ABSTRACT
Long-standing assumptions about the roles of nuclear weapons and the requirements of US nuclear strategy are being questioned. As the security environment continues to change and as opportunities for unprecedented steps in arms control arise, we need to take a fresh look at the means by which nuclear weapons can enhance our security and the types of forces those means imply. This chapter provides a comprehensive approach to an analysis for US strategic offensive forces. It analyses the security context, identifies future objectives for our strategic forces, delineates a targeting doctrine to fit these objectives, determines targeting requirements, specifies appropriate force levels and characteristics, and, finally, recommends a coherent agenda of force modernization programs and arms control provisions to produce the desired result. Since the 1960s, US targeting plans have focused on four basic target categories: nuclear forces, other military forces, leadership targets, and economic/industrial targets.
