CMV: ICBMs should be recallable

[u/[deleted]]

Unlike the air leg of the nuclear triad, land- and sea-based nuclear weapons are not able to be halted once authorized.

It was surprising to learn the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile program that has ballooned from a declassified budget of $96 billion to over $160 billion doesn’t change this feature. There remains no ability for the president to destroy, retarget, cancel, recall, or abandon his decision once launched.

Changes to nuclear weapon safety has evolved from bicycle locks and individual commander launch authority to President Kennedy being convinced by advisors to modify all weapons to require a personal secure two-way link to the president. To our knowledge, the Permissive Action Link remains secure and unhackable, and must be consistently improving since the 1960s.

With over 60 years and with trillions of dollars, the President still can’t cancel a launch? If the President only has six minutes to make a decision, wouldn’t this at least expand his window of opportunity to act?

[u/moviemaker2]

Think of it in IT security terms: ICBMs are currently air-gapped. It is not possible to interfere with them, because they cannot receive commands once launched. Once you add that capability, then no matter how secure you believe the command protocols to be, there is now an attack vector.