Editor,
In the 2002 spy thriller movie, The Sum of All Fears, based on Tom Clancy’s novel, which begins with a nuclear war drill in an underground facility, at the pinnacle of the Cold War around the late 1950s, a plan was sought for a hardened command-and-control centre which could act as a countermeasure against long-range Soviet bombers, the Cheyenne Mountain Complex is overseen by the US Space Force at Peterson Space Force Base, such defence mechanisms are very common in America, Russia and off course Switzerland.
The United States put 99.5 percent of its intercontinental ballistic missiles on high alert during the October 1973 war (National Security Archive). After heightened tension between India and Pakistan, the nationwide mock drill will test nerves in an age where the latest weaponry systems use state-of-the-art inertial navigation, like the Chinese Beidou or Compass navigation positioning satellite system.
With a sizable number of strategic facilities around Northeast India, some which should remain classified, such measures are well received as responsible citizens to contribute to the nation in times of crisis. The government of the day through the State Security Commission and Disaster Management Committee should flash press releases indicating a potential crisis situation consolidating and passing from the appropriate federal crisis management facility to the districts as an analysis of the impending situation.
In a world with potential scenarios and an unpredictable environment, studies show that adequate protective measures with ample warning to allow the population to take advantage of them can save a large section of the populace.
Author Mick Ryan’s book ‘War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict’ peels into the layers of changing strategic competition and why adapting to these challenges is the need of hour.
Christopher Gatphoh,
Laitkor Rngi
Shillong-10
