AI has the potential to help speed up decision making cycles and ensure that\u00a0orders get where they need to go<\/a>\u00a0as fast and securely as possible. It could also be used to assist personnel charged with other duties from intelligence processing to managing maintenance and logistics. The same officials stress that humans will always need to be in or at least on the loop, and that a machine alone will never be in a position to decide to employ nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n A group of officers from the Air Force and Space Force talked about how AI could be used to support what is formally called the Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) architecture during a panel discussion at the Air & Space Forces Association\u2019s\u00a02025 Warfare Symposium<\/a>, at which\u00a0TWZ<\/em>\u00a0was in attendance. The current NC3 enterprise consists of a wide array of\u00a0communications and other systems<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0the surface<\/a>,\u00a0in the air<\/a>, and\u00a0in space<\/a>\u00a0designed to ensure that a U.S. nuclear strike can be carried out at any time regardless of the circumstances.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t think about AI, and we don\u2019t consider AI, then we\u2019re going to lose, and I\u2019m not interested in losing,\u201d Maj. Gen. Ty Neuman, Director of Strategic Plans, Programs and Requirements at Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), said yesterday. \u201cSo we absolutely have to figure this out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAI has to be part of what the next generation NC3 [architecture] is going to look like. We have to be smart about how we use that technology,\u201d Neuman continued. \u201cCertainly the speed is probably the most critical thing. There\u2019s going to be so much data out there, and with digital architectures, resilient architectures, and things like that, we have to take advantage of the speed at which we can process data.\u201d<\/p>\n Neuman also outlined a role for AI to help with secure communications.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way I would envision this actually being in the comm world, would be using AI to \u2013 if a message is being sent or a communication is being sent from the National Command Authority to a shooter, AI should be able to determine what is the fastest and most secure pathway for me to get that message from the decision maker to the shooter,\u201d the general explained. \u201cAs a human operator on a comm system in today\u2019s world, I will not have the ability to determine what is the most secure and safest pathway, because there\u2019s going to be, you know, signals going in 100 different directions. Some may be compromised. Some may not be compromised. I will not be able to determine that, so AI has to be part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n The National Command Authority is the mechanism through which the president of the United States would order a nuclear strike, a process you can read more about in detail\u00a0here<\/a>. America currently has\u00a0a nuclear triad of \u201cshooters\u201d<\/a>\u00a0consisting of\u00a0B-2<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0B-52 bombers<\/a>, silo-based\u00a0Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles<\/a>\u00a0(ICBM), and\u00a0Ohio<\/em>\u00a0class ballistic missile submarines<\/a>. Air Force\u00a0F-15E Strike Eagle<\/a>\u00a0combat jets, as well as at least some\u00a0F-35A Joint Strike Fighter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0F-16 Viper fighters<\/a>, can also carry\u00a0B61 tactical nuclear bombs<\/a>.<\/p>\n AI could be valuable in the NC3 enterprise beyond helping with decision making and communications, as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can analyze historical data and identify trends, and those AI tools could be used in a predictive manner. We could use it on our systems to proactively manage just like our system maintenance, be able to plan the upgrades to the system, and reducing the risks to unexpected interruptions or disruptions,\u201d Space Force Col. Ryan Rose, Deputy Director for Military Communications and\u00a0Positioning, Navigation, and Timing<\/a>\u00a0(PNT) at Space Systems Command, another one of the panelists, said. \u201cAdditionally, the data or trends related to cybersecurity, or being able to see what our adversaries are up to, could also be useful for decision makers.\u201d<\/p>\n Though made just in passing, Rose\u2019s comment about cybersecurity offers a notable point about how AI could be useful for helping to defend networks like the NC3 architecture, both within the cyber domain and across the radiofrequency (RF) spectrum.<\/p>\n The nuclear decision-making space has always been one with short timetables, including when it comes to securely disseminating nuclear strike orders. For decades now,\u00a0it has been understood<\/a>\u00a0that the president will have at best\u00a0tens of minutes, if not substantially less<\/a>, to explore available courses of action and pick one or more to execute once an incoming nuclear threat has been spotted and positively identified. Many of those courses of action would only be viable within certain time windows and any disruption in the decision-making process would have devastating consequences.<\/p>\n There are also already efforts to integrate AI-driven capabilities\u00a0into other decision-making spaces<\/a>, including at the tactical level, across the Department of Defense. AI tools are already being used to\u00a0help monitor domestic airspace<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0processing intelligence<\/a>, as well as assist with\u00a0maintenance, logistics, and other sustainment-related functions<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the same time, there have been concerns about the accuracy of the models that underpin existing AI-driven capabilities and the\u00a0idea of automating anything to do with nuclear weapons<\/a>\u00a0is particularly sensitive. Science fiction and other ends of popular culture are also full of stories where turning over aspects of America\u2019s nuclear deterrent arsenal to a machine leads to an apocalypse or risks doing so. The 1983 movie\u00a0WarGames<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and the Terminator franchise \u2013 starting with\u00a0the eponymous film in 1984<\/a>, but better emphasized by the opening scene to the 1991 sequel\u00a0Terminator 2: Judgment Day 2<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 are prime examples.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.fie.undef.edu.ar\/ceptm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/nc3-graphic-1024x660.webp\")
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