“Hair-trigger alert” is a US military policy that enables the rapid launch of nuclear weapons. Missiles 一触即发 are maintained in a ready-for-launch status, 由24小时的发射人员组成, 并且可以在短短十分钟内通过空气传播.
一触即发的政策起源于冷战时期. Military strategists feared a “bolt from the blue” Soviet first strike, involving hundreds or thousands of nuclear weapons that would compromise our ability to retaliate. By keeping land-based missiles 一触即发—and nuclear-armed bombers ready to take off—the United States could launch vulnerable weapons before they were hit by incoming Soviet warheads. 这有助于确保报复, and was seen as a deterrent to a Soviet first strike—a concept known as “mutually-assured destruction,” or 疯了.
Submarines, which can’t be targeted when at sea, also kept weapons 一触即发. The decision to launch any nuclear weapon was based on information from radars and satellites, 直到今天.
The United States no longer keeps its bombers armed and ready to take off. 但是，尽管俄罗斯先发制人的风险并不可信, the United States still keeps its 450 silo-based nuclear weapons, 以及数以百计的潜艇武器, 一触即发. Thousands more—around 3,500 total—are deployed on other submarines or bombers, or kept in reserve.
为什么一触即发的警报是危险的?
Hair-trigger alert increases the risk of an accidental nuclear missile launch, 或者是对错误警告的回应. The results of such a launch would be catastrophic: modern weapons are many times more powerful than the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 一枚弹头就能杀死数百万人.
我希望我不知道那件事
一触即发警报的风险并不是理论上的. A training tape was once misinterpreted as reality, initiating the steps needed to launch an attack. A defective computer chip once falsely reported an incoming attack at a time of extremely high tensions. And radar and satellite systems have both delivered false positives, 给决策者有限的时间来理清真相.
Removing US land-based missiles from hair-trigger alert would immediately reduce these risks. It would also encourage reciprocity from Russia, increasing our safety further. And because the United States deploys missiles on submarines—which are invulnerable to attack—we would maintain a nuclear deterrent against any first strike.
一种解除核导弹一触即发警报的方法
我们如何结束一触即发的警戒?
All US missile silos have a safety switch that is used to prevent a launch of the missile when, 例如, 维修人员在筒仓里. The United States could remove its land-based missiles from hair trigger alert by turning this switch to the safe position in each silo.
作为最高统帅, President Trump could show real leadership and independently end hair-trigger alert—an act that both Barack Obama and George W. 布什在竞选中一直这么做，但上任后一次都没能做到.
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