US Air Farce: Crew members fell asleep while holding missile launch devices

Three ballistic missile crew members fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices, US authorities revealed today.

'Decisive and urgent steps' are now needed to restore respect for nuclear weapons within the US Air Force following this latest incident at a base in North Dakota, just south of the Canadian border.

This is the latest in a series of nuclear mistakes plaguing the AS Air Force in recent months.

Last August a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown from Minot Air Force Base, the site of the latest incident, to Barksdale Air Force Base in the southern state of Louisiana.

And in August 2006, four Air Force fusing devices for ballistic missile nuclear warheads were mistakenly shipped to Taiwan.