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> or in-air bombers. It's no longer the case that the US and Russia maintain nuclear bombers in air continuous.

mikeash 10y ago
It hasn't been for a long time, too. The US discontinued continuous air alert in 1968, when it became apparent that it was just too risky (planes kept crashing with live weapons on board) and ICBMs and SLBMs made it unnecessary. I'm sure it could be restarted now if it looked to be necessary, but it doesn't seem to be.
- ekianjo 10y ago
  > It hasn't been for a long time, too If my memory does not fail me, the book COmmand Control claims that it did continue until well in the 90s.
  - jessriedel 10y ago
    This review of the book just says it was briefly re-activated from time to time, which I don't believe anyone disputes. > Speaking of heartless and barbaric, Schlosser covers Richard Nixon’s “madman theory,” which he and his close adviser Henry Kissinger developed after Nixon took over the presidency in 1969... > How to show the world he was a “madman”? Nixon and Kissinger came up with a plan in 1969. They ordered the Strategic Air Command to go on airborne alert for two weeks. “Ignoring the safety risks,” Schlosser notes, “B-52s loaded with hydrogen bombs took off from bases in the United States and flew circular routes along the coast of the Soviet Union. Neither the Soviets nor the Vietcong was fooled by the bluff.” https://vva.org/arts-of-war/history/command-and-control-by-eric-schlosser/ https://vva.org/arts-of-war/history/command-and-control-by-e... That occurred after the Thule airbase accident that prompted the end of continuous air alert in 1969. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chrome_Dome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chrome_Dome
  - mikeash 10y ago
    From my copy: "The airborne alert program was terminated the day after the Thule accident. The risks no longer seemed justifiable, and many B-52s were now being used to bomb Vietnam." The Thule accident was, of course, in 1968. I don't recall there being anything else about a continuous alert being resumed afterwards, but I certainly could have forgotten. Edit: since we're talking about this book, if anyone is interested in stuff I highly recommend it. The full title is Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser. Available wherever fine books blah de blah blah.
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Yep, but in wartime there would be. The US can launch nuclear bombers very quickly when any threat is detected or assumed to come anytime soon (watching the Chinese roll out rockets for hypersonics for example via satellite). I suspect we have a lot of classified nuclear flights when the DoD gets worried.

It hasn't been for a long time, too. The US discontinued continuous air alert in 1968, when it became apparent that it was just too risky (planes kept crashing with live weapons on board) and ICBMs and SLBMs made it unnecessary. I'm sure it could be restarted now if it looked to be necessary, but it doesn't seem to be.

ekianjo 10y ago
> It hasn't been for a long time, too If my memory does not fail me, the book COmmand Control claims that it did continue until well in the 90s.
- jessriedel 10y ago
  This review of the book just says it was briefly re-activated from time to time, which I don't believe anyone disputes. > Speaking of heartless and barbaric, Schlosser covers Richard Nixon’s “madman theory,” which he and his close adviser Henry Kissinger developed after Nixon took over the presidency in 1969... > How to show the world he was a “madman”? Nixon and Kissinger came up with a plan in 1969. They ordered the Strategic Air Command to go on airborne alert for two weeks. “Ignoring the safety risks,” Schlosser notes, “B-52s loaded with hydrogen bombs took off from bases in the United States and flew circular routes along the coast of the Soviet Union. Neither the Soviets nor the Vietcong was fooled by the bluff.” https://vva.org/arts-of-war/history/command-and-control-by-eric-schlosser/ https://vva.org/arts-of-war/history/command-and-control-by-e... That occurred after the Thule airbase accident that prompted the end of continuous air alert in 1969. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chrome_Dome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chrome_Dome
- mikeash 10y ago
  From my copy: "The airborne alert program was terminated the day after the Thule accident. The risks no longer seemed justifiable, and many B-52s were now being used to bomb Vietnam." The Thule accident was, of course, in 1968. I don't recall there being anything else about a continuous alert being resumed afterwards, but I certainly could have forgotten. Edit: since we're talking about this book, if anyone is interested in stuff I highly recommend it. The full title is Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety by Eric Schlosser. Available wherever fine books blah de blah blah.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

Yep, but in wartime there would be. The US can launch nuclear bombers very quickly when any threat is detected or assumed to come anytime soon (watching the Chinese roll out rockets for hypersonics for example via satellite). I suspect we have a lot of classified nuclear flights when the DoD gets worried.