Single Integrated Operational Plan

The Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) was the plan that coordinated the disparate tools of America’s nuclear arsenal into one defense strategy. Created in 1960, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the SIOP was the first nuclear war plan that integrated all of America’s nuclear weapons. The SIOP officially ended when the Operational Plan (OPLAN) became the organizing structure for planning nuclear strikes in 2003. The OPLAN still integrates the nation’s nuclear weapons, but it is more flexible than the SIOP. The SIOP was a plan that embodied the concept of nuclear deterrence, mainly focused on the Soviet Union. This entry discusses the evolution of the SIOP and explains how the SIOP was put into use, both during and after the Cold War.

During the majority of ...