Ethics, Scientists, Engineers and the Military - Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability - page 328

take 2 years (Ainslee 2012 ). Nuclear disarmament of the USA and Russia in particular
would take very signifi cantly longer.
First- and second-generation nuclear weapons comprise atomic and hydrogen
bombs developed in the 1940s and 1950s, whereas the third-generation nuclear
weapons, such as the neutron bomb, have not been added to military arsenals.
Fourth-generation nuclear weapons involve advanced triggering technologies, such
as superlasers, magnetic compression and nuclear isomers, of relatively small
thermonuclear explosions with yields between a fraction of a ton and several tens of
tons of high explosive equivalent. They are generally not considered 'weapons of
mass destruction' or covered by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. They can also
be portrayed as 'clean' nuclear weapons due to their limited radioactive fallout, as
little nuclear fi ssion will be involved (Gsponer 2008 ).
Long-range ballistic missiles were fi rst deployed by the USA in the late 1950s
and early 1960s and have been the basis of the US nuclear weapon system and
enabled the USA to threaten the whole of the Soviet Union, as well as other nations
from the USA or sea-based submarines. Both the US navy and air force are now
investigating the deployment of conventional warheads on long-range ballistic
missiles, called Prompt Global Strike (Woolf 2011 ), and have received some funding
to do this, though considerably less than asked for. Serious concerns have been
addressed that this would lead to misunderstandings that nuclear missiles are being
used. While this risk could be reduced by appropriate information measures, this
would not eliminate it, particularly if the missiles are used at short notice, which
seems likely. Prompt response in the event of an unanticipated confl ict is one of the
main proposed 'benefi ts', as this would potentially enable the USA to attack targets
across the globe in a much shorter time than moving forces to the region or using
bombers (Woolf 2009 ). In addition to the worrying possibility of these missiles
being mistaken for a nuclear attack, the speed of 'response' could also lead to con-
fl ict escalation.
Russia and the USA, the states with the largest number of weapons, are both
modernising their nuclear forces and slightly reducing the total under the bilateral
2010 New Start Treaty (Kile 2012 ). Table 11.1 summarises some of the information
about the different nuclear states.
Both ballistic and cruise missiles are able to deliver missiles over a long distance
to a target. The main difference is that cruise missiles are guided and travel at
approximately constant velocity, whereas ballistic missiles are only guided initially
and follow a ballistic path.
The availability of additional information through the opening of archives and
meetings between former opponents shows that crises involving a major confronta-
tion between the USA and USSR, such as the Cuba missile crisis in 1962, were even
more dangerous than previously realised. There have also been incidents involving
the loss and non-recovery of nuclear weapons or their damage and very narrow
avoidance of accidental detonation (Abbott et al. 2006 ; Schlosser 2013 ). There is also
some international concern, including by the International Atomic Energy Agency,
that Iran may be developing nuclear weapons. The lack of success in agreeing a
framework for resolving these concerns (Kile 2013 ) illustrates the problems in