Nuclear Surety and Certification for Emerging Systems Abstract

Abstract

Certification is the final step needed to achieve the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) of a Nuclear Weapon System (NWS) and represents a key element of deterrence. The USAF nuclear enterprise has not certified a new platform since the B-2 in the early to mid-1990s. The adversary has advanced its capabilities to threaten nuclear weapon systems including cyber and supply chain attacks. The modernization program needs to respond to these threats. In addition to external threats, the next generation of weapon systems have grown in complexity both from software size and more complex hardware implementations to support flexibility and the potential for software feature updates, increasing the weapon attack surface.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 20, 2017
Accession Number
AD1149813

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Air Force
  • Calculus
  • Cyberspace
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Deterrence
  • Engineering
  • Governments
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Performance Tests
  • Platforms
  • Reliability
  • Resilience
  • Software Design
  • Supply Chain
  • Weapon Systems
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Civilian Systems Systems Program Capability Development and Upgrade Support Activity Expense and Pay Management.
  • Software Engineering.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Cyber