A report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) raised the question of whether Russia might be emboldened to fire a NSNW in the belief that the West lacks the resolve to deliver a nuclear response.
A report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) raised the question of whether Russia might be emboldened to fire a NSNW in the belief that the West lacks the resolve to deliver a nuclear response.
For good reason the US and others don’t make public their playbook for responding to nuclear attacks on themselves or others with very few exceptions. We know about “mutually assured destruction” in the case of an ICBM, but not much else.
“Proportional” probably doesn’t apply in the case of nukes, it’s usually described as a maximal response to ensure it never happens again. However, the rumor has always been that an enemy using a nuke on an allied country would result in the US engaging in “total eradication” of that government. Probably, in this case, the complete destruction of Moscow. If I had to guess I’d think that would (since we’re pretty damn sure we could) do that with conventional arms to limit escalation.