This suggests to us that the current U.S. arsenal is vastly
more powerful than needed. There is no need for two stage thermonuclear
warheads of a hundred kiloton and more yield to produce extensive damage on
a scale sufficient to deter – to the extent that anything can – potential adversaries
from attacking the United States
and its allies with nuclear weapons (see
Figure 15 above). Under a minimal
deterrence posture, existing warheads
should carry inert secondaries, limiting
their yields to ten or so kilotons and,
when possible, the primary should be
unboosted, limiting their yield to a few
kilotons.