[oneoff786]

Then it’ll be found and the consequences of having launched a nuclear weapon at the United States will be incurred for no gain whatsoever. That is to say, 0% chance. That would be unfathomably dumb.

[nszceta]

How would they know who launched it quickly if it was detected so late?

[rl3]

>How would they know who launched it quickly if it was detected so late?

In order:

Signals intelligence proximate to the plan's inception that'd likely thwart things before the situation escalated

Monitoring of the incoming track and its electromagnetic emissions

Observation of the blast from a variety of sensor platforms

A WC-135 flying near the atmospheric blast area to determine isotope composition