Strategic Weapons: Nuclear Weapons Targeting Process

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided an unclassified description of the Department of Defense's process for formulating its strategic nuclear weapons targeting policy and translating that policy into a nuclear war plan, the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP), focusing on the: (1) relationship between the strategic nuclear targeting process and the determination of requirements for nuclear weapons and related delivery systems; (2) level of civilian oversight; and (3) categories and types of targets.