Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications: A Primer on US Systems and Future Challenges

by James J. Wirtz (Editor), Jeffrey A. Larsen (Editor), Rebecca K. C. Hersman (Foreword by), James J. Wirtz (Contribution by), James Clay Moltz (Contribution by)

Overview

he first overview of US NC3 since the 1980s, Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications explores the current NC3 system and its vital role in ensuring effective deterrence, contemporary challenges posed by cyber threats, new weapons technologies, and the need to modernize the United States’ Cold War–era system of systems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647122447
Publisher:	Georgetown University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2022
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	355,600
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James J. Wirtz is a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His publications address intelligence analysis, deterrence, and strategy. He received his PhD from Columbia University.

Jeffrey A. Larsen is a research professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is also the president of Larsen Consulting Group. His publications focus on strategic issues, deterrence, arms control, NATO, and aerospace power. He received his PhD from Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Rebecca K. C. Hersman

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Assuring Control of the Nuclear Force

James J. Wirtz

Part I

1. Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications and the Strategy of Deterrence

James J. Wirtz

2. NC3 during the Bomber Age: 1945–57

James Clay Moltz

3. NC3 during the Missile Age: 1957–91

James Clay Moltz

Part II

4. US Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications: The NC3 Weapons

Jeffrey A. Larsen

5. Space Architecture for NC3: Systems and Technologies

Mathew R. Crook

Part III

6. Cyber Operations and Nuclear Escalation: The Diversity of Danger

Jon R. Lindsay

7. Technology Threats to NC3: Past Lessons and Current Challenge

Wade L. Huntley

8. Technology Threats to NC3: A Future Scenario

Wade L. Huntley

Part IV

9. NC3 Modernization: Progress and Remaining Changes

Michael S. Malley

Conclusion: NC3 at a Critical Juncture

Jeffrey A. Larsen

List of Contributors

Index

What People are Saying About This

Paul Bracken

It is altogether fitting that Wirtz and Larsen and the Naval Postgraduate School are making yet another contribution to the most critical issue facing America. This book is very timely given China’s across-the-board military buildup, modern advances in AI and cyber technology, and the re-emergence of nuclear weapons. The book will play a major role in helping us manage our way through the uncertainties of a multipolar nuclear world.

Andrew Futter

Anyone who thinks that issues of nuclear command and control disappeared with the Cold War is sadly mistaken. As James Wirtz and Jeffrey Larsen demonstrate in this excellent and urgently needed edited collection, threats to the safe and secure management of US nuclear weapons are as acute today as ever. Only by acting now to understand and mitigate the new challenges facing the US nuclear arsenal can we hope to avoid nuclear accidents, dangerous escalation, and future nuclear crises.

Editorial Reviews

Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications: A Primer on US Systems and Future Challenges is the first comprehensive work to address the complex network that serves as the nervous system of America’s nuclear deterrent.

H-Net

Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications provides a great overview of the history, current status, and future challenges of the United States' NC3 architecture.

H-War

Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications: A Primer on US Systems and Future Challenges is the first comprehensive work to address the complex network that serves as the nervous system of America's nuclear deterrent.

-- "H-Net"

From the Publisher