PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - The RAF had no nukes until the Early '60s
Old 19th Aug 2010, 20:37
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CNH
 
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There is a common misconception (though I doubt it is widely held on this forum) that once a 'H-Bomb' test is successful then its a simple case of mass producing that 'H-bomb' Henry Ford style, until you have thousands of 'H-bombs'. ... We tested a 'bomb' today now we have Bombs, errr? no you tested a device today that may or may not, some time in the future, form the core of a military grade Bomb or nuke.
So although the Soviets tested Joe 4 in 1953, they didn't have an H bomb in 1953 ...

... the Soviets had no intention of attacking ...
That is so simplistic and begs so many questions that it's difficult to know where to begin. Yes, the Soviets were not suddenly going to launch their bombers against the UK. That is not to say that a conventional war may not have broken out - over Berlin, for example - which then escalates. Krushchev did threaten the UK with nuclear weapons at the time of Suez.

We never thought there would be a 'bolt from the blue' - but we thought there may be 'period of tension', and 'periods of tension' have a habit of getting out of control. Another Berlin blockade, a British transport gets buzzed and crashes, British escorting fighters shoot back ... It's never the big things that start wars, it's the little ones (even Jenkin's ear).

So to say the Soviets had no intention of attacking misses the point spectacularly.

why did the UK compete?
We weren't competing - that's a Daily Mail level assertion. We built nuclear weapons so that we had some degree of parity - not parity in size of arsenal, but parity in terms of being able to inflict 'unacceptable damage' on the opposition. And we did not want to rely entirely on the American umbrella. True, we did shelter underneath it quite a lot, but we still had an option to go it alone if the Americans withdrew their support - as they did at Suez.

And no, their rocket engines weren't better than those of the West, they didn't kidnap German scientists, and you don't have afterburners on rockets. And they didn't have effective ICBMs until the early sixties. And would you believe that some people think that when you have a Sputnik that you have an ICBM?
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