Nuclear weapons are the most powerful weapons ever made, and multiple redundancies are built in to make sure they are never used by accident. But what about redundancies to make sure they are used?
Nuclear weapons are the most powerful weapons ever made, and multiple redundancies are built in to make sure they are never used by accident.
Multiple countries have nuclear weapons: the United States of America, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea. Each country has varying levels of nuclear capabilities and ways to use them. The first and most conventional way is by plane, such as a bomber. The next is a land-based ballistic missile, which varies widely in how far and how big of a nuclear warhead it can carry. These land-based missiles can be either tucked underground in nuclear silos or on the back of large purpose-built vehicles. The final way is by submarine-launched nuclear missiles. These submarines are not only carrying nuclear weapons but are almost always nuclear-powered. These three methods comprise the nuclear triad, the most common way that countries organize their nuclear forces. These three methods provide redundancies and flexibility in a nuclear war.
In this article, we will be focusing on the nuclear submarines. These are highly sophisticated and secretive machines. Their nuclear reactors allow them to stay submerged for weeks, if not months on end, as they are only limited by how much food they have onboard for their crew. Specialized coatings, ultra-quiet propellers, and many other classified technologies mean these submarines are hard to detect and track as they navigate deep beneath the ocean. They could be off the coast of any country, friend or foe, without anyone knowing. These submarines contain nuclear-tipped missiles capable of immense destructive potential. These submarines are perhaps the most dangerous machines in the world, and having control over them is extremely important. But what if the government that controls these submarines is suddenly and perhaps even permanently destroyed? Whose orders do they follow, and what happens to the nuclear missiles they carry?
Nuclear Deterrent in the United Kingdom
This has been accounted for and planned for. Each country has a different means of dealing with this scenario, but not all are public. One has, however, trickled out, and that is the approach of the United Kingdom. Inside each of the four Vanguard-class nuclear power ballistic missile submarines is a safe with a letter. That letter was hand-written by the sitting Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in one of their first acts in office. Its contents are secret and only to be read if the Prime Minister, the British government, and the Prime Minister’s designated successor have been killed or otherwise incapacitated. The letter contains instructions on what the submarine's commanding officer should do. These would, in effect, contain the last official orders of that government. Once the Prime Minister’s term in office is ended, the letter is destroyed without ever being opened and replaced with a letter from the new Prime Minister with no one but the author knowing its contents.
The contents could be a variety of instructions from orders to retaliate against the perpetrator of the attacks by all means necessary to put the submarine under the command of an allied navy or simply that the commander must use their best judgment on how to proceed. No one knows the contents of the letters, and hopefully, there is never cause to open one of these letters. Despite their terrifying purpose, these letters are vital to nuclear strategy because they serve as deterrence. Any country that aims to destroy the United Kingdom knows that even if they do, somewhere lurking in the depths of the ocean is a submarine with orders to be carried out despite the government being destroyed. This is one of the critical points of deterrence and nuclear strategy; there will always be a response, no matter how devasting the first strike is.
If you want to read more about this topic, I highly recommend reading the article Letter of Last Resort, in which author Ron Rosenbaum dives deeper into nuclear strategy, its paradoxes and its morality.