Inside the Cold War - Project Gutenberg Consortia Center

THE COLD WARRIORS
clearly showed that most existing communications systems were
vulnerable to blackout periods lasting from minutes to hours.
Since detonation of an antiballistic (ABM) warhead in the
atmosphere could “knock out” communications over the
United States, General Ellis initiated a comprehensive study of
the various effects on command and control communications
during deployments of strategic forces in wartime. The results
of the study prompted the JCS to create the Joint Strategic
Connectivity Staff (JSCS), which would be collocated with SAC
Headquarters at Offutt AFB. The CINCSAC would be JSCS
director; a rear admiral would be vice director and chief
operating officer.
The purpose of JSCS was to analyze strategic connectivity
systems and procedures for SAC “readiness.” There were many
dimensions to the SAC’s forces and alert postures—policy, analysis,
planning, continuous evaluation of both threat and
personnel—and the third leg of the Triad, the nuclear-powered
strategic ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), became operational
in the early 1960s. After analyzing these myriad components,
JSCS would make recommendations to the Joint Chiefs.
During the 1950s, the Navy began to seriously investigate
the feasibility of launching large missiles from submarines.
The furor over the “missile gap” and Soviet advances in SSBN
and SLBM development hastened their investigation and
stimulated the availability of money for the pursuit. The major
questions were how to design missile size and propulsion to
“fit” into a submarine and how to acquire the ability to safely
launch it. Atlas, Titan, and Minuteman were not feasible
because of their size. Further, the volatile liquid propellants of
Atlas and Titan could not be considered for submarine use.
Even a more moderate version of any available system
would require horizontal storage aboard the submarine and a
launch pad on the sub’s surface. Other considerations were
the potential for enlarging the basic submarine size and
maintaining buoyancy after a missile launch. A missile launch
from beneath the surface immediately extracts thousands of
pounds from a submerged boat, causing a sudden shift in
transfer of buoyant weight—and the principle of submarine
technology revolves around the delicate balance between
positive and negative buoyancy. The Navy, however, had to get
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