continue to keep the bulk of their nuclear missiles on high-level alert,” the authors wrote. “Although international relations have changed drastically since the end of the cold war, both Russia and the U.S. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it was the first time that the “nuclear briefcase” was activated, and it illustrated the dangers of Russia and the U.S. In 1997, three nuclear arms experts wrote an article for Scientific American that made the case “to end the practice of keeping nuclear missiles constantly ready to fire.” The article, “Taking Nuclear Weapons off Hair-Trigger Alert,” cited a 1995 incident in which Russian President Boris Yeltsin had just minutes to determine if a “mysterious rocket” fired from off the coast of Norway was a U.S. “De-alerting” - that is, taking nuclear missiles off high alert - is something that arms-control experts have been advocating for decades. Hence the name Minuteman,” the National Park Service says. “From the time keys were turned to execute a positive launch command, until the missile left the silo, only took about a minute. The Minuteman, in fact, is named after its ability to launch quickly when on high alert. The high level of alert - sometimes called “hair-trigger alert” - is a remnant of the U.S.-Soviet Cold War, when both sides armed themselves to counter a nuclear attack on a moment’s notice. The fact that Russia and the United States have land-based nuclear weapons capable of being launched within minutes of a president’s order is hardly news. ![]() When we asked, we were told: “‘We do not disclose operational timelines.” Nuclear Weapons on High Alert Strategic Command - which maintains the readiness of the nation’s nuclear arsenal - declined to confirm that it takes just four or five minutes to launch a nuclear missile after the president issues the order. and Russian nuclear missiles off “high alert” to prevent an accidental or unauthorized launch - precisely because of the short time needed to launch an attack. In fact, there has been a public debate for decades, since the end of the Cold War, about taking ground-based U.S. Her response triggered a debate over whether she divulged state secrets. And that’s why 10 people who have had that awesome responsibility have come out and, in an unprecedented way, said they would not trust Donald Trump with the nuclear codes or to have his finger on the nuclear button. There’s about four minutes between the order being given and the people responsible for launching nuclear weapons to do so. ![]() 19: The bottom line on nuclear weapons is that when the president gives the order, it must be followed. to launch a nuclear weapon after a president’s order is issued.Ĭlinton, Oct. Hillary Clinton mentioned in the third debate that there is a 4 minute nuclear response time. Is that true and is that considered common knowledge or a government secret? FULL ANSWERĭuring the third and final presidential debate, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton warned that her opponent, Donald Trump, cannot be trusted “to have his finger on the nuclear button.” To make her point, Clinton said that it takes “about four minutes” for the U.S. Strategic Command said it does not “disclose operational timelines.” But it is common knowledge that it takes about four minutes. ![]() Q: Did Hillary Clinton disclose classified information when she said it takes four minutes to launch a nuclear missile after a presidential order?Ī: The U.S.
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