---A ''broken arrow'' is an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons or nuclear components but does not create the risk of nuclear war. There are 11 weapons known missing from the United States' arsenal (this is known not as Broken Arrow, but as an Empty Quiver). One of these is the Tybee Bomb which is presumed to be located underwater off the coast of Savannah, Georgia . ''See also List Of Military Nuclear Accidents , United States Military Nuclear Incident Terminology ''
---''Broken arrow'' is also a code word used to request close Air Support from all available aircraft when a ground position is in extreme danger of being overrun by enemy troops. This was last used in the Vietnam War , and is a plot element in movies such as '' We Were Soldiers ''.
The Error Code displayed on line 25 of a IBM 's 3270 Terminal (or a PC emulating a 3270) for various kinds of protocol violations and “unexpected” error conditions (including connection to a down computer) is also called a ''broken arrow''. On a PC, this is simulated with ‘->/_’, with the two center characters overstruck.
