Content Warning: This section of the guide includes war and the effects of nuclear attack.

There are three different ways to deliver a nuclear weapon, known as a nuclear triad. The first is with a bomber, originally the B-29s which dropped the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and now the United States’s B-52 and B-2 stealth bomber. Bombers can be recalled until the very moment when they drop their payloads over their targets, and they take a comparatively long time to prepare.

The second method is through intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which are missiles stored deep underground. They can launch very quickly and cover enormous distances, but their location (especially those of the US arsenal) is public knowledge and they are likely targets in a nuclear attack.

The last, and arguably most dangerous, nuclear weapon is submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). These submarines lurk deep underneath the ocean and are capable of surfacing, firing their payloads, and then disappearing. This makes them extremely resistant to deterrence, and therefore an acute vulnerability in the networks designed to prevent nuclear war.

In nuclear strategy, a “first strike” refers to the ability to overwhelm an enemy with destructive power, inflicting catastrophic damage on their military capabilities, political leadership, and basic social functioning.