Nuclear weapons

The most notable development in weaponry since World War II has been the combination and further development of two weapons first used in it—nuclear weapons and the ballistic missile, leading to its ultimate configuration: the ICBM. The mutual possession of these by the United States and the Soviet Union ensured that either country could inflict terrible damage on the other; so terrible, in fact, that neither nation was willing to instigate direct, all-out war with the other . The indiscriminate nature of the destruction has made nuclear-tipped missiles basically useless for the smaller wars fought since. However computer-guided weaponry of all kinds, from precision-guided munitions to computer-aimed tank rounds, has greatly improved weaponry's accuracy.