Recently, retired General Michael Hayden was asked about remarks attributed to Donald Trump regarding U.S. nuclear weapons. One of the hosts of the show, Joe Scarborough, asked Hayden how quickly a U.S. President could launch nuclear weapons. Hayden replied "The system is designed for speed and decisiveness. It is not designed to debate the decision."
Is Launch Under Attack Feasible?
Related Content
What Hayden is describing is "Launch Under Attack" -- the option to launch U.S. nuclear-armed ICBMs after enemy missiles have been launched, but before they strike targets in the United States. The following timeline illustrates how much time is lost to determining that an attack is underway (and whether it is a false alarm) and the time needed to physically launch U.S. ICBMs, and how little is left over for a U.S. President to weigh options and consider alternatives.
Share on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
About
A timeline illustrating the time pressures associated with a "launch under attack" policy.
This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, or agents. Copyright 2016.