text: performance for a delivery vehicle" There would, however ! be the problem of the mJ-nerability of such aircraft befoTe take-off and in their penetration of cneuy airspace to reach their targets. A nuclear force laIgely based. on aircraft vith gravity bombs or unsophi st icated. rdssiles may thus not be a very stable detevlent.Al3' /392 Tln o l i ch Annex Page 53 CHAPTXR IV EFI'ECTS OF THE USE OF NUCLEAR I^IEAPONS 1l+2' Nuclee'r veapons are weapons of mass destructi.on. fhei.r various effects naycover vast areas and the destruction of the intended. target vithin this area,whether military or civilian, can be made as complete as desired through ihechoice of weapon yield and the point of explosion. fhere is therefore no targetstrong enough to resist the intense effects of nuclear weapons, no effectivedefence against a determined. attack. protection in a nucrear war, when it exists,does so because of limits imposed on the strength of the attack. rn this sense-nankind is faced rrith the absoLute weapon. 1l+3-, At the sarne tine, it is the very strength of the effects of nuclearexplosives that nake then tlifficult to lr"" u" war_fighting weapons in thetraditional sense. It is a fact that there are today negaton ir"u,porr" in existenceeach of which rereases an energy greater than that of arl conventional expr,osivesever used since gunpovcler was invented.. rf this enonmous power were ever to beused' the consequences in terns of hrman easualties and prrysical destruction vouldbe -virtually incomprehens-ible . Figures and. rough estiuaies nay be given, asindeed they wil1 in the for-lowingr-but tnere-exists an uncertain linit beyondlrhich such data have litt'e neaning except as a categoricar imperatil'e thatnuclear war must never happen,
analysis: The text discusses the effects of nuclear weapons, including their destructive power, the impossibility of defending against them, and the catastrophic consequences of their use. It highlights the immense power of nuclear weapons and the need to prevent their use. The text does not touch on economic, social, or environmental issues, but rather focuses on the military and strategic aspects of nuclear weapons.