Belfrasian Strategic Command
Belfrasian Strategic Command | |
---|---|
Active | 15 July 1965 (59 years) |
Country | The Kingdom of Belfras |
Branch | Belfrasian Armed Forces |
Type | Major Command |
Part of | Belfrasian Armed Forces |
Motto(s) | "To deter and protect" |
Commanders | |
Current Commander | General Sir Martin Williamson, Army. |
The Belfrasian Strategic Command is a major command organization of the Belfrasian Armed Forces headquartered at Lympstone, Kenwadi. The Strategic Command is responsible for two of the three components of the Belfrasian Military's strategic nuclear arsenal, with it having control over the land-based strategic air arsenal and ground-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The Strategic Command also controls all strategic reconnaissance, the Airborne Alert Command Post (AACP), and the facilities for the storage of all nuclear warheads.
History
Overview
Nuclear Rules of Engagement
Counter-attack protocols
Letters of Last Resort
It became known in the 1980s that throughout the existence of the Strategic Command and the nuclear force overall that letters have been written by the incumbent Prime Minister addressed to the commanding officers of missile installations or nuclear submarines with final words and orders. These letters are destroyed upon the writer leaving office and are replaced by new ones written by the incoming Prime Minister. The letters are sealed with the launch keys and are opened prior to a live launch taking place.
Organization
Command and Control
Strike Corps
The primary arm of the Strategic Command is the Strike Corps, or STRIKER. STRIKER is responsible for maintaining and operating the Strategic Command's nuclear offensive arsenal.
The Phobos Missile is the largest ICBM currently in usage by the Armed Forces, weighing in at over 100 tonnes when fully loaded and ready for launch. Missile Squadrons utilizing the Phobos are operated under Missile Task Force Twenty-Two (MTF22) and are provides the hardest hitting option in the country's nuclear arsenal. The missile was fitted into the silos of older missiles in what is commonly referred to as 'missile fields'.
The mobile Deimos Missile, whilst lighter than the Phobos and mobile in nature, is none-the-less as vital to the country's ability to project nuclear power as the silo-dependent missile. Utilizing the national rail grid to deploy in times of heightened alert and avoid detection by enemy reconnaissance ahead of a first strike, the missile system is more numerous than the Phobos but holds far less warheads per missile.
In partnership with the Royal Air Force and both the Royal Navy and it's Air Arm, STRIKER moderates the storage, maintenance, and usage of air-based warheads.
Utilizing the same relationship with the Royal Navy, STRIKER also has personnel aboard the ballistic missile submarines that assist in maintaining the Kerberos Missiles stored aboard. Whilst at the start of the relationship the personnel were strictly STRIKER-based, a dynamic has formed with personnel at the Royal Navy's Nuclear Academy to train missile crews as they are recruited as opposed to whilst at sea.
Missile Defence Corps
At the height of the cold war, the Strategic Command was given authority to create the Missile Defence Corps which would be responsible for the creation and maintenance of anti-missile systems that would be strategically deployed around the country to defend from nuclear attack. This component of the overarching organization requires a vast multitude of layers to effectively defend the country.
Throughout the Corps history, it has been responsible for the creation of several defence systems and the researching of others. The Royal Navy's RHEA defence network is a vital part of the country's missile defence network. The Archer Missile, particularly block two and three, is a key instrument to RHEA and is capable of intercepting long-range ballistic missiles during both the initial boost phase and during mid-course. This was summarized in 2005 as the country's ability to project it's defensive capabilities, with the intention being to deploy Royal Naval assets near to enemy countries in order to intercept ballistic missiles shortly after take off or during the initial boost phase.
Probably the most obvious and publicly known part of the defence network on mainland Belfras are the Interceptor Sites located strategically around the country. The sites, run by a divsion of the MDC calld 'Keystone', utilize a high number of silos containing the Aniketos Missile which is capable of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles either in their mid-course or terminal phases. Whilst the exact number of silos per Keystone site is classified, one outside of Nos Callis is known to possess thirty silos, although it was declared at the time that not all silos were equipped with missiles.
Finally, the Belfrasian Army utilize the Alexiares Missile, which forms the basis of their theater level defence against ballistic missiles. The Alexiares was designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles as opposed to intercontinental, but proved in tests that it was capable of catching and intercepting ICBM warheads during their terminal phase on a hit-to-kill basis. Subsequently, heightened nuclear alert levels include the deployment of Alexiares batteries to 'red zones'.
Missile Detection Squadron
Inventory
- Nuclear Bomb
- ICBM
- SLBM
- Anti-Ballistic Missile
- Aniketos Missile Strategic level defence
- Alexiares Missile Theater level defence