<P> The 1964 film Dr. Strangelove parodies some of Kahn's work, and the titular character makes parodic references to Kahn's research, as in this quote from the film (after the United States mistakenly launched a nuclear attack on the USSR): "Under the authority granted me as director of weapons research and development, I commissioned last year a study of this project (of a doomsday machine) by the Bland Corporation . Based on the findings of the report, my conclusion was that this idea was not a practical deterrent, for reasons which, at this moment, must be all too obvious ." </P> <P> Sometime in the 1980s, a second, but real, doomsday device, called The Dead Hand, entered the picture in the Soviet Union . Unlike Kahn's device, it was not based on radioactive cobalt, but it was self - activated and could not be stopped . </P> <P> Beginning in 1955, the United States Strategic Air Command (SAC) kept one - third of its bombers on alert, with crews ready to take off within fifteen minutes and fly to designated targets inside the Soviet Union and destroy them with nuclear bombs in the event of a Soviet first - strike attack on the United States . In 1961, President John F. Kennedy increased funding for this program and raised the commitment to 50 percent of SAC aircraft . </P> <P> During periods of increased tension in the early 1960s, SAC kept part of its B - 52 fleet airborne at all times, to allow an extremely fast retaliatory strike against the Soviet Union in the event of a surprise attack on the United States . This program continued until 1969 . Between 1954 and 1992, bomber wings had approximately one - third of their assigned aircraft on quick reaction ground alert and were able to take off within a few minutes . SAC also maintained the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP, pronounced "kneecap"), also known as "Looking Glass," which consisted of several EC - 135s, one of which was airborne at all times from 1961 through 1990 . During the Cuban missile crisis the bombers were dispersed to several different airfields, and also were sometimes airborne . For example, some were sent to Wright Patterson, which normally didn't have B - 52s . </P>

Which of the following best describes the idea of mutually assured distraction