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Old 01-03-2019, 12:55 PM
RN7 RN7 is offline
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The Panama Canal is strategically important but I don't think the Soviets targeted it with nuclear weapons for a number of reasons.

Firstly they would need more than one nuclear weapon to destroy the locks as both the Atlantic and Pacific entrance are 50 miles apart with their own series of locks in separate channels.

Secondly the Atlantic entrance has two sets of locks with two separate channels. The Gatun Locks and the new Agua Clara locks that are miles apart, although I don't think the Agua Clara was completed at this time.

Thirdly the Pacific entrance also has two sets of locks with separate channels. The Pedro Miguel locks and the Miraflores locks, and each lock is also miles apart.

Fourthly I don't think Soviet missiles launched from either the Soviet Union or from a submarine are accurate enough to hit even one lock. Also US forces in the Panama Canal Zone are widely dispersed over the region and hard to destroy. The Panama Canal is also not in US territory but in a Latin American country, and a nuclear attack would anger other Latin American countries including Soviet allies Cuba and Nicaragua. However a Soviet sabotage mission to disable the locks would be on the cards.
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