New use for nuclear missiles could cause accidental launch, CISAC expert warns

A Defense Department proposal to modify Trident D-5 nuclear missiles for delivering conventional warheads is dangerous, Pavel Podvig, CISAC research scientist, warned congressional staff and reporters. Firing a conventional weapon from a Trident nuclear-armed submarine could cause an accidental nuclear launch, Podvig said, because the Russian early warning system cannot distinguish between the two types of warheads once they are fired. Podvig and Ted Postol, a physicist and professor of science, technology and national security policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke Oct. 5 and 6 in Washington on the proposed Trident D-5 missile conversion and the status of the Russian early warning system, in briefings arranged by the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Center for Science, Technology and Security Policy. Several news organizations, including the San Francisco Chronicle, reported on the briefings.