The NATO Deferent and Russian Armour

The troops of the superpowers are concentrated in and around Europe — if is there that any likely conflict would be fought out.

At the moment [unclear: warsaw] Pact forces are preparing for a lightning type attack into Western Europe, through West Germany, based on their superiority in conventional forces. NATO has traditionally "deterred" such an attack by the presence of a qualitatively and quantitatively superior force of tactival nuclear weapons which it could use to destroy such an attack.

But, while James Schlesinger was US Secretary of Defence in the last Nixon administration, it was noticed that these battlefield nuclear weapons would be used in a battlefield that was within NATO lines — West Germany. The dropping of these weapons on a NATO member, with the resulting immense irreparable destruction, was seen as unacceptable. The value of the tactical nuclear weapons as a "deterrent" to an invasion of Western Europe seemed to be negated.

Two 'cures' for this situation were simultaneously embarked upon. The first 'cure' was a building up of NATO's conventional forces. The second 'cure' was the development of a nuclear weapon that would serve as an effective battlefield weapon without destroying the nation they were intended to save thus bringing back credibility into the deterrent.

The latter 'cure' resulted in the neutron bomb.