Strategic deterrence in the post start era. Master's thesis

Technical Report · Wed Apr 15 04:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:6778363

McCormick, D E

With the Soviet Union's fall there have been widespread calls for drastic reductions in the United States military's strategic nuclear forces. Although a major threat to the United States has been greatly reduced, the number of strategic targets will not decrease as rapidly as the number of available weapons. This research considers how the United States should think about strategic forces in the rapidly changing world order of the 1990S. An extensive literature review of deterrence concepts and conventional weapons capabilities is conducted with special attention paid to the role that precision guided munitions Played in the 1991 Persian Gulf War air campaign. Using a methodology that considers both target hardness and target value, three test cases representative of possible international deterrence scenarios the United States might face during the 1990s are tested against proposed strategic force structures in a reduced arms environment. The Arsenal Exchange Model, a linear programming allocation tool, is used to demonstrate the methodology. Soviet compliance with previous arms control agreements is also reviewed. Recommendations are made concerning the utility of including certain precision guided conventional weapons into the United States strategic force arsenal.

• Research Organization: Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (United States). School of Engineering
• OSTI ID: 6778363
• Report Number(s): AD-A-256437/5/XAB; AFIT/GST/ENS--92M-04
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290600* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
350100 -- Arms Control-- Policy
Negotiations
& Legislation-- (1987-)
98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
AGREEMENTS
ALLOCATIONS
ARABIAN SEA
ARMS CONTROL
ASIA
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMPLIANCE
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONTROL
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EUROPE
INDIAN OCEAN
LINEAR PROGRAMMING
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR DETERRENCE
NUCLEAR FORCES
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PERSIAN GULF
PROGRAMMING
REDUCTION
SEAS
SIMULATION
SURFACE WATERS
TARGETS
TOOLS
TREATIES
USA
USSR
WEAPONS