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I am reminded of the opening scene in War Games, when the two officers both need to perform a specific series of actions together to launch the missile. It gav

I am reminded of the opening scene in War Games, when the two officers both need to perform a specific series of actions together to launch the missile. It gave an excellent perspective on not only what was probably the actual process, but the ethical dilemma of one of the officers. And then there is the heretical "G.I. Joe: Retaliation", where all the world leaders are in one room with their breifcases containing big red buttons.

CapitalistCartr 12y ago
Funny you mention Wargames. That scene was probably the only realistic scene in the movie. They got that suspiciously good. The one before it, where he arrives at the LCF and it's a disguised farmhouse was idiotic.
- throwaway_xl5 12y ago
  In England we have defense facilities disguised as farmhouses. We don't have land-based missiles but this [0] is/was a government bunker from which launch orders could be given. I wondered if you meant idiotic in the sense of unrealistic for America, or as a bad idea tactically? [0]http://www.secretnuclearbunker.com/ http://www.secretnuclearbunker.com/
  - CapitalistCartr 12y ago
    Sorry, I meant the US ones are nothing like that. It was totally inaccurate. In the USA, all the farmers/ranchers know where the stuff is. "Excuse me, we're looking for Sierra 7." "Yeah, it's down this road for a mile, then left on 127." And the Soviets wouldn't have been fooled either. So they look like military installations.
    - bdamm 12y ago
      That may be true in some but certainly not all cases. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/roswell-new-mexico-missile-silo-for-sale.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/roswell-new-mexico-miss...
      - CapitalistCartr 12y ago
        That's a decommissioned silo. When it was operational, it would have had the fence and usual such around it. The Northern Tier facilities are mostly underground, too. The actual silos (Launch Facilities) look like basically nothing from the top, were it not for the fence and nasty signage starting "Use of deadly force authorized". Also the Southern Tier silos had the launch control facilities integrated with them.
    - maaku 12y ago
      It's not about hiding the facilities from locals, it's about hiding them from satellites. Or at least providing enough uncertainty that the enemy doesn't know for certain how many or which installations are where. More morbidly, in a first strike scenario you want the enemy to waste nukes on actual farmhouses it couldn't tell for certain were launch facilities or not. Then even if no facilities are missed (something you would be hoping for), that's still fewer nukes to be dropped on cities and conventional military installations.
      - sukilot 12y ago
        There is no point dropping a nuke on a single tactical target. Nukes have a blast range of miles and a regular missle can take our a facility just fine.
      - CapitalistCartr 12y ago
        Whatever the reasoning, the USAF didn't do the farmhouse thing. We did the big fence, nasty signs, and heavily armed guards.
- maaku 12y ago
  Why is the farmhouse disguise idiotic? I'm pretty sure that sort of thing actually happened -- to disguise the location from satellite surveillance, of course.
  - CapitalistCartr 12y ago
    Not in the USA, where the movie takes place. Funny enough, I was doing that for a living when the movie came out. I still enjoyed it, although, like the rest of Hollywood's masterpieces, it wasn't remotely realistic.
- mynameishere 12y ago
  suspiciously good They just copied some footage helpfully provided by the air force. (7:50) There must have been a "director's cut" of the same because we see it in "The Day After" where they're turning the keys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlPEBROvR9w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlPEBROvR9w

CapitalistCartr 12y ago

Funny you mention Wargames. That scene was probably the only realistic scene in the movie. They got that suspiciously good. The one before it, where he arrives at the LCF and it's a disguised farmhouse was idiotic.

throwaway_xl5 12y ago
In England we have defense facilities disguised as farmhouses. We don't have land-based missiles but this [0] is/was a government bunker from which launch orders could be given. I wondered if you meant idiotic in the sense of unrealistic for America, or as a bad idea tactically? [0]http://www.secretnuclearbunker.com/ http://www.secretnuclearbunker.com/
- CapitalistCartr 12y ago
  Sorry, I meant the US ones are nothing like that. It was totally inaccurate. In the USA, all the farmers/ranchers know where the stuff is. "Excuse me, we're looking for Sierra 7." "Yeah, it's down this road for a mile, then left on 127." And the Soviets wouldn't have been fooled either. So they look like military installations.
  - bdamm 12y ago
    That may be true in some but certainly not all cases. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/roswell-new-mexico-missile-silo-for-sale.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/roswell-new-mexico-miss...
    - CapitalistCartr 12y ago
      That's a decommissioned silo. When it was operational, it would have had the fence and usual such around it. The Northern Tier facilities are mostly underground, too. The actual silos (Launch Facilities) look like basically nothing from the top, were it not for the fence and nasty signage starting "Use of deadly force authorized". Also the Southern Tier silos had the launch control facilities integrated with them.
  - maaku 12y ago
    It's not about hiding the facilities from locals, it's about hiding them from satellites. Or at least providing enough uncertainty that the enemy doesn't know for certain how many or which installations are where. More morbidly, in a first strike scenario you want the enemy to waste nukes on actual farmhouses it couldn't tell for certain were launch facilities or not. Then even if no facilities are missed (something you would be hoping for), that's still fewer nukes to be dropped on cities and conventional military installations.
    - sukilot 12y ago
      There is no point dropping a nuke on a single tactical target. Nukes have a blast range of miles and a regular missle can take our a facility just fine.
    - CapitalistCartr 12y ago
      Whatever the reasoning, the USAF didn't do the farmhouse thing. We did the big fence, nasty signs, and heavily armed guards.
maaku 12y ago
Why is the farmhouse disguise idiotic? I'm pretty sure that sort of thing actually happened -- to disguise the location from satellite surveillance, of course.
- CapitalistCartr 12y ago
  Not in the USA, where the movie takes place. Funny enough, I was doing that for a living when the movie came out. I still enjoyed it, although, like the rest of Hollywood's masterpieces, it wasn't remotely realistic.
mynameishere 12y ago
suspiciously good They just copied some footage helpfully provided by the air force. (7:50) There must have been a "director's cut" of the same because we see it in "The Day After" where they're turning the keys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlPEBROvR9w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlPEBROvR9w