The problem with de-alerting nuclear weapons
Many people consider the de-alerting of nuclear weapons to be a positive step towards reducing the likelihood of nuclear war, however, despite its advantages, many fail to address the inherent issues that prevent this concept from becoming a reality. Let’s consider the practicality of de alerting the various parts of the nuclear triad. Bombers can be de alerted by keeping them unfuelled and keeping their weapons locked inside nearby weapons storage facilities, this is something an adversary could verify using near real time surveillance satellites. Requiring aircraft to be both fuelled and armed before take-off would take many hours and be readily detectible to an adversary. Silo based ICBMs can be de alerted by placing large, heavy objects over their lids, to remove all of the objects may take days. Mobile ICBMs could have their warheads removed to be stored in secure facilities at their bases again possibly requiring days for all warheads to be re-install. Again, both of ...