A high-alert nuclear weapon commonly refers to a launch-ready ballistic missile that is armed with a nuclear warhead whose launch can be ordered (through the National Command Authority) and executed (via a nuclear command and control system) within 15 minutes. It can include any weapon system capable of delivering a nuclear warhead in this time frame.
Virtually all high-alert nuclear weapons are possessed by the United States and Russia.[1] Both nations use automated command-and-control systems, in conjunction with their early warning radar and/or satellites, to facilitate the rapid launch of their land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and some submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).[2] Fear of a "disarming" nuclear first strike, which would destroy their command and control systems and nuclear forces, led both nations to develop "launch-on-warning" capability, which requires high-alert nuclear weapons that can launch within 30 minutes of a tactical warning, the nominal flight time of ICBMs traveling between both countries.
A definition of "high-alert" requires no specific explosive power of the weapon carried by the missile or weapon system, but in general, most high-alert missiles are armed with strategic nuclear weapons with yields equal to or greater than 100 kilotons.[3] The United States[4] and Russia[5] have for decades possessed ICBMs and SLBMs that can be launched in only a few minutes.
The U.S. and Russia as of 2008 have a total of 900 missiles and 2581 strategic nuclear warheads on high-alert launch-ready status. The total explosive power of the weapons is about 1185 megatons, or the equivalent explosive power of 1.185 billion tons of TNT.[6]
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Notes and references
- ^ "Status Of World Nuclear Forces". 31 March 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ Blair, Bruce. "The Logic of Accidental Nuclear War". © The Brookings Institution 1993.
- ^ Starr, Steven. "An Explanation of Nuclear Weapons Terminology" Archived 2008-03-08 at the Wayback Machine. © Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 2008.
- ^ Correll, J. How the Air Force Got the ICBM" Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine. © Air Force Magazine Online (Journal of the Air Force Association) 2005, July, Vol. 88, No. 7.
- ^ NTI online database. "Russia: History of Soviet/Russian ICBMs" Archived 2008-05-11 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Starr, Steven. "High-alert nuclear weapons: examining the risks." SGR Newsletter, No. 26, Autumn 2008, in press.
This page was last edited on 19 July 2023, at 08:30