Tuesday, 21 February 2017

It’s Not Just ‘Strangelove’ —Today’s Bombers Rely on America’s Weakest Nuclear Links

War Is Boring

by ELAINE GROSSMAN
This is the second article in a three-part series on how limited foreign attacks could endanger America’s fragile command and control over nuclear weapons. Reads parts one and three.
The original screenplay for the 1964 classic film Dr. Strangelove includes a scene in which the “Leper Colony” B-90 bomber crew is en route to its Soviet target when Lt. Terry Toejam realizes all their communications gear has gone “kaput.” He tells the pilot, Slim Pickens’ Maj. “King” Kong, “I guess we’re on our own.”
Many have noted the technical accuracy and strategic insight of Stanley Kubrick’s portrayal, but few realize how vulnerable today’s bombers are to a similarly cataclysmic communications outage.

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