Eli5 what’s the difference between a “tactical” nuke, and just an ordinary nuke?
In: 2
The difference is the size and intended use.
The original nuclear weapons were really little more than traditional bombs, just bigger – designed to do as much damage as physically possible.
This ethos continued as they were scaled up during the cold war, with bombs that were ever bigger and more destructive.
Past a certain point, those in charge realised that they were so big that there was a huge gap between the power of the current nuclear weapons and a traditional bomb, so the ‘tactical’ nuke was developed – exactly the same as the big versions, but purposely scaled down in size so they could be used for more specific purposes such as the destruction of a limited area, rather than just everything close by – to be used to accomplish a tactical objective, not just mass destruction.
Latest Answers