Scary thought

Something just occurred to me sitting here at lunch: Terrorists do not need to sneak a nuclear weapon into the United States. They're already here. The greatest part of the US' nuclear arsenal is in missle silos scattered throughout the midwest, up and down the center of our mainland, buried under cornfields, hills, and other very public land. In the event of nuclear war, these silos would open and launch, but, pending war, they sit and wait.

If a terrorist knew what it took to penetrate a silo and had the know how to extract the core of the warhead, they would have a functioning nuclear weapon within the confines of our borders, and would be a simple drive from a major city. Further, with adequate preparation, the nuke could be prepared to go off at a moments notice, so it wouldn't matter if they were caught. A bomb like that going off anywhere inside the US, in or out of a major city, would cause mass chaos.

The trick is knowing what kind of security these places have. There is no resident staff, and very few silos would be visible from the roads. I can't imagine that somebody in charge of this stuff hasn't thought of this by now, but it just occurred to me.

Creepy.

There are alot of factors involved with ICBM warheads, multiple saftey features to prevent this type of thing from happening. The security is amazing. If you want I could go into an in-depth analisys of what it would theoretically take to penertrate such a facility, and what the government reponse would be, and the complex logistics involved. But I really don't feel like going into it right now, maybe in a hour or two when I bored out of my mind.

I don't know specifics, but the silos are very secure.

My dad was assigned to Minuteman silos in the late 60s/early 70s. Long two-person shifts underground... nothing much to do... but I guess it was the perfect duty for one to work on their Masters Degree on the Air Force's dime.

A determined group can pull off anything... but in this case, the group that constructed the silo system was determined themselves... and those assigned to defend the silo systems are determined as well. To gain access, one would need a lot of equipment, and a lot of time. Even with the necessary equipment... the time needed to put that equipment to use would not be sufficient to allow entry before multiple security detachments reached your position.

Even if the outer defenses were breached... the doors and safeguards from within the silos themselves are substantial. If ever visiting in the Tucson area... you can tour an old [obsolete] Titan silo. Very impressive, and those pre-date current ICBM silos by quite a bit.

Edited by ShortyBP - 27 February 2006 at 3:54pm

A determined highly trained group of about 50 soldiers armed with heavy weaponry for penetration and perimeter security plus a group of 10-15 missle technicions with the proper equipment might be able to preform a warhead seperation in appoximatly a hour from the time the hatch is popped on the silo. Then you would have to transport the warhead to a secure location to reconfigure the weapon to allow it to be used in a truck-bomb type configuration. The reconfiguration would take anywhere from a day to 2 weeks, depnding on the type of weapon that you are trying to create. But w/e most likely by the time you forced entry into the base and popped the silo hatch there would be a fast reaction force composed of at least a battalion plus Close Air Support Aircraft and Bombers on the way to eliminate you. It is close to impossible to pull off. Theoretically possible, yes. Realistically, No.

you also have to remember our own Nuclear Shootdown capabilities, if one was launched from Montana going to DC or NY, The Armed forces would pick that up in a matter of seconds, and it would be taken down within minutes, don't know if that short of a range would need to leave our atmosphere but I'd rather see some farmland in Ohio obliterated then see millions of people disappear.. 

Edit: Nukes, Bombs, etc... I don't think that would work anymore, that's too... Cold Warish, I say if you wanna really cripple America Drop us off a Virus like the one in Terminator 3, Americans are crippled without Electronic-Communications.


Edited by Panda Man - 27 February 2006 at 1:35pm

reifidom wrote: I'd love to tour one. I'd imagine it's every bit as impressive as you say. I was thinking it might be possible to dig down and burrow into the side.

Ground sensors everywhere.    They'd know you were coming. Plus, keep in mind, these silos were built to withstand near-direct hits from incoming nuclear warheads. We're talking THICK reinforced construction, and not just on top.

Panda Man wrote: you also have to remember our own Nuclear Shootdown capabilities

What Nuclear Shootdown capabilities? I know of no such workable system in existance. As of now, they exist only in fictional novels and movies.

Even systems that you may think are workable systems, such as PAC-3 or SM-3, or even the Airborne Laser system in testing... only effective against shorter range tactical ballistics... not incoming ICBMs.
GBI that we're pouring tons of cash into has failed consistantly.

Basically, if it were ever a scenario where we had incoming MIRVs from an ICBM... say goodbye to whatever they're targeted against.
Domestically, I don't foresee a self-targeted launch as a possibility. This would be more of a case of a foreign launched weapon. Much like Snake6's scenario.

Edited by ShortyBP - 27 February 2006 at 1:48pm

Hmm, a functioning, yet decrepit, missle silo from another country would be a pretty workable alternative, assuming you could work out the launch and targeting. Whatever wasn't automatic that is. The security probably would be a lot less of an issue.

Do we still have systems to auto-lauch retalitory strikes or did that end with the Cold War? I can see how they'd be a deterrent, but in this case it would be a horrible mistake, retalliating against an imagined strike by a nation instead of a terrorist act designed to provoke a massive response.

That's good at least. No mutually assured destruction.

I remember an earlier show of Michael Moore's (back when I could still stand him sometimes) when he went to Russia to get a missle directed away from the area where he lived. He wanted it pointed at another city, and was trying to get in to see somebody at the missle site.

ShortyBP wrote: reifidom wrote: I'd love to tour one. I'd imagine it's every bit as impressive as you say. I was thinking it might be possible to dig down and burrow into the side. Ground sensors everywhere.    They'd know you were coming. Plus, keep in mind, these silos were built to withstand near-direct hits from incoming nuclear warheads. We're talking THICK reinforced construction, and not just on top.

funny note about ground sensors...

i had a buddy who spent time in the seabees. not sure if he was in quam or bosnia at the time but one day he and a group of his fellow enlisted men got bored and started rolling big 150-200lb rocks down the hill next to his base...

about 3 mins later a string of M1A1s showed up at the gate locked and loaded ready to whoop some butt...

i guess it looked like there was a large group of infentry moving around on the hill and freaked someone out...