KEY TO EXISTENCE

LONDON and Paris newspaper readers have been startled in recent weeks by two well-circulated pictures that seemed to symbolize the terrors of the cold war. Hanging from the neck of a dapper U.S.A.F. major was a set of keys. Next to him was a picture of the lock they fit on the control board of a Thor missile emplacement. The starkly simple marking on the switch: War and Peace.

The purpose of the picture was not to frighten but to reassure. Along Britain's coast there are 20 Thor squadrons of three missiles each, the warheads of most in position. But they cannot be fired by someone pushing a button in a panic. Under the terms of a 1958 agreement, the British man the missiles while the U.S. has control of the warheads. The keys symbolize and make concrete that joint control. Actually, there are two sets of keys, one held by a U.S. officer, another by an R.A.F. officer. There are three keys in each set, one for each of the three missiles in each squadron. The launching process cannot begin until the R.A.F. officer inserts his key into the slot in the control board marked Launch Sequence (bottom center). The warhead cannot be activated until the U.S. offi cer inserts his key in the War-Peace slot (upper left), thus complying with U.S. law that the U.S. must retain "cus tody" of any atomic warheads supplied to an ally.

To be effective in the age of ballistic missiles and nuclear destruction, the Thors must be capable of nearly instant action. But to avoid a calamitous mis take, there must be every possible safeguard. The actual procedure for ordering the launching of a Thor missile has both speed and precautions.

P: If war threatened, Britain's Prime Minister and the U.S. President would presumably have been in consultation over a matter of days or weeks. When and if the Russians actually launched an attack, President and Prime Minister would be in instant touch. Jointly, they would agree to issue the order: "Turn the key."

P: From the President, the order would be flashed to SAC headquarters in Omaha, which would relay it to the U.S. officer in Britain in command of U.S. warheads. From the Prime Minister, a parallel order would go to Air Marshal Sir Kenneth Cross, commander of the Thor squadrons. Air Marshal Cross would transmit the order to each Thor station. The R.A.F. officer, inserting his key in the lower slot, would start the fully automatic 15-minute countdown to nuclear war.

PHASE 1: lying horizontally under a protective shelter, the missile has its electronic components checked out. This takes 4 min. 30 sec.

PHASE 2: the protective shelter slides back, the missile slowly rises to a vertical position. Its mechanical parts are checked out. Seven minutes have elapsed.

PHASE 3: liquid oxygen fuel is slowly pumped into the missile from nearby refrigerated tanks.

PHASE 4: the flow is increased to high pressure, sending a dense cloud of vapor into the air. The fueling is completed. The transporter-erector is removed from the missile. Twelve minutes have passed. At any point up to two minutes before the launching, the U.S.A.F. officer may turn his key, thus starting the activation of the warhead. But the warhead does not become fully armed until after the missile has been launched.

PHASE 5: a final check is made of the missile. It is launched.

Once the 15-minute countdown is started, there is no further order to fire, no final button to be pushed. Presumably, the decision has been made. But a countermanding order can stop the firing up until a minute before launch.

When the U.S.A.F. and R.A.F. officers go off duty, they pass on the keys to their replacements. Thus the fateful keys hang always from someone's neck.

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