Posted on 05/28/2010 9:42:04 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Edited on 05/28/2010 10:24:40 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
In the event of a nuclear missile attack on Russia, three hard-shell briefcases filled with electronics are set to alert their holders simultaneously. Inside each is a portable terminal, linked to the command and control network for Russia's strategic nuclear forces. One of them accompanies the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, wherever he goes. It is known as the Cheget, and allows the president to monitor a missile crisis, make decisions, and transmit those decisions to the military. It's similar to the nuclear "football" that accompanies the American president.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
Ping
Somehow, in the event of an emergency, I think Putin would find a way to manage.
The system is named after Mount Cheget in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia
Arbatov does not raise it, but in my book The Dead Hand, I describe a Soviet-era system for guaranteed retaliation to a nuclear attack. The system, put on combat duty in the 1980s, about the same time as the Cheget briefcases, is called Perimeter. In a doomsday scenario, if the leadership is wiped out and nuclear attack is underway, the decision about whether to launch nuclear missiles would fall to a group of surviving duty officers in a deep underground bunker. The system still exists. It is another bit of leftover business from the Cold War that ought not be neglected.
The current political situation in the world does not require high readiness, and Putin probably decided that he doesn’t want another officer with another piece of hardware to follow him around. The only situation requiring massive retaliatory launch would be in case of the US attack, and there is zero chance of that happening. (Well, it was zero under Bush, and is probably negative under Obama :-) China is also not likely to attack Russia. Small fry like NK (or even Pakistan) have no capability to warrant a nuclear retaliation within minutes. Basically Russia has no major enemies at this time.
It exists.The network is centered at Mt. Yamantau
Funniest part of that scene “Our source was the New York Times”. Some things never change.
I noticed that.
I don’t think the Russians have to worry about nuclear missiles launched by the US. A few of the red states, however...
Bill Gertz mentioned it in one of his books in 1996. Curt Weldon was doing hearings on this in the 1990s. The whole “Dead Hand” system resembles the US Emergency Rocket Communications System.
hussein recently said exactly how many warheads we have.. Have China or Russia done so in ‘diplomatic’ terms?
No I can give you a rough estimate of how many Russia has.As of July 2009, the Russian strategic forces included 608 strategic delivery platforms, which can carry up to 2683 nuclear warheads.
This is from the 2009 issue of the “Russian Strategic Rocket Forces” annual book.
Although the total number of nuclear weapons in the Chinese arsenal is unknown, as of 200 estimates vary from as low as 80 to as high as 2000. Nobody really knows because of the strict secrecy of the PLA.
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/17-10/mf_deadhand?currentPage=all
Inside the Apocalyptic Soviet Doomsday Machine
Since nuclear missiles are largely computerized minus well put the entire nuclear command and control under computer control with human supervision.
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