Hacker News Reader

Exactly this. An infrared flare from a missile launch, seen from a launch detection satellite, looks exactly the same, 20kt or 450kt warhead.

View on HN

I'm pretty sure that only applies to ballistic missiles though. Cruise missiles probably don't show up on those satellites, and even if they did, how would you differentiate a nuclear armed cruise missile from a conventional cruise missile? There is also the matter of nuclear torpedoes, bombs dropped from planes, bombs placed by special forces (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Atomic_Demolition_Muni...), nuclear artillery shells (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W48), recoilless guns (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device)), etc.

The OP was about sub-launched ballistic missiles - I was trying to make the point that when a ballistic missile flies from a sub, you cannot tell the yield, and the potential hair trigger-response will be the same regardless of yield.

This type of weapon is essentially destabilizing, as the article said.

I agree with you on other weapons, the flight profile will be vastly different.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com