[Raellus]

No half-way sane world leader would ever launch an ICBM armed with a conventional payload at his/her rival OR, its allies. It's madness of the highest order. I will endeavour to explain why.

AFAIK, current early warning systems can't differentiate between an ICBM carrying an NBC payload and one carrying a conventional munition. That said, most nuclear-armed nations have early warning systems that can detect the moment of launch. No nuclear-armed power is going to sit around and wait to see what kind of explosion an ICBM's warheads make when they impact. Therefore, according to current doctrine, any ICBM launched must be considered of the former type and an in-kind response delivered. In other words, ANY kind of ICBM launch will be treated as a nuclear attack. This means that before an ICMB-delivered conventional munitions hits its intended target, a responding ICBM armed with a nuclear payloadwill be on the way in the opposite direction. For these reasons, no one in his/her right mind would ever launch an ICBM armed with a conventional warhead. It's like pointing an airsoft gun at a cop. In either case, it's effectively suicide. I would be very surprised if actual conventional payloads for ICBMs exist in any significant numbers at all. I doubt it.