Dead hand (nuclear strategy)
The term Dead Hand ( English Dead Hand or Russian Мёртвая рука Mjortwaja ruka , officially Система "Периметр" Sistema "Perimetr" , German "System" Perimeter " ") stands for a nuclear weapons command system installed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War with the in the event of a nuclear decapitation that would have made the Soviet leadership incapable of action, an all-encompassing counter-attack should be triggered automatically.
Basics
The task of the "Dead Hand" system (named after the book Dead Hand by Harold Coyle ) was to give the nuclear forces of the Soviet Union a second strike capability in the event of the political leadership being eliminated by releasing their weapons . This became the prevailing theme during the 1980s with the development of US targeted nuclear ballistic missiles ( SLBMs ).
Before the early 1980s, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear weapons carried by bombers were considered the most accurate . In contrast, the early US SLBM systems stationed on nuclear submarines ( SSBN ) such as the UGM-27 Polaris of the 1960s and the UGM-73 Poseidon introduced during the 1970s were not considered accurate enough for a counterforce attack - viewed against the weapons potential - or first strike of the USA against the Soviet Union. Ballistic nuclear missiles (SLBMs) stationed on submarines were therefore primarily aimed at population centers (as so-called countervalue targets), where target accuracy played a lesser role. An opponent equipped with good radar and satellite monitoring systems could count on pre-warning times of around 30 minutes between the rocket launch and impact - enough to launch their own weapons against a nuclear counter-attack based on the “launch on warning” principle. An effective first strike was not very promising under these conditions.
The strategic balance changed when high-precision systems were introduced with the new American SLBMs of the Trident C4 and Trident D5 types . With the Trident-D5 (development from 1983, commissioning 1990), target accuracies ( CEP 50 about 90 meters) were achievable that came close to those of land-based ICBMs. The US and British Trident submarines were thus able to reduce the warning times to less than three minutes by covertly approaching the coasts of the enemy, whereby a counterforce attack directed against the military and leadership could also be carried out as a decapitation strike .
According to statements by military strategists, it was considered plausible that one side would consider carrying out a first strike if it was convinced that it could successfully eliminate the other side's command system. The USSR therefore took steps to ensure its ability to deliver nuclear retaliation if its leadership were knocked out by a surprise attack (see Balance of Terror ) .
execution
The communications links between the leadership of the Soviet Union and its General Staff, as well as with military facilities, including radar stations, missile silos and command centers, were under surveillance around the clock. If atomic explosions were detected in the territory of the USSR or unforeseen failure of communication connections occurred, even comparatively lower-ranking officers could release nuclear weapons without the consent of higher command posts.
An article published in 1993 by the New York Times describes the system as follows:
"The one from Dr. Blair's 'dead hand' system brings this military defensive trend to its logical and frightening conclusion. The automated system in theory allows Moscow to respond to an attack by the West even if its top military commanders are killed and the capital is in ruins.
The heart of the system is believed to be in underground bunkers in the south of Moscow and in other reserve locations. During a crisis, military services are supposed to send an encrypted message to the bunkers to activate the 'dead hand' system. Should nearby sensors report a nuclear attack on Moscow and the system detect an interruption in communications to the highest command posts in the armed forces, the system would trigger the launch of special missiles using low-frequency radio signals from special antennas laid in the ground.
After reaching certain flight altitudes, these missiles should in turn emit radio signals via strategic missile complexes and other military installations with instructions to attack strategic nuclear missiles, bomber groups and via special radio relay stations to the strategic nuclear submarine fleet at sea. In contrast to western information, according to Dr. Blair, numerous Russian nuclear missiles can be launched automatically in bunkers and on mobile launch devices. "
Today's meaning
It is not known whether Russia continues to operate the system described. The system may still exist at this point in time. In some specialist articles it is stated that the system never ran in fully automatic mode. An article in Wired from September 2009, however, suggests that “Dead Hand” still exists and is in operation. In 2011, the commander in chief of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces , Sergei Viktorovich Karakayev , confirmed that the system was in full operation.
See also
Web links
- Items. In: Rossiskaya Gazeta
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bruce G. Blair: in the foreword to C3: Nuclear Command, Control, Cooperation ( Memento of the original from December 31, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)
- ↑ Harold Coyle: Dead Hand . Forge Books, ISBN 0-8125-7539-3, ISBN 978-0-8125-7539-2
- ↑ See also: Doomsday: On The Brink , a documentation of the Learning Channel from 1997. "Dead Hand" also referred to the incident on the occasion of the launch of a Norwegian research rocket in 1997 and to the proliferation of nuclear technology in the Islamic world. The aim was to show that the threat posed by the so-called “Doomsday” (the nuclear end of the world) has not disappeared from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the upheavals that resulted from it. "That order will ultimately be obeyed, even if nobody is left alive to obey it." ("This command will ultimately be carried out, even if there is no longer a survivor who can obey it.")
- ^ William J. Broad: Russia Has 'Doomsday' Machine, US Expert Says . October 8, 1993
- ^ Ron Rosenbaum: Did the Soviets really build a "doomsday device"? Slate Magazine, August 31, 2007
- ↑ Michael Jasinski: Russia: Strategic Early Warning, Command and Control, and Missile Defense Overview . ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2012 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. March 2001
- ^ Soviet Doomsday Device Still Armed and Ready blog September 7, 2007
- ^ Nicholas Thompson: Inside the Apocalyptic Soviet Doomsday Machine . In: Wired Magazine . tape 17 , no. September 10 , 2009 (American English, online ).
- ^ "Perimetr": this is how Russia's system for atomic counter-strike works . Sputnik, August 21, 2017
