Here's a the dramatized version of David Grieg's 2012 play "The Letter of Last Resort" produced for BBC Radio 4. I can recommend it.
Letters of Last Resort
31–40 of 53 posts
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#32Hennessy's book also mentions the possible involvement of the RAC or AA (can't remember which, but presumably the RAC) as part of the comms network for controlling the UK's nuclear capability. Off the top of my head, I think the idea was that, if the PM was out and about, he would make use of an RAC phone box (just like the police had TARDIS-like phone boxes, so did the breakdown rescue organisations) to issue instru…
It was actually the AA not the RAC, and the precise nature of the system in place doesn't entirely seem to be known publicly.
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#33Hennessy's book also mentions the possible involvement of the RAC or AA (can't remember which, but presumably the RAC) as part of the comms network for controlling the UK's nuclear capability. Off the top of my head, I think the idea was that, if the PM was out and about, he would make use of an RAC phone box (just like the police had TARDIS-like phone boxes, so did the breakdown rescue organisations) to issue instru…
It was actually the AA not the RAC, and the precise nature of the system in place doesn't entirely seem to be known publicly.
I wasn't suggesting that that was the precise nature of the system.
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Worth noting that the UK's nuclear deterrent is based in Scotland, not England." As a "Yes" voter I'm hoping we'll be able to send them back to England, preferably somewhere on the south coast.
I doubt the voters in the constituency's in the areas hosting the bases will be very happy at losing a very well paid jobs And I am sure that some of the depressed areas of southern England woudl welcome these jobs with open arms - theres already suspicion that English dock workers where made redundant to protect Scottish jobs.
The people of Argyll and Bute (the Scottish Parliament constituency containing the Coulport and Faslane bases) have voted for the SNP in recent Scottish Parliament elections:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyll_and_Bute_%28Scottish_Par...
The MOD itself says that a total of only 520 civilian jobs would be lost if Trident was moved - and only 310 of those are definitely locals:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/political-news/labour...
And finally, don't you think some things are more important than money and jobs?
I really liked Charlie Stross's account of how he changed his views on an "independent" nuclear deterrent:
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/04/on-the-u...
Personally, I changed my mind from being a reluctant supporter for the need for nuclear weapons while wandering round, of all places, Auschwitz-Birkenau, our guide made a comment about how although Auschwitz-Birkenau remains the very worst that we have achieved as as species a lot of countries, including the UK, calmly contemplate the use of weapons that would have far worse results. From that day I have felt very strongly about trying to remove nuclear weapons from my country and independence seems the most viable route to achieving that goal.
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#35Now that 's a great job interview question, because it's sort of a programming problem that also shows how a candidate thinks: formulate a letter of last resort. Knowing they'd have to work for a range of unexpected catastrophic situations, what are the priorities going to be and how will you make sure they're implemented if nobody's there to oversee them?
In the last year, I've interviewed 7 different people in my company (4 engineers, two ISDs, and 2 SMEs). I've been wanting to improve my interview skills for quite some time, so I've been trying to add an open-ended question of this nature to my interviews. Each and every single person that I've interviewed, even when told in advance "This is a critical thinking question, there is no wrong answer" have failed to even…
> "This is a critical thinking question, there is no wrong answer"
This might be an 'exception that proves the rule'.
By saying there is no wrong answer (in this case), you are illustrating that you have otherwise been strict on wrong answers. This is either going to be concerning, or a sudden change of pace which is difficult to manage.
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#36Hennessy's book also mentions the possible involvement of the RAC or AA (can't remember which, but presumably the RAC) as part of the comms network for controlling the UK's nuclear capability. Off the top of my head, I think the idea was that, if the PM was out and about, he would make use of an RAC phone box (just like the police had TARDIS-like phone boxes, so did the breakdown rescue organisations) to issue instru…
Worth noting that Hennessy was talking about the time of Harold Macmillan and the V-bombers.
A great book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Secret-State-Whitehall-Cold/dp/0...
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a bit embarrassing that a UK and French ballistic missiles submarines actually collided while on patrol: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Vanguard_and_Le_Triomphant_... A US missile submarine also collided with a Russian attack submarine in 1992: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_Incident_off_Kildin_i...
That suggests they are hard to find, if they can't even see each other?
From the Wikipedia page for the French-UK incident:
'Hervé Morin, France's Minister of Defence, said that they "face an extremely simple technological problem, which is that these submarines are not detectable".'
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
> one armed nuclear sub could be wiped out fairly easily if we're talking about a power like this, right? The one that's in dock for service and repair, yes. But the others could be at sea anywhere in the world, in an unknown location. > Would all four, if armed, be able to do much damage back? Each sub can carry 16 x Trident D5 ballistic missiles, with a range of 6,000 mi. Each missile carries multiple warheads, eac…
To elaborate: each submarine carries 48 warheads (they can carry much more, but don't). I can't find much info on the warheads with a cursory search, but Wikipedia suggests a yield of 100kt, which is entirely plausible. The missile is able to put the warhead into a circle with a radius of about 100 meters. For a "last resort" use like this, counterforce (i.e. attacking the enemy's military) is probably pointless. I i…
The old UK V-bomber fleet was definitely targeted at Soviet cities and any air defense sites that would stop them getting there.
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#39Out of curiosity, if some nuclear adversary decided to first-strike and wipe out England, how messed up would the UK be? It's a small, dense country, and (call me stupid), one armed nuclear sub could be wiped out fairly easily if we're talking about a power like this, right? Would all four, if armed, be able to do much damage back? I find the idea of letters of last resort fascinating...
> one armed nuclear sub could be wiped out fairly easily if we're talking about a power like this, right? The one that's in dock for service and repair, yes. But the others could be at sea anywhere in the world, in an unknown location. > Would all four, if armed, be able to do much damage back? Each sub can carry 16 x Trident D5 ballistic missiles, with a range of 6,000 mi. Each missile carries multiple warheads, eac…
I would find it hard to believe that USN submarines do not have equivalent "standing orders" on what to do if after an attack the command hierarchy is unavailable.
Whether these are in the form of sealed handwritten letters from the President, I don't know.
Re: Letters of Last Resort
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> one armed nuclear sub could be wiped out fairly easily if we're talking about a power like this, right? The one that's in dock for service and repair, yes. But the others could be at sea anywhere in the world, in an unknown location. > Would all four, if armed, be able to do much damage back? Each sub can carry 16 x Trident D5 ballistic missiles, with a range of 6,000 mi. Each missile carries multiple warheads, eac…
To elaborate: each submarine carries 48 warheads (they can carry much more, but don't). I can't find much info on the warheads with a cursory search, but Wikipedia suggests a yield of 100kt, which is entirely plausible. The missile is able to put the warhead into a circle with a radius of about 100 meters. For a "last resort" use like this, counterforce (i.e. attacking the enemy's military) is probably pointless. I i…
The UK 'independent' nuclear deterrent isn't. Unlike the French one, it uses US missiles whose targets and strike pattern is set if North Carolina.