Nuclear Planning and Execution System (NPES)
Nuclear Planning and Execution System (NPES) is a command and control Automated Data Processing (ADP) system intended to support information analysis and decision making during peacetime and crises involving strategic nuclear operations. NPES provides valuable information to the National Command Authorities (NCA) in the critical phases of nuclear conflict. The decision-oriented information is derived from a variety of databases and report-back information received from both national and nuclear Commander-in-Chief (CINC) reporting systems and from near real-time satellite data. NPES is directly connected to numerous communications systems to support automatic database updating and display generation. Because of the communication links, NPES provides timely force status information and residual capability data both in peacetime and in crisis. The generation of nuclear war plans is another vital component of the system. The ability to generate these plans is available to support CINC preplanned options and to support ad-hoc planning during crises and the trans-/post-nuclear time periods. To ensure NPES survivability, the system is deployed in a variety of environments, including fixed command centers, airborne command posts, and ground mobile operations. Key players participating in NPES include: the Joint Staff, the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), all nuclear CINCs, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), and Unified Commands.
Sources and Resources
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/npes.htm
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Updated Wednesday, January 26, 2000 3:37:29 PM
