I only read about ICBMs being armed with nuclear warheads. I have never read about them being armed with conventional weapons. So that must mean that the nations that have ICBMs only use them as part of their nuclear armed forces.
Why is this? Why not use ICBMs for conventional reasons?
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ICBMs are expensive AF. Very little return on the dollar. The AGM-30 (Minuteman III) appears to be able to boost a 3000lb payload to it’s destination. They don’t list the specifics, but the missile was able to carry 3 reentry vehicles, and their approximate weights would be around 800lbs each (guess). A single minuteman was $7m in 1970 dollars. Also, it’s >hard< to tell the difference between a nuclear tipped missile and one that’s not.
A single Tomahawk delivers a 1000lb-warhead (or a nuclear one if you’re so inclined) 1500 miles and costs $2m each.
Alternatively a single B-52 can carry 20 2000lb JDAMS @ a cost of about $40k per to anywhere on the globe and drop them from a range of up to 15 miles from the target.
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