What's the point of nuclear weapons?

Question

If one country shoots them at another one, that country see the weapons on radar and shoot back.

Answer 1

Intimidation.
Bluffing (like in poker).
Mass Destruction (when the intimidation and bluffing don't work).

Answer 2

The point of nuclear weapons is to kill and annihilate. Originally there was only one country with them, but of course such power will not be allowed to exist without being challenged, so of course the USSR (Now Russia) created nuclear weapons by stealing the information from the US using a vast network of spies.

This lead to the Idea that if anybody uses a nuclear weapon, we will use ours against you and kill you to. Thus creating a sort of buffer from the two countries from attacking each other, this is refered to as mutual assured destruction (MAD).

Eventually though, once the USSR fell, multiple other nations developed nuclear weapons.

No country would use them though in thier right mind, because if they did, other countries, like Russia for instance would use them also.

Example, if the US had decided to use nuclear weapons on Iraq in the war, then the ruskies woulda been like, well if they can get away with it so can we.... and then Chechnya would be wiped off the face of the planet.

This would have probably lead to multiple other nations using thiers and sparking a nuclear World War.

Not acceptable, thus Nuclear weapons sit in silos and are used as more of a diplomatic weapon then an actual weapon. The day a nuclear weapon is used against another country in war again, will be the begining of the end for us.

That is the reason for nuclear weapons.

Answer 3

NUKES
When Japan just didnt want to give up killing the whole world for its own selfish needs, the US came up with 'Little Boy' then 'Fat Man'. Eventually it obliterated Hiroshima and then Nagasaki. That ended the carnage that was called the war in the Pacific.Thank God it did or we all would be speaking a different language now. The weapon did what it was invented to do and that was to end the war.
On a typical war head carried by ballistic subs, the yeild is many ,many,times that of the Japan bombs. God help us if a sub is called upon to release its missiles on mankind. We can kiss our loved ones good bye forever

Answer 4

It is called the Balance of Power. The idea was that if both sides could destroy each other several times over then neither side would be insane enough to ACTUALLY use nuclear weapons.
However in this day and age it seems everyone has a nuke. and if anyone thinks that Russia has disarmed, I'd bet my soul that they have not. Right now, in my opinion the Chinese are enemies of the United States even though no formal hostilities exist. It is my opinion that they would like nothing better to overtake the continental United States.

Answer 5

That is the idea. Mutually Assured Destruction deters most nations from ever starting a major conflict. They create a no-win situation.

Unfortunately, some ideological leaders like Ahmadinejad seem to think that getting killed while fighting the enemy is the way to heaven. Nuclear weapons in their hands might make them MORE eager to start a conflict.

Answer 6

A nuclear exchange equals global suicide...so what's the point you ask? Good question, unfortunately, the Pandora's box is open and the fear that one side will take over the other is still there...totally senseless. No wonder they call it the MAD policy. The nukes appear to be deterrents to total war....and as they say, in the nuclear age, the only true enemy is war itself.

Answer 7

In very simple words the balance of power and to keep peace.Imagine what would have happened if America was the only country with the Bombs they would have destroyed many countries by 1960.

Answer 8

Mass Destruction - Nukes pack a whole lot of destructive force in a relatively small package.

MAD or mutually assured distruction is a concept from the cold war and assuredly one reason why US and USSR never went to nuke war.

Answer 9

The point is power and money!

The reality, we spend trillions on nuclear weapons, though one has not been used since 1945.

Waste of a lot of our money if you ask me! Nukes don't do the fighting, people do, and that is where the bulk of our money should be going, not to subs and nuke missiles who end up in a scrap heap!

Answer 10

Originally nuclear weapons were believed to have enough destructive power to end all wars. It seems that theory has been proved incorrect.

Answer 11

What you described is call MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction the theory is nobody will shoot first because of it. So far it's worked.