[Legbreaker]

The first tactical use of nukes was by the Soviets on the 9th of July 1997.

The first Strategic (aka long range) attack was no earlier than the 15th of September 1997 (the date the siege of Warsaw was lifted). Exact date is not mentioned however it is stated "throughout October the exchanges continue, excallating gradually". We could take that to mean the first strike was either very late in September, or sometime in the first days of October.

Therefore, there is a gap of almost three months between the first "small" (aka relatively short ranged) nuke in Europe to the first long range or strategic strike.

The first nuclear airstrike of the war was however carried out by the Soviets against China in July (again, no exact date but it is mentioned in connection to the first tactical nukes in the west on the 9th).

It appears that the war in China was effectively over by mid to late July which allows approximately 3-4 weeks for the first units released from the east to reach the west. China isn't even mentioned again after the July 97 attacks in the timelines of any of the versions.


Scuds could be considered either. Any nuke could be used strategically, however the delivery method would really dictate the category they fall under. Provided they were armed with nukes, I would think any commander possessing them would take advantage of their relatively long range and not fire them at closer targets much more easily attacked with heavy artillery, shorter ranged missiles or aircraft.

As was seen in the attacks against Israel, conventionally armed scuds aren't likely to inflict a while lot of significant, war winning damage. They are however likely to annoy the recipients and provoke them into doing something stupid (exactly what was feared back in 91-92).