abstract:Launch on warning (LOW) is a strategy of nuclear weapon retaliation that gained recognition during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the invention of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), launch on warning became an integral part of mutually assured destruction (MAD) theory.
Were American weapons on day-to-day alert to be dismantled or otherwise disabled, however, more than a "launch onwarning" option would be foreclosed: The deterrent value of the United States' arsenal would be eviscerated since, as a practical matter, it would be politically (if not technically) problematic to restore these weapons to operational status.
Successful Special Operations require a significant intelligence-gathering apparatus on the ground and close proximity to launch raids with little warning time.