US lost communication with 50 nuclear missiles: Report

Parthy

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NEW YORK: The US had lost communication with nearly 50 intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles, one-ninth of its arsenal for 45 minutes over the weekend, even as defence officials said that there were no chance of an accidental launch or foul play, a media report said today.

A defence official said that power failure led to a loss of communication between a control centre and the missiles at F E Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, according to The Wall Street Journal, which reported that President Barack Obama had been briefed on the issue.

"There was no threat to the public," said the defence official.

"The missiles were protected by multiple, redundant safety security and control features," said another military official. Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, notified Defence Secretary Robert Gates of the incident.

The cause of power failure is being investigated but it does not appear to be malicious, according to officials.

There was no evidence of foul play, and the Air Force never lost the ability to launch the missiles, officials said.

The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles are part of the 319th Missile Squadron stockpiled at Warren Air Force Base near Cheyenne, Wyoming, where 150 ICBMs are located.

The failure affected 50 of them, or one-ninth of the US arsenal. ICBMs at Air Force bases in Montana and North Dakota were not affected.

The newspaper pointed out that in 2008, a series of problems with nuclear weapons and parts, including the accidental transport of a weapon across the US, led Defence Secretary Gates to fire the Air Force secretary and chief of staff.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...clear-missiles-Report/articleshow/6823354.cms
 

Yusuf

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I am sure it would have not caused any accidental launch because of multiple security features, but just as well shows that such systems are vulnerable to loss of control. If this was to happen to any Pak missile, the entire world would go into a tizzy though they don't have any hot nukes on them.
 

Parthy

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We should seriously think about PAK's nuclear arsenal!!! What if it falls into the hands of Taliban's.. Getting hold of Pak's nukes is not going to be a big task for Taliban's.. :emot0:
 

maomao

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Were they planning to nuke pakistan on the premise of loosing communication? But due to Obama's visit decided to postpone the much needed Karyakram?
 
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Tshering22

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Either this is a publicity stunt or it is simply a very very callous handling of something as deadly as a Minuteman III. If US, that is so tech-obsessed can have such mistakes, I cannot imagine what Pakistan which doesn't even have the capacity to make a cycle of its own, has as safety measures for its missiles. Till Chinese keep blindly supporting Pakistan and are in UNSC, any move to secure Pakistani nuclear weapons will not go into effect until it becomes a majority wins voting style in UNSC.

I really think that UNSC to seize nuclear arsenal of Pakistanis ASAP before we're forced to go nuclear.
 

maomao

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I cannot imagine what Pakistan which doesn't even have the capacity to make a cycle of its own
I really think that UNSC to seize nuclear arsenal of Pakistanis ASAP before we're forced to go nuclear.
:emot112::emot15::happy_3::emot157:
 

Parthy

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US Investigates Nuclear Missile Incident

The U.S. military is looking into an incident on Saturday in which it lost communications with 50 long-range nuclear-armed missiles based in the northern United States.

The U.S. Air Force's new Global Strike Command lost communications with the missiles for about 45 minutes, and says it immediately dispatched troops to inspect the sites. The check determined there was no damage and no evidence of sabotage.

A spokesman for the command says investigators believe a faulty circuit board at a control center was to blame. The spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel John Thomas, says experts found that the same type of part failed at two other Air Force missile control centers in the late 1990s.

The military has launched two investigations into the incident, but a Pentagon spokesman, Colonel David Lapan, says the Air Force does not see the disruption as significant.

"They have emphasized that there was never a loss of command and control and there was no public safety danger in the incident," said Lapan. "Right now their initial indications are that a computer component in one of the systems may have failed. They are still looking into the exact cause and the circumstances."

Colonel Lapan says the airmen who control some 450 missiles spread across North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming maintained "the capability to carry out their mission" even during the outage. The mission is to launch the missiles at overseas targets in response to a presidential order, which would normally only be done in retaliation for a nuclear attack on the United States.

Under an agreement with Russia, both countries' nuclear-armed missiles are targeted at remote locations in the oceans to help avoid an accidental attack on populated areas.

Two years ago, Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired the top two Air Force officials, saying they had not taken two earlier nuclear control incidents seriously enough. In the first incident, a B-52 bomber flew across the country armed with six nuclear weapons. Not long after that, fuses for nuclear bombs were accidentally shipped to Taiwan instead of other supplies. U.S. officials only found out about the mistake when officials in Taiwan informed them.

Global Strike Command was created, in part, in response to those incidents, as the Air Force's new leaders moved to tighten control on the large U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. Colonel Lapan says Secretary Gates is monitoring the investigations of the latest incident.

http://www.defencetalk.com/us-investigates-nuclear-missile-incident-29757/
 

maomao

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Funny Video LOL :0

FUNNY as Shit :) (take is sportingly no need to get hysterical):happy_2:

 
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