Mercs and WMDs

When would Mercs be issued WMDs or use ones they had otherwise acquired?

1) When getting tried was better than getting dead 2) When no other method was
available to bail them out of bad trouble 3) When the KV were on the doorstep
of humanity and everything was on the line

Situation #3 posits a KV advance on Earth that we are having trouble stemming.
At that time, all methods of engaging the enemy heavily would be pursued. If
we could increase our counterforce options by deploying WMDs to mercenary
units defending human colonies, I'm quite sure we'd do it. By this time, the
concern wouldn't so much be "are these guys gonna steal one and do something
with it" as "is anyone gonna be around to
care?". At that juncture, everyone becomes a soldier-candidate and any
trained military force an asset. Any weapon one can deploy against the foe
becomes an acceptable option. When it is win or die, all other choices kind of
fade away.

WMDs might be used by a mercenary unit who expects to be slaughtered otherwise
(by a national army, colonial power, or whatever) and to whom disbanding or
even jail would seem like a minor concern.

And since suitcase nukes aren't too hard to come by (scarily so) and other
WMDs are not impossible to construct, one has to assume there will be a 2183
black market (even moreso possibly than today). Heck, if a 17 year old kid can
build a breeder reactor in his back yard.... then imagining some colony world
making mustard gas and then having it fall into the wrong hands is hardly
unlikely.

Of course, the UN and the major powers will come down hard on private
operations using WMDs (they don't like competition!). So it won't be done
unless straights are desperate or the reward is so huge that one can then
disappear. But ruling out the possibility definitely ignores a lot of the grey
conflicts going on around the world and a lot of not widely known incidents
that have already transpired.

Any mercenary unit that commands a starship (esp if ortillery fitted to
support down-well activities) automatically comes under the "controls
WMDs" category. I don't think this is that unlikely. Every little dorky
splinter group that can afford a stardrive can take out a major city if they
are sufficiently PO'd. This is just the nature of life in 2183. I think the
defense grids and controlled space around the Core Worlds must be something to
see. Lots of automated defenses, strict traffic protocols, and a fair number
of CAP fighters and monitors and such to stop any nutbars.

I can see the UN or some other nation issuing small WMDs (tactical weapons) to
some trusted mercenary units (as you pointed out, holding
the families is a good hole card) and even some small town-busters (not
outright city busters) to be used at the direction (and only at the direction)
of the national commander. They probably also would provide
some security troops/experts to go with them. Enough to keep the process
above-board and look like the national forces still controlled the
weaponry.

Plus most mercenary forces would want any release of WMDs documented and
verified 13 ways from sunday so their nuts wouldn't be in the fire afterwards.
Their legal departments would probably demand it as would any shareholders.

However, I can see that if the KV and human mercs were fighting on
Asteroid LN-568 with no civs to account for, things could get ugly real
fast....