If tomorrow Russia suddenly decides to nuke the US, will the US be able to withstand the attack?
Depending upon who was left alive in the wake of the Russian first strike and who was left in charge, American retaliation could come from a single ballistic missile submarine (which could target and destroy every major city in Russia) in roughly an hour. Or it could come in the days, weeks or months which follow the attack, after the US has determined what remains active in the country and begins to wipe that out.
And again…that is what a single ballistic missile submarine can do.
There are 11 of them in the US Navy’s inventory.
Along with 4 additional cruise missile boats which have nuclear-capable missiles aboard them as well.