Generally speaking, a modern strategic missile base consists of two main areas: the administrative area and the operational area. The administrative area is generally responsible for administration and personnel living, while the operational area primarily includes the launch control center and missile silos.
A typical missile base has 15 launch control centers, located 12-30 meters underground. Each launch control center consists of two ellipsoidal underground facilities and one surface control building, each manned by at least two officers.
Their responsibility is to control their squadron's 10 missile silos. If one of the control centers is destroyed or communication is lost, they can readily assume control of the launch of the squadron's at least 50 intercontinental missiles.
To prevent human error, such as a lunatic officer who decides to take the world down with him, launch commands must be issued simultaneously from two control centers, and activation commands within a single control center require two officers to simultaneously turn the activation key.
However, even with these safety measures, accidental launches occurred between the United States and Russia during the Cold War. The Russians launched an R39 missile carrying a 1 million-ton hydrogen bomb towards the Kamchatka Peninsula, within their own territory.
Fortunately, the nuclear program had not been unlocked, and the warhead merely created a large crater upon landing, failing to detonate.
The American side experienced an even more outrageous incident: a Hercules intercontinental missile, on active duty, carrying a 10 million-ton warhead, exploded in its silo.
Fortunately, the hydrogen bomb safety worked in that instance as well. The blast wave lifted the 540-ton manhole cover, sending the fatal warhead soaring over a hundred meters before impacting in open space more than 30 meters from the silo.
These fatal incidents led to the development of the Cerberus system.
This system is designed to ensure that, in any event, even if a nuclear-armed intercontinental missile has already exited the atmosphere, an emergency command can be used to engage the warhead safety upon re-entry, breaking through atmospheric blackout.
To achieve this, the emergency command system must have higher authority than all others.
There are two such high-level control terminals: one in the "PEOC" in the White House bunker, and the other at NORAD headquarters deep within Cheyenne Mountain.
After Kate's explanation, Jack understood the underlying reason. The mastermind's tactical efforts were all aimed at this system. Once "Samaritan" cracked the final set of codes, they could bypass "Nuclear Football" and obtain intercontinental missile launch commands through "Cerberus."
Using pre-commissioned insiders, "Always Vigilant" could launch at least ten nuclear-armed Minuteman III intercontinental missiles at designated targets worldwide, and in a worst-case scenario, fifty.
Kate hadn't yet determined the identity of this mysterious individual, but he must be highly ranked within the federal government or military, as the majority of AC-130 gunships currently in service are deployed overseas, with only a few remaining in the Federation for maintenance and as spares.
The AC-130 gunship that launched the attack on Washington, D.C., originated from Tynedale Air Force Base in Florida, which houses a centralized intermediate maintenance facility.
The original flight plan was to proceed to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where, after refueling, the gunship, assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Group, would deploy to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa.
According to a preliminary Air Force investigation, the bodies of the 12 crew members of the AC-130 were earlier found in a swamp outside Panama City, Florida, and the cause of death was poisoning.
The credentials of the pilot, co-pilot, a strategist, and a gunner were found to have been used fraudulently to gain access to Tynedale Air Force Base.
This might also be why the gunship's 105mm howitzer remained silent earlier. This "air cannon" requires at least three crew members to manually load and fire, and there were only four on board.
If the "Always Vigilant" organization, with the help of a mysterious figure, could retaliate against Decima and subsequently secretly establish a training camp in South Africa, replicating the White House as a simulated enemy building for repeated drills, Jack wouldn't be entirely surprised.
Even selecting and training a group of qualified "death squads" with the help of the "Samaritans" wouldn't be surprising.
However, their ability to steal an AC-130 gunship from an air base is truly outrageous, while their ability to bribe two officers on duty in the missile unit seems less surprising.
After all, with the declining importance of ground-based intercontinental missiles, the Federation's missile force has also been increasingly neglected. Not only are outdated rockets like the Minuteman III still serving beyond their service life, but the quality of their personnel is also rapidly declining.
Scandals involving alcoholism, sexual assault, domestic violence, cheating on training exams, falsified maintenance records, and even the collective use of illegal drugs are so commonplace within the missile force that they're no longer news.
Even the Pentagon was once exposed for siphoning $1 billion from the Minuteman III intercontinental missile upgrade and maintenance program to modify Air Force One, which the former president had extorted from a wealthy Middle Eastern tycoon.
While this was merely speculation on the part of Finch and Kate, Jack felt compelled to take precautions. He had Kate provide the NSA with a list of numbers associated with duty officers from the 90th Strategic Missile Wing and also shared this information with Rossi.
It's never too late to mend the fences. ICBM launch procedures have multiple safeguards. Once the enemy's intentions are discovered, as long as no one makes a mistake, even if a "Samaritan" gains control over the "nuclear football," it won't be enough.
Furthermore, Kate already had the upper hand in the battle between the two AIs.
As Jack had previously understood, the battle between the two AIs ultimately came down to computing power.
Tonight, all the software under the "Shangri-La" umbrella, whether it is a web page or a social or short video APP, is almost in a semi-paralyzed state.
From California, Texas to Montana, even those data centers in Europe and Southeast Asia, all have entered a high-load operation state.
Power grids across the United States have been abnormal in turn. Unexplained power surges have paralyzed countless power facilities, and even fires have occurred in substations.
When the "Samaritan" found that he was no match for Kate, he chose to attack the power grid directly.
However, this did not have much effect. Instead, Kate successively found out the data centers where its multiple backup bodies were located, and "strangled" them one by one.
Kate finally said, "The server in the 'PEOC' is the last hiding place of the 'Samaritan', Jack, I need you to help me shut it down."
(End of this chapter)