The Nuclear Threat Advantage

OPINION — The use of nuclear weapons has drawn much questionable talk since Russian President Vladimir Putin began making threats to use them following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Last Friday, for example, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Atomic Energy Defense Activities, Sen. James Inhofe (R‑Okla.) opened the session saying, “Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and his reckless threats of nuclear escalation have shattered the security of Europe, and for the first time in decades, forced Americans to face the possibility of a nuclear attack.”
Two days earlier, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R‑Colo.) – before the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee – questioned the Biden administration’s decision to end funding of the 60-year-old B‑83 bomb, whose megaton explosive power was the largest in the current U.S. arsenal. “The hard and deeply buried target set remains a requirement…for U.S. Strategic Command,” Lamborn said. “How does the administration justify removing this capability from our arsenal which will effectively prevent our military from achieving its deterrence requirements?”
Strategic Command’s Adm. Cha …