franco Thu Oct 21, 2021 1:27 am
They want to leave Russia without a "Dead Hand"
Why NATO worries about Russia's nuclear retaliation command complex
The media reported that NATO demands to ban the use in Russia of the automatic control complex for a massive retaliatory nuclear strike "Perimeter", which in the United States is called the "Dead Hand". The military observer of Gazeta.Ru, Mikhail Khodarenok, assessed this initiative and the possible consequences of its implementation.
According to some publications, such a proposal was made by "some Western research centers close to NATO ." The basis of the demands is that the "Perimeter" may be triggered by mistake not in the event of a nuclear strike on Russia, but arbitrarily before it. At the same time, there are no references to the official structures of the North Atlantic Alliance and specific officials of the military bloc who have publicly presented such demands.
To begin with, let us clarify how the decision to use nuclear weapons in Russia is made. It is believed that the head of state has a kind of "red button" by pressing which the president carries out a simultaneous massive launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles and the launch of ballistic missiles of strategic submarine cruisers. In fact, this is not the case.
The head of state only gives a signal to authorize the use of nuclear weapons and sends a code signal to unblock nuclear warheads. The launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine ballistic missiles, as well as strategic cruise missiles with nuclear ammunition, is carried out independently by appropriate combat crews. But before that, with the help of code-blocking devices, the blocking is removed from the missile warheads.
To solve this problem, the head of state has the so-called nuclear briefcase. This is a portable subscriber terminal (code "Cheget") of the automated control system for strategic nuclear forces "Kazbek". The Minister of Defense of Russia and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have exactly the same devices .
The most unfavorable scenario in the event of a possible nuclear strike by the enemy is the instantaneous incapacitation of all the highest levels of state and military administration, and, consequently, the impossibility of giving the necessary orders for the reciprocal use of nuclear weapons and transmitting a code signal.
In this case, the "Perimeter" system should come into play and implement the entire range of measures for a retaliatory nuclear missile strike.
The peculiarities of the functioning of the "Perimeter" system, or the so-called "Dead Hand", can be judged at the present time only very tentatively. There are no precise data on this issue. There is some reason to believe that the "Perimeter" consists of command posts, command ballistic missiles, receiving devices and an autonomous control and command system (all terms are arbitrary).
After the Perimeter system makes a decision on the use of strategic nuclear weapons, which is actually a computer decision, a command missile or missiles with a special warhead are launched, which in flight sends commands to launch all nuclear weapons carriers that have appropriate receivers at command posts. In this case, missiles are launched automatically.
The decision to retaliate "Perimeter" takes on the basis of information from numerous sensors deployed in the country - seismic, radiation and atmospheric pressure, which determine the signs of nuclear explosions. Even in peacetime, this system can determine with almost one hundred percent accuracy where in the world a nuclear device was detonated.
Refusal from the "Perimeter" at the request of NATO or "some Western academic research centers" will lead to the actual elimination of Russia's status as a nuclear power and the very possibility of a guaranteed nuclear retaliation strike.
If the "Perimeter" system is eliminated at the initiative of NATO, then later verification measures by the North Atlantic Alliance will be necessary. And any verification activities will involve a detailed acquaintance of the bloc's representatives with the specifics of the use of nuclear weapons in general and the functioning of the Perimeter system in particular. Since it is unrealistic to separate these spheres in any way. NATO understands this very well.
https://www-gazeta-ru.translate.goog/army/2021/10/20/14113627.shtml?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui