have absolute deterrence in the military.
And it is not that they dare not use them!
The nuclear strategies of the United States and Russia clearly point out a series of scenarios in which they can and should be used, and they are preemptive nuclear strikes.
At present, the United States and Russia have established a complete strategic nuclear force system in the world, with the three capabilities of preventing nuclear strikes, intercepting and counterattacking.
The United States and Russia have almost known the number of nuclear weapons in Britain and France.
But as for how many nuclear weapons China has, it is like a layer of fog, and it is not clear no matter how you look at it.
And China's external response is often the word "enough", but how many are "enough"! ?
Tenet showed helplessness, he knew very well that this was a major mistake of the CIA.
The CIA has been collecting intelligence in this area for a long time, and even sent some intelligence personnel to travel to the East or put some phishing posts on the Internet.
But in terms of confidentiality, China is still very capable, and it is not easy to collect intelligence in this regard.
Even intelligence personnel were involved and had to accept the red list proposed by the other party for exchange.
But Tenet knew that in the current situation, everyone must adjust their strategies and how to deal with the new situation.
Whether Saudi Arabia has an aircraft carrier fleet is completely different; Saudi Arabia has an aircraft carrier formation, and Saudi Arabia has three aircraft carrier formations, which is also a different matter.
In addition, how to communicate with China on the Chinese side also needs to be adjusted.
Relations between major powers are the core of diplomatic relations.
The same is true in the United States. As long as the relations between major powers are handled well, other small countries are actually not that important.
Now for the United States, in many parts of the world, it is actually not advancing but retreating.
In terms of the geopolitical structure, it has now evolved towards a multipolar world.
The influence of the United States in the South Pacific and South Asia has been almost weakened to the extreme.
As for the Middle East, the United States now has only one ally, Israel, but this ally is surrounded by enemies, and this ally is also messing around, out of control, and even dragging the United States into the water.