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How PALS Help Secure Nuclear Weapons
Hugh Pickens writes "The BBC reported last week that until 1998 no code or dual key system was required to arm British nuclear weapons. Bombs were armed by inserting a bicycle lock key (video) into the arming switch and turning it 90 degrees. Permissive Action Links (PALs) were introduced in the 1960s in America to prevent a mad General or pilot launching a nuclear war on their own and to control nuclear weapons that were at least partially controlled by other nations but as late as 1974, when an armed quarrel broke out between two members of NATO, Greece and Turkey, the Secretary of Defense learned that many tactical nukes were still not equipped with PALS. It has been reported that PALs have been installed on Pakistan's nuclear weapons to disarm or disable their triggering mechanism if the wrong code is entered or if the bomb is tampered with in any manner."
It's because British people are inherently sensible and would not start Armageddon without a jolly good reason. Unlike all you mad foreigners.
ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
-b.
You still have to wonder if a determined(and clever) mad general still could set off armageddon though(a la Dr. Strangelove)
Monstar L
I've always wondered. Given the state of Pakistan and all that, I can truely sleep better at night knowing this. I just hope we're not deluded into a false sense of security.
Life is not for the lazy.
So, in other words, the British nukes could have been armed by anyone possessing a Bic pen.
Have to wonder if they restricted pens in the area of the nukes, since it's so easy to pick a bicycle lock with one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hsM88Wx8QQ
Probably not. Wouldn't be sporting to pick the lock and all, so no Brit would ever do that.
A Human Right
Jim Hacker: Prime Minister
Sir Humphrey: Cabinet Secretary
---
Sir Humphrey: "With Trident we could obliterate the whole of Eastern Europe."
Jim Hacker: "I don't want to obliterate the whole of Eastern Europe."
Sir Humphrey: "It's a deterrent."
Jim Hacker: "It's a bluff. I probably wouldn't use it."
Sir Humphrey: "Yes, but they don't know that you probably wouldn't."
Jim Hacker: "They probably do."
Sir Humphrey: "Yes, they probably know that you probably wouldn't. But they can't certainly know."
Jim Hacker: "They probably certainly know that I probably wouldn't."
Sir Humphrey: "Yes, but even though they probably certainly know that you probably wouldn't, they don't certainly know that, although you probably wouldn't, there is no probability that you certainly would."
Permissive Action Links (PALs) were introduced in the 1960s in America to prevent a mad General or pilot launching a nuclear war on their own
Wow, that glosses over reality very nicely. The codes were all zeros until the 80's, because said generals refused to implement a system that would prevent them from "hitting back".
He rightly insisted on Permissive Action Links for the US Strategic Air Command Minuteman missiles and bombs - so that they could only be armed and detonated by the the correct codes from the President or the rest of the chain of command. However, it turns out, that whilst McNamara was nominally in charge, that SAC decided to secretly order all the PAL codes to be set to eight zeros, so that there would not be any delays caused by communications problems during a nuclear war.
(From http://yorkshire-ranter.blogspot.com/2006/03/how-not-to-write-about-uk-nuclear.html)
What's hilarious is that there were extensive efforts to implement PAL securely; all sorts of tamper-proofing and obfuscation in the weapons to make it such that you'd have to have a fair bit of training to have any hope of setting one off. Roughly the equivalent of installing high-security deadbolts throughout your property, and leaving the key in the front door lock.
Please help metamoderate.
And furthermore: Likewise with Clinton:
How do we secure them from our insane elected "leaders"? If George W decides that Iran really is the antichrist, he may send in some warheads to make them glow like Vegas. Vladimir Putin is currently putting Russia on nuclear alert because George W wants to built an anti-missile shield around Russia. We might as well let the things be secured by bicycle key at this rate!
Anti-Globalism
I thought the U.S. missiles in Turkey were removed as part of negotiation that ended the Cuban-Turkish Missile Crisis. I believe that was one of the terms Robert Kennedy worked out with the Soviets: we'll withdraw our missiles from your backyard if you'll withdraw your missiles from our backyard.
Also, rumor has it the Soviet submarine K129 was hijacked by elite troops, and tried to launch a missile at Pearl Harbor. If this happened, and the sub did try to launch a missle, the missile's safety mechanisms caused it to self-destruct, taking the sub down to the bottom of the sea. There's a lot of rumor and conspiracy theory about it, but Project Jennifer seems to have been about recovering the sunken Soviet sub.
-- haaz.
Which is just to say that the US nuclear weapon program is one of the greatest examples of pork in history. The pork potion of the program was initiated in response to questionable analysis by the CIA, and lead to such events as the Iran-Contra drug running scandals. It is important to note that up to the point of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the CIA was reporting that Union was stable, strong, and an imminent threat. The 2.2 trillion 1980's dollar spent, along with an equal amount spent by the political successor of that administration, should be the envy of any tax and spend democrat, and has surely lead to a total deficit that will likely be at least 75% of GDP by the end of 2008.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Come on! Someone else admit it.
I can't be the ONLY geek and "WarGames" fan to have once used "CPE1704TKS" or "CPE-1704-TKS" as a password. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/goofs
I really don't think the pakistani nukes are as much aimed at the US as they are against China / India. Lets face it, as mad as Bush might be, if you have a history of military conflict with a country next-doors and they are also building nukes, then that will probably be your main concern.
In terms of deterring capability having 50 nukes and 3000 nukes is really not that much of a difference IF you can deliver them reliably. This is where the superpowers differ from the smaller nuclear weapon states. The US have a number of nuclear subs giving a second-strike capability. A country like Pakistan is much more vulnerable to a sudden surprise attack, which could theoretically leave them unable to retaliate.
The Brigadier: [Describing the secret missile-sites information hidden in the safe of the cabinet minister] ...and naturally the only country that could be trusted with such a role was Great Britain.
The Doctor: Well, naturally; I mean, the rest are all foreigners!
...that Pakistan's nukes do NOT have PALs installed.
So somebody has got it wrong. Either they had them in 2003 or they didn't - or only some of them have it. The article I read said that Pakistan relied on separating the fissile material and the rest of the weapon components to keep them secure. And that Pakistan has not and will not reveal the location of their weapons to the US, fearing that the US would take them out if the US perceived they were at threat of being seized by Islamic militants in the country, leaving Pakistan defenseless against India's nuclear arsenal.
I suspect the earlier article about PALs was propaganda intended to allay people's fears that Pakistan's nukes are inadequately controlled.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
One only has to look at the US in recent years to see that this, sadly, does not work. They invade foreign countries for their own power and profit, they force insane laws on other countries, and they are the only country ever to use nuclear weapons on civilian targets - and most of their citizens still somehow think that all this is a good idea.
I'm not entirely certain, but I don't *think* a tin foil hat is going to provide much protection.
My two cents anyway
The Answer