Non-Nuclear US ICBM Can Strike Iran In 30 Minutes -- GizmodoDefense Secretary Robert Gates has made an startling revelation today: The US has long-range missiles armed with high-power-but-non-nuclear explosives ready for a global strike. The (big) problem: China and Russia won't be able to distinguish between nuclear and non-nuclear ICBMs.
This is what Gates said, talking on NBC's Meet the Press:
We have, in addition to the nuclear deterrent today, a couple of things we didn't have in the Soviet days… And we have prompt global strike affording us some conventional alternatives on long-range missiles that we didn't have before.
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My Comment: I made the same observation a week ago .... both Russia and China do not have the capability to ascertain the difference between a nuclear armed ICBM or a non-nuclear one.
As far as they are concerned .... an ICBM is an ICBM, and if launched it would probably be armed with a nuclear warhead. How they would react after such a launch is anyone's guess.