Opinion Piece – Deterrence Writ Large – The Nuclear Threat and the Media
It was Shakespeare in Henry V act 2 scene 4 that Prince Dauphin remarks: “... In cases of defence, ’tis best to weigh The enemy more mighty than he seems.”
Whether you subscribe to the view that an enemy's strength should be under reported for morale purposes, it is clear that those with responsibility for defence spending should at least be honest with themselves about the enemy's capabilities. This should inform the Defence Budget and order of battle (ORBAT) in Conventional and nuclear
terms. In the case of conventional warfare the key is not necessarily to match the enemy man for man, tank for tank, ship for ship or aircraft for aircraft rather that the Principle of War; Concentration of Force allows sufficient allied ORBAT to outmatch the enemy at any given geographical point at any specific time.
Where Concentration of Force is also relevant is in the retention and use of sufficiently capable nuclear weapon systems that ensure credible retaliation despite an enemy first nuclear strike on the UK or NATO homeland.
Deterrence writ large!
This is the Raison D’etre behind the UK's Continuous At Sea Deterrent System (CASD), using the Submarine launched Trident II D5. This is a hypersonic warhead delivery system, which guarantees assured and unacceptable damage to any nuclear protagonist, not least Russia and China, or, in the near future, Iran.
Deterrence writ large!
The Russians, particularly macho media commentators, are fond of waving their mass and variety of nuclear weapons as a threat to frighten the West. This naïve position is as unintelligent as it is nihilistic. With nuclear weapons there is a rapidly diminishing rate of military return or success given that the more weapons used, the greater their
yield and the closer they are to Mother Russia the sooner fallout will overwhelm the Russian people. As someone once put it, "the world can only be destroyed once"; however many nuclear weapons remain in their silos or storage depots!
Deterrence writ large!
It is time for the USA, France, UK and NATO alliance to remind the Russians that a nuclear exchange is certain if they fire first. Putin and his acolytes may be genuinely suicidal but are the Russian public?
Deterrence writ large!
Finally, are UK citizens safe? Is the British public denied evidence of the true status of UK preparedness?
