Important targets (for Russia or China) aren’t just in the United States, and many, such as naval bases and industrial facilities, will merit multiple weapons to assure complete destruction. 1,700 sounds like a lot until you start filling up the dance card. During the nuclear buildup in the 1960s and ‘70s it was assumed that a lot of missiles would be aimed at opponents missile silos and bases to prevent them from reloading and firing another salvo (or maybe disarming if they held weapons in reserve) but between wargaming scenarios showing the folly of that and the fact that we just don’t have a significant reserve stockpile of ICBMs and RVs, that is a pretty futile gesture. That does free up several hundred weapons to be targeted elsewhere, but again, nobody has any reason to waste a weapon on Joplin, MO, Paducah, KY, or Butte, MT when you could double up on Newport News, Seal Beach, Colorado Springs, or any of the numerous submarine bases and support centers which could actually pose a threat of second strike and continuing retaliatory capability.
Stranger