Why the United States should negotiate a ban on naval tactical nuclear weapons. Master's thesis

Technical Report · Sun Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5550994

Malloy, T W

The naval tactical nuclear weapons that the US Navy has in storage neither provide adequate deterrence nor increased warfighting capability. If the US and the USSR eliminated these weapons the US Navy would be in a more dominant position compared to the Soviets. With both the US and USSR announcing unilateral removal of their tactical nuclear weapons from naval units, while at the same time maintaining them in storage, the US has tacitly agreed to a ban on these weapons without making any provisions for verifying Soviet compliance. This is not a good situation, all the drawbacks associated with these weapons remain, and none of the benefits of removing them from the inventory have been realized. As long as tactical naval nuclear weapons exist, the costs for maintaining, storing and training on these weapons will continue to be incurred. Moreover, in the present situation of unverified agreement, the Soviets still have access to non-strategic naval nuclear weapons. There is no assurance that some of these weapons will not find their way onboard a Soviet warship during unsettled times in the USSR. These issues can be resolved if the US seeks a mutually verifiable treaty with the USSR completely banning naval tactical nuclear weapons.

• Research Organization: Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 5550994
• Report Number(s): AD-A-244660/7/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

350101* -- Arms Control-- Policy
Negotiations
& Legislation-- Treaties-- (1987-)
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
AGREEMENTS
ARMS CONTROL
ASIA
COMPLIANCE
COST
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EDUCATION
EUROPE
INVENTORIES
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
REMOVAL
SHIPS
STORAGE
TRAINING
TREATIES
USA
USSR
VERIFICATION
WEAPONS