Sort of like the Neosocialism that America had to stamp out in the 1940's!

Actually, planning is the first to die.

Having dealt with the NASA budgeting hell for years, I am going with "doubtful" on that one.

...this sort of thing would not happen.

And yet you keep responding.

Twice.

To that single message you claim to not be reading...

Boomers do not operate in conjunction with battle groups: they go out in to the vast ocean and disappear. Their biggest defense is that they are virtually impossible to find.

The ICBM's... well everyone knows where they are (ever notice how on google maps they all are oriented identically? It is neat in a morbid way.) Good luck trying to damage one however. A 2000 bomb would quite possibly mar the cover the the point that it would have to be repainted.

https://www.google.com/maps/@4...
https://www.google.com/maps/@4...
https://www.google.com/maps/@4...
https://www.google.com/maps/@4...

>> What I have to ask though is in what possible scenario of a nation launching nuclear strike on the U.S. do you see them not committing to wiping out the U.S. retaliatory capability ?

Any nation that doesn't have the numbers to wipe out the US capability: that being every nuclear power on earth except Russia. In the case of Russia, the silos represent a force that absolutely must be dealt with. No attack subs or fighter jets or any other conventional means can counter the ICBM's: they have to be dealt with using a portion of their arsenal.

This exposes one of their biggest drawbacks - they require the other side(s) to maintain a hardened ICBM force, and their relevance is based on Cold War style calculus. Currently the US/UK Trident force is the only sub based first strike capability. The other boomers just don't have the accuracy to threaten US ICBM's (yet).

Because mechanics, fuel men, air crew, guards, and weapons techs don't count.

Trident D5 missiles can carry up to 14 warheads. The Minuteman III can only carry three.

Neither one currently carries their maximum load due to treaty limitations.

Land based ICBM's can only be destroyed by a nuclear weapon (this will remain true for the foresee able future). While the US itself might be able to pull off a successful conventional strike against and undefended one, no adversary will be able to.

A foe MUST task a sizable portion of their arsenal to deal with them.

Bombers can be shot down, subs sunk. Maybe not easily, but it is possible.

You should read a short story called "The Big Flash" by Norman Spinrad.

Ask anyone who has had Verizon and/or Comcast invoke their utility easements and dig up their yard.

Indeed. How times have changed.

OK that is a good point - a well crafted distributed sort vs a cut/pasted from stack overflow bubble sort... true enough.

Don't be silly - keep the API to any software version 1.0 but completely gut the implementation and what does the end user have?

Version 2.0.