• psud@aussie.zone
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    3 days ago

    Yeah but in 1984 we really worried that we might not make it through the week.

    Weird Al released Christmas at ground zero in '86

    Now we don’t really believe Russia’s missiles will even work

    And back then there was no credible defence

        • fullsquare@awful.systems
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          3 days ago

          you would need something silly like 50x more interceptors than ICBMs and SLBMs and these are more expensive and technically harder than either

          • JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            As someone with experience in this field, I can tell you with utmost certainty that the missiles the West fired at ICBMs are certainly not more expensive or technically harder than either of the aforementioned missiles. ICBMs in particular are almost a non threat to the world

      • psud@aussie.zone
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        3 days ago

        Wikipedia disagrees, though notes that there are weapons that can beat current defence technology

        The Soviet Union could produce enough missiles to overwhelm any defence. Russia now couldn’t afford to maintain a large arsenal, though China can. China doesn’t seem as likely to launch a first strike as the USSR did.

        Of course those systems aren’t protecting you unless you live somewhere important

        • Dogyote@slrpnk.net
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          3 days ago

          What? You can’t say wikipedia disagrees when it lists weapons that can beat current defenses.

        • fullsquare@awful.systems
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          3 days ago

          The NMD program is limited in scope and designed to counter a relatively small ICBM attack from a less sophisticated adversary.

          also ground-based interceptor is more expensive than ICBM, and you need one for each warhead and maybe also for decoys, and probably more than one to be reasonably sure. since everyone operates under MAD it doesn’t matter if you destroy most probable adversary’s nukes on the ground or in the air, so that’s one of reasons why ICBMs are a thing, and then SLBMs as a second line. cue arms race. ABM are considered destabilizing and are limited by treaties

    • lars@lemmy.sdf.org
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      3 days ago

      ground zero in '86

      Crazy how many times the World Trade Center musta been attacked by Weird Al. I only heard about ’93 and, of course, ’911.

    • Dogyote@slrpnk.net
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      3 days ago
      1. those missiles will work. They have been modernizing.

      2. There still is no credible defense to a full on attack by Russia. Trump’s golden dome is as real as Reagan’s star wars.

        • Dogyote@slrpnk.net
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          2 days ago

          They’re using this little one in Ukraine, but that aside, would you like to call their bluff if you think their missles don’t work? I’d rather this shitshow continue than play real life fallout.

          • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Nah I’m sure at least a few work, but the world has been stepping over putin’s “red lines” for years now and he hasn’t done much except bluster.

            • Dogyote@slrpnk.net
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              1 day ago

              That’s true, I think they’re a weapon of last resort, only to be used if Russia may cease to be. Who knows, maybe nobody would have the gall to use them in that situation. Probably not worth testing.

        • GoodLuckToFriends@lemmy.today
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          2 days ago

          Remember that the united states and russia were routinely inspecting the nuclear arsenals of each other. They may have been hiding how bad things were, but we can be certain they do have functioning nuclear weapons at a scale large enough to matter.

          • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            The US believed Kiev would fall in weeks, tops. I’m not putting much faith in their assessment of Russia’s arsenal. If anything, it’s in the best interest of the US MIC to lie about it and spend to fill imaginary capabilities gaps as we so often have.