Date

Oct 18, 1978

Description

This massively excised critique of launch-on-warning as "dangerous, wrong, and ineffective" may have been influenced by the criticism of launch-under-attack found in Document 26. Some of the content can be gleaned by reading between the lines. For example, the second-to-last paragraph might address the problem of forcing the president to make a quick decision in a crisis.

Source

MDR request to Defense Department, under appeal at ISCAP

Document published in following posting(s):

The “Launch on Warning” Nuclear Strategy and Its Insider Critics

Jun 11, 2019

Memorandum from [Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Stanley R.] Resor to [Deputy Secretary of Defense Charles] Duncan, enclosing memorandum by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Walter Slocombe, "Launch on Warning," 18 October 1978, Top Secret, excised copy