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  1. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    Yeah the early 1980’s were a transitional time for a lot US strategic systems and nailing down what might actually have been in service might be quite involved unless some one had first hand knowledge at the point of time in question. That being said I do recall reading in several places that...

  2. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    I seem to recall the OP referred to a nationalized aero space industry being kept going in the non destroyed portion of the post attack US to keep air craft flying (over a time frame of years ?) So it might be easier to keep bombers flying in that context ? I’m also thinking extra gravity...

  3. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    I’m not sure the B52H was equipped with AGM86’s in 1983 ? I seem to recall the B52G was equipped with prominent external racks to carry a total of 12 (I seem to recall there was a treaty issue that required that ALCM equipped bombers be visually distinctive so they could be counted via...

  4. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    Presumably lots of bombers would have been available to SAC given 5 or 6 days to organize things ? I believe nuclear armed ALCM’s were in service by 1983 (not sure how many had entered service by then ?)

  5. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    I don’t doubt that the crews of SSBN’s for example would likely want to continue to serve their nations. I do have doubts that their nations would be able (or perhaps willing ?) to keep SSBN’s for example operational for years after a full scale nuclear exchange let carry out continuous...

  6. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    Or maybe the weapons assigned to other Australian targets were destroyed before they could launch ? Ie SSBN’s might have been sunk at sea ?

  7. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    The ability of the US (and perhaps the USSR if they still have any forces left) to sustain viable second strike forces with global reach for years after a full scale nuclear exchange might be questionable ? That being said I suspect some form of residual nuclear capability would likely exist...

  8. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    Even if that were to happen, many of the forces that could launch the counter strike would still exist for quite some time and the means of contacting them would likely be available for some time as well. If the attack had killed Reagan some one else would presumably have been in charge, or...

  9. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    I thought at least some of the B52's had the ability to carry mixed loads of ALCM's (externally) and SRAM's and gravity bombs internally in 1983, plus as far as I know the FB111 force never carried ALCM's. I believe a typical early 1980's B52 internal load was 8 SRAM's on a rotary launcher...

  10. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    Good question. Things might get even more murky when systems such as the Pershing II are considered (which reportedly had a very accurate variable yield war head..) One might argue that if the US was going to employ nuclear weapons that perhaps the US had an obligation to use such weapons...

  11. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    Back in the day I used to have a manual “nuclear bomb effects computer” (or maybe it was called something else.) Basically a circular slide rule type of computer. The results were sobering.

  12. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    To be pedantic by 1983 mutli megaton warheads were relatively rare in the US arsenal. I don't think any of their warheads other than the B53 bomb and the Titan II warheads had yields higher than 1. something MT by 1983, I would be surprised if the US had more than perhaps 150 or so such...

  13. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    I believe the Pershing II warheads had terminal guidance but I think the OP took them out of play in one of the first posts in this thread. Presumably bombs dropped at low level and cruise missiles would have been more or less immune to such affects (if any ?) as well.. To recap my prior...

  14. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    IIRC the US was considered to have had 9MT warheads in service in 1983 (Titan II missile warheads (although I have also seen lower estimates for their yield) and B53 bombs for delivery by B52's.) I'm not sure to what extent the yields were public knowledge in 1983. I believe the Soviets were...

  15. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    That does make sense but political considerations might have influenced the actual aim points, weapons and delivery systems that would have been used etc.. Maybe newer, more accurate and lower yield weapons would have been used against targets in Poland (as opposed to certain other Warsaw Pact...

  16. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    Re the UK.. as I understand things the UK wanted (and probably still wants ?) an ability to overwhelm and or work around the Soviet ABM system(s) protecting Moscow. So a mass SLBM launch by the UK against Moscow was widely considered to be part of at least some UK plans. Who knows if that...

  17. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    There may have been a concern about the implications of plans being made public at some point ? Ie a hypothetical plan that called for Moscow for example to be targeted with a 9MT ground burst might attract a lot of negative attention if it became public, but a plan that called for a deep...

  18. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    I recall there were some public comments in that time frame about the US potentially not targeting parts of the communist block in order to promote post conflict tensions (or something along those lines..)

  19. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    Yeah I recall reading how the US for example might have targeted the command room in Soviet ministry of defence with nuclear warheads. That being said presumably there was an awareness of the implications if the building in question was located in a major city.

  20. Seven Days to the River Rhine: the Third World War - a TL

    I can sort of see the super powers bargining over the status of East and West Germany (as they arguably were not fully sovereign in 1983 ?) but I don’t see the U.S. being prepared to throw other allies under the bus, and even throwing West Germany under the bus might have been a stretch. I...
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