Quote:
Originally Posted by Olefin
Ok first question - if you are going after refineries why are they using 1.75 megatons?
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Simple answer....deliverable warheads. In the 1990s, most Soviet ICBM and SLBM warheads were at least 500kt yield, even on their MIRVs. Here are some stats for 1990s:
SS-17 4X400kt MIRV 1X3.4mt
SS-18 1X18-25mt 1X20mt 8-10X.5-1.5mt MIRV 10X.75-1.0mt MIRV
SS-19 6X400kt MIRV 1X5mt
SS-24 10X550kt MIRV (36 of 92 missile located in Ukraine before breakup)
SS-25 1X800kt
SS-27 1X800kt
SS-N-8 1X1.5mt
SS-N-18 3X500kt MIRV 7X100kt MIRV 1X450kt
SS-N-20 10X100-200kt MIRV
SS-N-23 4X100kt MIRV
Note that the SS-18 (Mod 6) carrying a single 20mt warhead was intended for high altitude detonation to generate EMP.
Moreover, no one is really sure how well their ICBMs or SLBMs will actually perform, so in real life multiple missiles would likely target some targets. For example, 3 or 4 MIRV missiles (maybe as many as 16 warheads or more) would likely be allocated to the DC area to make absolutely sure of the destruction of the White House and Pentagon bunkers, Washington Naval Yard, CIA, NSA, State Dept, Congress, and Andrews AFB. I would not be surprised at all at the number of missiles targeting the LA area, especially since the B-2 production line was in the vicinity as well as high tech defense companies and manufacturing. If memory serves me right, the main Raytheon ECM and radar production facilities were in LA as one example.