The M.A.D. Theory And Why It Is Mad

Mutually Assured Destruction, the linchpin that has held the world from obliterating itself in a Nuclear Armageddon...or so we are to believe. In any discussion of nuclear weapons and their possible deployment, many will instantly state that the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction will prevent even the thought of nuclear weapons from being an option on a national government's table, regardless of how reckless, rouge or fanatical said government may be.

Mutually Assured Destruction - Wikipedia

Firstly, the M.A.D. Theory is just that, a theory. It's an educated guess, a SWAG if you will. It's the scientific communities best synopsis of what "could" happen if full-scale, high yield nuclear weapons were used. This is no dig at the scientific community, because the theory is a possibly. However, Mutually Assured Destruction is based on the thought process that the US and Soviet Union (or any two nation states) would use their Tsar Bomba's and Castle Bravo's against each other, however both nation's nuclear ambitions were in full swing and our nuclear programs were very, very immature.

In the 1950's, ICBM's, SLBM's and NCM's didn't exist. The majority of nuclear weapons were very large, high yield and aviation delivered. We had yet to stream-line weapon design and deployment as well as perfect a missile that could cross not only continent(s), but one that could exit Earth's atmosphere and then again re-enter with a nuclear payload and hit it's target. In 1959 with the induction of the SM-65 Atlas ICBM, that face of nuclear warfare changed forever.

As the Nuclear Arms Race raged on, nuclear warheads were stream-lined and miniaturized, now with the ability to accurately hit targets with the use of inertial guidance and radio communication the need for extremely high yield weapons was over. Rather than use a single, massive warhead, one could now simply just obliterate the Kremlin or shower Moscow with MIRVs.

This is were M.A.D. starts to take a dive. In these modern times, with ICBM's, SLBM's and NCM's and their respective payloads that are smaller and often variable yield. This enables a nation to engage in deployment of Tactical Nuclear assets, without overstepping into Strategic Nuclear asset deployment. With militarizes that have the capability to deploy weapons platform's with yield as little as 0.2KT, the ability to wage nuclear war on a limited scale is a very real possibility. Of course this does enable the escalation of violence to lead to the deployment of Strategic Nuclear assets and eventually the use of higher yield weapons or even ERW (Enhanced Radiation Weapons). This scenario is far more probable and negates the M.A.D. theory because M.A.D. plays on the value of life, but if one is currently engaged in tactical, limited nuclear exchange, the possibility of escalation is not only present, but arguably an inevitably, especially when to escalate all one has to do is increase the yield on a variable yield platform, and start striking at economic or infrastructure based targets.


Another flaw in the M.A.D. Theory is the assumption that whomever is in possession of nuclear arms values life on the same scale as you. Unfortunately with the existence of terror groups and rouge nation states (e.a. Iran, North Korea) the theory is useless. Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the multiple satellite nations that housed Soviet nuclear weapons with little oversight...it's only a matter of time before the chef met the ingredients. Not that the United States isn't just as irresponsible with nuclear arms, stories of at least 11 unaccounted for warheads dating as far back as the 1950's (the 1958 Tybee Island crash, the 1961 Goldsboro crash and the 1968 Thule AFB crash being some of the most infamous) and yet other horror stories of nuclear weapons being delivered to the wrong bases or being taken as payload unbeknown to the pilot and flight crew. 

List of Military Nuclear Accidents - Wikipedia

South Africa was a nuclear power from the 1960's to the 1980's, if South Africa can develop nuclear weapons with the assistance of the United States in the 1960's, Iran or North Korea with assistance from the Russian Federation or Peoples' Republic of China can and are doing the same.

South Africa and Weapons of Mass Destruction - Wikipedia

With the existence of such groups and nations, who could/would gleefully utilize nuclear or radiation weapons against the US regardless of repercussion, the M.A.D. Theory isn't even a theory, more so wishful thinking.

The shrinking of the US Nuclear Arsenal, ending of Strategic Air Command/North American Air Defense Command and the decommissioning of Civil Defense may be some of the biggest mistakes ever committed by this nation.