Fears smaller nukes bid will result in war

THE US military wants to overhaul its atomic arsenal and develop a low-yield weapon experts worry could lead to proliferation and heighten the risk of nuclear war.

The proposed changes to the nuclear weapons program, outlined in a draft version of the Pentagon’s nuclear posture review, mark a significant break from the vision for the US’s nuclear future under Barack Obama, who in a famous speech in Prague in 2009 called for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Arguing today’s security environment is vastly more complex than in 2010, the draft document says the US must realign its policy with a “realistic assessment” of the threats it faces from North Korea, Russia and China.

“Global threat conditions have worsened markedly” since the 2010 nuclear policy review, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis wrote in the document’s introduction, a leaked version of which was published by the Huffington Post.

“The US now faces a more diverse and advanced nuclearthreat environment than ever before.” The new strategy calls for a continuation of the modernisation program ordered by Mr Obama, but changes include a call for development of low-yield nuclear weapons.

These devices, known as “tactical” nukes, are powerful and can pack as much destructive punch as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.

Policymakers worry that regular, large-yield weapons are too big to be detonated, as their use would likely result in large-scale retaliation from an adversary and wipe too much of humanity out.

The Pentagon argues that by having more, smaller nukes it will counter adversaries’ “mistaken confidence” that the US would not respond to another country using its own low-yield bomb.