Last week a statement was made that did not get much attention. A retired four-star general, James “Hoss” Cartwright, said “de-alerting” nuclear arsenals (taking them off of hot standby) could reduce the chance of firing a nuclear weapon in response to a false warning of attack caused by hackers.
This is not the first time the general has brought this to the administration’s attention. Once again the administration appears to have quietly rejected the recommendation. Experts on Russia and Vladimir Putin have pontificated that there is next to a zero percent change of that being accepted by Russia.
The recommendation would take the three missiles that are on hot standby for immediate launch off that status and move them to a two- to three-day launch window. That is a big change.
Cartwright is far from being a radical. Given that he once served as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it is most interesting that an individual with his experience and insights would be concerned about hacking to the point where he would make such a statement publicly.
What has he seen, or what does he know, that has made him so concerned about the current state of hacking? We have all heard the numerous reports about the continuously increasing intensity, complexity and sophistication of cyber attacks that are currently taking place.
One has to wonder if the U.S. C4ISR and nuclear systems have been successfully attacked, resulting in the compromise of those systems’ integrity.
One thing is for sure: Whatever prompted him to make such a recommendation previously and repeat it now is above our security clearances and only shared with senior-most officers and the executive branch.
Just imagine this issue, but put it in the context of a nuclear Middle-East!
