Editing Mutual assured destruction (section)

==== MIRVs as counter against ABM ====
The [[multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle]] (MIRV) was another weapons system designed specifically to aid with the MAD nuclear deterrence doctrine. With a MIRV payload, one [[ICBM]] could hold many separate warheads. MIRVs were first created by the United States in order to counterbalance the Soviet [[A-35 anti-ballistic missile system]]s around Moscow. Since each defensive missile could be counted on to destroy only one offensive missile, making each offensive missile have, for example, three warheads (as with early MIRV systems) meant that three times as many defensive missiles were needed for each offensive missile. This made defending against missile attacks more costly and difficult. One of the largest US MIRVed missiles, the [[LGM-118A Peacekeeper]], could hold up to 10 warheads, each with a yield of around {{convert|300|ktonTNT|PJ|lk=in}}—all together, an explosive payload equivalent to 230 [[Little Boy|Hiroshima-type]] bombs. The multiple warheads made defense untenable with the available technology, leaving the threat of retaliatory attack as the only viable defensive option. MIRVed land-based ICBMs tend to put a premium on striking first.<!--For example, assume that each side has 100 missiles, with 5 warheads each, and further that each side has a 95 percent chance of neutralizing the opponent's missiles in their silos by firing 2 warheads at each silo. In this case, the side that strikes first can reduce the enemy ICBM force from 100 missiles to about 5 by firing 40 missiles with 200 warheads, and keeping the rest of 60 missiles in reserve. --> The [[START II]] agreement was proposed to ban this type of weapon, but never entered into force.

In the event of a Soviet conventional attack on [[Western Europe]], [[NATO]] planned to use [[tactical nuclear weapons]]. The Soviet Union countered this threat by issuing a statement that any use of nuclear weapons (tactical or otherwise) against Soviet forces would be grounds for a full-scale Soviet retaliatory strike ([[massive retaliation]]). Thus it was generally assumed that any combat in Europe would end with [[apocalypse|apocalyptic]] conclusions.