I am not a military expert and I don’t play one on TV. Politics on the nation-state scale are intricately tied to military function. Fish need water – both statements are blatantly obvious but to the point, you can’t analyze national or international politics without some basic – and I do mean basic – understanding of how the military fits into this.

I’m writing a book on American politics that I almost didn’t write because it seems so incredibly obvious to me. Over the last month I’ve listened to a variety of commentators – some whom I already respect – talk like dribbling idiots because they have no conception of what the nuclear triad even is – and without that, they end up buying into absurdly silly notions regarding Russian – or any nations – security. So maybe this stuff isn’t so obvious after all.

What is the Nuclear Triad? The nuclear triad is the strategic delivery system of nuclear weapons to their targets. Not scary at all, huh? If it sounds scary, it is. This it how we actually fight a nuclear war if we are ever dumb enough to do so.

The term triad comes from the three prongs of attack: ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), submarine and bomber. ICBM’s are the big missiles you see on all the post-apocalypitic movies. They come in two basic flavors: single and MIRV (Multiple Independently-targetable Re-entry Vehicle). MIRVs have lots of warheads where single missiles have just the one. Nastiness on a stick, either way.

Submarines have Trident missiles (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles or SLBMs) which are all also MIRVs. Subs can launch missiles from above or below the waves so you really don’t see these coming until it’s too late.

Finally, bombers are just what they sound like – those planes in all the WWII movies that drop bombs. The US has both vintage and stealth bombers equipped to drop a nuclear warhead.

So, if the Tridents and the ICBMs don’t get you, the bombers will.

That’s it in a nutshell – both the US and Russia use this strategy. I’m unsure if China has much in the way of bomber capability but it does have both ICBMs and SLBMs.

What a wonderful world, eh?

Friday, we’ll discuss why this matters in the current conflict but the sharp-eyed will have already spotted the important part – none of these delivery systems require being on a country’s border in order to really ruin their day.