4 ms·

> I think we can count ourselves lucky this wasn't a nuclear armed missile. You can't accidentally fire a nuclear missile and have it go off.

• mc32 5y ago
  I'm obviously not versed in these things, is that something we can count on to be true?
  • unmole 5y ago
    It's not entirely clear if Indian and Pakistani nukes are secured by something like PAL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissive_Action_Link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissive_Action_Link The Soviet nukes left over in Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan were protected.
  • sidewndr46 5y ago
    There is a lingering story that the launch code for USAF ICBMs was just all zeroes. This has been refuted by the pentagon but the operator's manual suggests it is normal practice. https://sgs.princeton.edu/00000000 https://sgs.princeton.edu/00000000
• dragonwriter 5y ago
  > You can't accidentally fire a nuclear missile and have it go off. There are, IIRC, several nuclear weapons related accidents where the warheads were recovered by the reports, to the extent declassified, do not indicate that all safety mechanisms worked as designed. I would not assume from the fact that weapons are typically designed with the intent to prevent accidental nuclear detonation and so far the accidents that have occurred have not resulted in accidental detonation that such is categorically impossible.