abstract:Launch on warning (LOW) is a strategy of nuclear weapon retaliation that gained recognition during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the invention of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), launch on warning became an integral part of mutually assured destruction (MAD) theory.
Specifically, the Administration has advised the Russians that they can always rely upon a "launch onwarning" strategy to mitigate stated concerns that American defenses could presage and enable a preemptive U.S. nuclear strike.
Current U.S. strategy calls for riding out a nuclear attack if necessary, which reduces the danger of having to launchonwarning before all the facts are known but increases the danger of being caught on the ground in a surprise attack.
Were American weapons on day-to-day alert to be dismantled or otherwise disabled, however, more than a "launch onwarning" option would be foreclosed: The deterrent value of the United States' arsenal would be eviscerated since, as a practical matter, it would be politically (if not technically) problematic to restore these weapons to operational status.