Nuclear weapons in the strategies of the United States and NATO. Strategy of massive retaliation and flexible response

The introduction of the hydrogen bomb to the nuclear arsenal turned out to be a breakthrough in the creation of the strategic deterrence system. It determined the evolution of the nuclear strategy on both sides of the “Iron Curtain”. The appearance of high-power light thermonuclear bombs became an impulse for the creation of ballistic missiles. Globally, this type of weapon significantly speeded up reaching a nuclear stalemate and contributed to taking up efforts to seek measures of a limited nuclear war and a “flexible response” as an alternative to massive retaliation.