fail-deadly

Definitions

Of a nuclear weapons strategy: encouraging deterrence by guaranteeing an automatic, immediate, and overwhelming response to an attack, even if the command-and-control infrastructure has been damaged by the enemy's first strike.

not-comparable

Equivalents

Examples

“One, admittedly extreme, means of reducing the impact of a command, control⟳, and communication failure would be the adoption of a "fail⟳ deadly" mode of operation. For example, as opposed to requiring a positive signal to proceed on to target⟳ after launch-on-warning, airplanes might be permitted to continue⟳ until a negative recall⟳ signal were received. The risk⟳ of unauthorized action would be increased, as would the danger of accidental or inadvertent war due to equipment malfunction.”

“If one were to assume⟳ a more traditional Realist image of human fallibility, then one's confidence in the safety of the elaborate nuclear "fail⟳ deadly" deterrence order⟳ might not be so sanguine.”

“[F]ail-deadly is a concept from nuclear military strategy, suggesting deterrence by an immediate and forceful response to an attack. It is interesting to investigate⟳ what differentiates these two design⟳ approaches to security protocols, and what they have⟳ in common when we consider⟳ a family of protocols where both fail-safe and fail-deadly versions are considered.”

CEFR level