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the subs don't need to be ready to retaliate immediately to be an effective deterrent. part of the strategic value of nuclear-armed subs is that the opponent ca
by leetcrew 7y ago
the subs don't need to be ready to retaliate immediately to be an effective deterrent. part of the strategic value of nuclear-armed subs is that the opponent can't destroy all of your launching capabilities in a first strike, even if they think they've located all your land-based sites.
real-time communication with subs is probably only necessary to rapidly coordinate a first strike, or to specifically order them not to fire in an ambiguous situation.
- justin66 7y agoIn the United States, at least, ballistic missile submarines that never receive an authenticated launch order will not launch their missiles. It's meant to be technologically impossible. Perhaps someone with more knowledge knows if it's possible to give an authenticated order along the lines of "if you don't hear back from us in an hour, launch all your missiles." I've never heard of such a thing but there are at least two former submariners here on hn, so...
- chrisseaton 7y ago> the subs don't need to be ready to retaliate immediately to be an effective deterrent They do in the US system! If you don't retaliate immediately then you're dead, and so you can't send the order to fire, so you can't retaliate at all. In the UK system you don't need to retaliate immediately as authority to fire is delegated to the commander - no magic codes like in the US.