United States military nuclear incident terminology
The United States Armed Forces uses a number of terms to define the magnitude and extent of nuclear incidents in order to reduce the time taken to report the type of incident, thus streamlining the radio communications in the wake of the event. Additionally, this terminology may confuse outside observers to prevent them from accurately reporting the state of the weapons, equipment, or facility involved.
Origin
directive 5230.16, Nuclear Accident and Incident Public Affairs Guidance, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Manual 3150.03B Joint Reporting Structure Event and Incident Reporting, and the United States Air Force Operation Reporting System, as set out in Air Force Instruction 10-206 detail a number of terms for reporting nuclear incidents internally and externally. They are used by the United States of America, and are neither NATO nor global standards.
All of the following reporting terms are classified Pinnacle, with the exception of Bent Spear, Faded Giant and Dull Sword. AFI 10-206 notes that the flagword Pinnacle may be added to Bent Spear or Faded Giant to expedite reporting to the National Military Command Center.
Bent Spear
Bent Spear refers to incidents involving nuclear weapons, warheads, components or vehicles transporting nuclear material that are of significant interest but are not categorized as Pinnacle - Nucflash or Pinnacle - Broken Arrow. Bent Spear incidents include violations or breaches of handling and security regulations. An example of a Bent Spear incident occurred on the August 2007 flight of a B-52 bomber from Minot AFB to Barksdale AFB which mistakenly carried six cruise missiles with live nuclear warheads.
Broken Arrow
Broken Arrow refers to an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons, warheads or components that does not create a risk of nuclear war. These include:
Nucflash refers to detonation or possible detonation of a nuclear weapon which creates a risk of an outbreak of nuclear war. Events which may be classified Nucflash include:
Accidental, unauthorized, or unexplained nuclear detonation or possible detonation.
Accidental or unauthorized launch of a nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable missile in the direction of, or having the capability to reach, another nuclear-capable country.
Unauthorized flight of, or deviation from an approved flight plan by, a nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable aircraft with the capability to penetrate the airspace of another nuclear-capable country.
Detection of unidentified objects by a missile warning system or interference that appears threatening and could create a risk of nuclear war.
This term is a report that has the highest precedence in the OPREP-3 reporting structure. All other reporting terms such as Broken Arrow, Empty Quiver, etc., while very important, are secondary to this report.
Emergency Disablement
Emergency Disablement refers to operations involving the emergency destruction of nuclear weapons.
Emergency Evacuation
Emergency Evacuation refers to operations involving the emergency evacuation of nuclear weapons.
Empty Quiver
Empty Quiver refers to the seizure, theft, or loss of a functioning nuclear weapon.
Faded Giant
Faded Giant refers to an event involving a military nuclear reactor or other radiological accident not involving nuclear weapons.
Dull Sword
Dull Sword refers to reports of minor incidents involving nuclear weapons, components or systems, or which could impair their deployments. This could include actions involving vehicles capable of carrying nuclear weapons but with no nuclear weapons on board at the time of the accident. This also is used in reports of damage or deficiencies with equipment, tools, or diagnostic testers that are designed for use on nuclear weapons or the nuclear weapon release systems of nuclear-capable aircraft.
