U.S. Response To Counter A Nuclear Attack

Air Force chief details US response to Russian nuclear attack

Red lights start flashing in rapid succession, space-based infrared sensors detect a heat signature, somebody calls the President...and in what may seem like a matter of seconds, the U.S. launches an immediate, massive counterattack. F-35s, B-2 bombers, nuclear-armed Navy submarines, missile-armed destroyers, Ground Based Interceptors and satellites -- are all instantly thrust into action. Why?

An enemy has launched a nuclear attack on the U.S. homeland, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile packed with destructive power...is heading toward North America.

Just what would the U.S. do? Are there a series of steps, protocols and instant counterattack plans to put in motion instantly? According to U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, the answer is “yes.”

Speaking recently at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Nuclear Deterrence event, Goldfein mapped out what he would do if Russia attacked the U.S. with a nuclear weapon. He cited a series of rapid, successive steps.

-- "Should war with a nuclear power happen - and I’m gonna primarily use Russia as my example today as the most dangerous nuclear threat we face - I fully expect three lights to light up on my red switch phone in the office. The first call will be the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe - General Tod Wolters - who will tell me what he needs to join NATO forces to halt enemy activity and blunt their objectives. By virtue of the speed with which air and space component deploys and employs, he expects us (U.S. Air Force) to be the first to arrive at his (halt) and his blunt force. Because NATO is first and foremost a nuclear alliance "-- Gen. Goldfein.