I’m sure there would have been domestic opposition. Reagan did encounter GOP opposition to the INF treat, IIRC and depended on the DNC to get it passed. So, if he had tried to pass a total disarmament treaty it would have faced opposition in Congress. That now does make me think I was wrong in...
He and Gorbachev discussed a phased elimination of both side's nuclear weapons. It foundered on the issue of SDI, but Regan was committed to the elimination of nuclear weapons. Predictably, the European NATO members hit the roof when they found out, so perhaps it still wouldn't have happened.
Well, we might have had a major arms reduction treaty. Reagan had a lot of chemistry with Gorbachev, which neither Bush, or Dukakis had. The Cold War might also have ended well before it did and in a less bloody way. I also wonder how Bush would have handled Iraq’s invasion and annexation of...
It was studied as a potential alternative. There is even some evidence that a small unit trained for the task. Lancasters could have been used in a sacrificial role if there was enough urgency to the situation.
Skipping over the technical discussion, an earlier available bomb is going to be bad for Germany. If the B-29 isn’t available, the Lancaster would be a viable delivery platform, having been studied for the job. Depending on when the first weapons are available, there may be no D-Day.
What’s...
Hamburg, Hanover, Kiel, Munich etc. Basically, any West German city, depending on how far west NATO allows the Warsaw Pact to get before nukes fly. Being a little different, we could add some East German cities, or Czech ones, like Leipzig, or Cheb.
There are already regiments in places like Malta (Royal Malta Artillery, The King’s Own Malta Regiment), Gibraltar (Royal Gibraltar Regiment), Hong Kong (Royal Hong Regiment) and Bermuda (Royal Bermuda Regiment). The West Indies Regiment could cover the Caribbean, or the Jamaica Regiment and...
You're very welcome. I must say that I was surprised by the mention of Crail being the first proposed site a surprise. Had a quick look at the book, and the War Office got as far as carrying out boring at Crail. So, it was a serious contender for the first operational Blue Streak base. RAF...
The interesting thing about the silos plan was that it was intended that the Blue Streak would be launched after a Soviet strike. The vulnerability argument was used as one of the reasons to cancel it. However, not adding dozens of extra potential targets to the U.K. was probably A Good Thing in...
Planners identified several sites for Blue Streak. It seems that the first site and home of the OCU would have been the old RNAS Crail in Scotland. I'll need to dig out my book on the missile to see what other sites were considered, but putting an MRBM in silos was considered viable in a UK...