From the article:
"..nuclear bombs were armed by turning a bicycle lock key. There was no other security on the bomb itself."
By the way, it's a freaking submarine.
Perspective: I lock a gun's trigger with a bike lock, and then place it in a safe. The safe is inside a bank vault.
If I do manage to steal the gun, then I can pick the lock and use it.
If I do manage to steal the arming key, then I can convince the crew to launch the missile.
The W177's were secured with bike locks ... inside a reinforced concrete bunker surrounded by razor wire and patrolled by armed guards with orders to use lethal force to stop anyone trying to gain access to them without proper authorization.
Just like the USSR's land-based ICBMs didn't have PAL codes -- instead they were guarded by a platoon of KGB troops who didn't know how to launch the missile, but sure knew how to stop the strategic rocket forces' crew from launching the missile without orders.
Folks on HN are predisposed to thinking about automating security procedurally, but seem to miss the point that military organizations have been automating security through process carried out by human bodies for centuries, if not millenia; all they need is enough obedient soldiers with guns and orders not to allow [X] to happen without authorization [Y] or their ass is on the line to ensure that the bombs are de facto secure.
Well, not necessarily. A rogue commander could probably persuade his subordinates that he was authorized to use the bicycle key. If someone in a position of apparent authority claims that they will accept responsibility, subordinates will usually go along with that.
The WE.177 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WE.177 -- note corrected designation) was a free-fall H-bomb, carried on Vulcan and then Tornado bombers, and retired by 1998; you can see details of the 'bike lock' security on that wikipedia page. As such, it was stored on RAF bases and there are extensive procedures in place to ensure that a rogue officer can't order a deployment without it coming down the chain of command. (See also "Dr Strangelove".)
The WE.177 was not a sub-launched missile. The Royal Navy's Trident D5s (which come from the same maintenance pool as the US Navy's missiles) are; they do not, as far as I know, use bike locks: if they do, so do the USN's D5s.
From the article: "..nuclear bombs were armed by turning a bicycle lock key. There was no other security on the bomb itself."
By the way, it's a freaking submarine.
Perspective: I lock a gun's trigger with a bike lock, and then place it in a safe. The safe is inside a bank vault.
If I do manage to steal the gun, then I can pick the lock and use it. If I do manage to steal the arming key, then I can convince the crew to launch the missile.
Would you like to play a game?
edit: Grammar