Eisenhower approved the SIOP (Single Integrated Operational Plan), which finally coordinated the strategic nuclear weapons objectives of the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy. It envisioned 3,729 targets, with over 1,000 ground zeros hit by 3,423 nuclear weapons. These were located in the USSR, North Korea, Eastern Europe, and China. Approximately 80% were military targets, the rest civilian. Within three days of the attack, 54% of the Soviet population would be dead, and 16% of the Chinese population (that is, 220 million people). To avoid the decapitation effect resulting from the potential near-simultaneous killing of all high-ranking U.S. civilians in the event of a Soviet attack, Eisenhower finally (in December 1959) gave the military permission to launch a counterattack alone.
