ABSTRACT
A strategic weapon is aimed at destroying the long-term ability of an adversary to wage war, or at preserving such ability for one’s own forces. Offensive strategic weapons, then, are not for use in battlefields, but rather against such targets as population or industrial production centres, or the adversary’s strategic weapons systems. In turn, defensive strategic weapons aim at protecting the industrial capability of a country, its population centres, and its ability to wage strategic warfare. The main component of the airborne offensive strategic force of the United States consists of about 600 B-52 bombers. A ballistic missile is a projectile that, after receiving an initial impulse, travels freely under the influence of gravity, in a plane that contains both the launch and target points. The Minuteman is a sol id-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile that can be launched in 32 seconds, from a reinforced silo that houses it.
