The Real Story On What Would Happen If The US Launched Nuclear Weapons In Time Of War

 Madame President:

       Your Thursday morning briefing...I'm sure that many of you noticed that I made a mistake yesterday. I put Thursday instead of Wednesday. It was "a Freudian slip." Yesterday was one of the worst days that I have had in months. I struggled with labor shortages, supply chain problems, and bureaucratic mistakes. It took 5 hours to get four new tires on Elena's car, for example. (An alignment technician could not be found.)

       I have been out finding obscure sources of information. I came up with a stunning report on how nuclear weapons would be fired from the US nuclear arsenal. We all have heard this urban legend that a deranged president or vice president could open up the leather "nuclear football" and start firing weapons. The truth is most reassuring. All sorts of safeguards are built into the system to authorize the launch of nuclear weapons as follows:

Thierry Etienne Joseph Rotty

 

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Senior Controller at NATOAug 13

Who has the authority to launch U.S. nuclear weapons? How many people have this authority? Where are the nuclear launch codes kept? How secure is this system from hacking and other forms of attack by enemies of the U.S.?

 

First of all, there are no nuclear launch codes, that is a Hollywood invention.

The National Command Authority (NCA) has the authority to order the use of nuclear weapons. This consists of the President and the Secretary of Defense, or their successors.

In times of crisis, the military would present the political leadership with one or more nuclear option to chose from, politicians can’t make up their own options, nuclear warfare needs to be tightly coordinated and does not allow for this. If no options are presented, politicians can’t use nuclear weapons.

When options are presented the NCA need to be in a secured location or make use of a nuclear football.

A nuclear football is a bag with a secured telephone, authentication codes (so the military know the guys at the other end are political officials), the White House Emergency Procedures book which details evacuation plans, a concise version of the nuclear options, and paperwork to declare a State of Emergency and Declare War.

Since May 1972, Congress has delegated the authority to declare to the Executive Branch under certain conditions (when the US is under attack) so the US does not violate international law when they nuke the crap out of the enemy.

There are some 25 nuclear footballs, it depends on the exact chain of command. If there are changes in the hierarchy of the Department of Defense o certain people in the line of presidential succession can’t hold that office because they so’t have the requirements (age and born in the US).

These authentication codes are used by the political leadership to identify themselves to the military leadership.

Once a nuclear option has been approved, the military format an Emergency Action Message (EAM). This is an alphanumerical code containing an authentication code (so the people handling the weapons know they are indeed talking to the military leadership), the chosen attack option, a Permissive Action Link (PAL - a numerical code to physically arm the warheads, only applies to the USAF, the US Navy doesn’t use them) and a time stamp when to execute this option.

Normally, only the President and the Secretary of Defense are followed by military officers carrying a nuclear football, the others are kept in reserve and would only be deployed in case of an emergency (or an exercise).

If a politician is incapacitated, can’t be located within a certain time frame (remember, a missile hits its target in 20–30 minutes), or isn’t in a secured location and doesn’t have access to a nuclear football, that person is skipped and the military try to contact the one next on the list.

Once skipped, you no longer hold any authority !!! Here is an example.

A US President visits NATO HQ in Brussels when Russia sets of a portable nuclear weapon near the NATO HQ. At this moment, Russia launches its missiles. Nobody in Washington DC knows whether the President is still alive or not and what his medical condition is.

The Vice President is out hiking in the Australian Outback and can’t be reached.

So the Speaker of the House is next in line and is designed Chief Executive (as the President might still be alive). The Speaker makes it to the White House Bunker and survives the nucleate strike on Washington DC.

A Russian missile hits NATO HQ again, the President is now certainly dead.

After three days, the Vice President manages to get back to the US … and no longer has any authority.

You can’ have two Chief Executives, so once skipped, you are out of the loop, no matter what the law says. The last thing you want is a civil war with part of the troops following order from the Speaker and another part those of the Vice President.

Should the chain of command fail, the military can order the use of nuclear weapons. There are officers designed as Authorizing Commands who have access to the nuclear options, the military authentication codes, and the PALs. When certain conditions are met (an attack against the in progress for example), they can order the use of nuclear weapons.

All orders are transmitted by landline (to the ICBMs and the tactical bases of the USAF) and by radio (to the bombers and the submarines). Submarines can also be contacted by Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) transmitters.

No nuclear system is connected to the internet, so forget about hacking.

An EAM needs to be physically entered by humans into the firing computers of the ICBMs and SLBMs.

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