What is the perimeter system or dead hand. The Dead Hand System: The Most Terrifying Creation of the Cold War

Nuclear explosion

The main limiting factor nuclear war is the presence in Russia of the Perimeter system, which makes it possible to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike even with the complete destruction of the command posts and communication lines of the Strategic Missile Forces. In the US, she was nicknamed "Dead hand" (Dead hand).
Soviet Union began developing a guaranteed retaliatory strike system at the height of the Cold War, when it became clear that the continuously improving means of electronic warfare in the near future would “learn” to block the main channels of command and control of strategic nuclear forces. A backup method of communication was needed to ensure that commands were delivered to the launchers. The designers decided to use a command rocket equipped with a powerful radio transmitter for communication. Flying over native expanses, such a missile would transmit commands to launch missiles not only to the command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces units, but also directly to launchers.

Creation of the "Perimeter"

"Kazbek" and "Perimeter"

"Kazbek"- main control system strategic missiles. Known for the portable user terminal "Cheget" or "nuclear suitcase".
Perimeter system- a complex for automatic control of a massive retaliatory nuclear strike. Is an alternative command system nuclear forces Russia.

In 1974, the development of the system was entrusted to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnepropetrovsk, which created intercontinental ballistic missiles. A special warhead with a transmitter was designed at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, and it was manufactured by the Orenburg NPO Strela. To guide the missile to the target, a fully autonomous system with an automatic gyrocompass and a quantum optical gyrometer is used. The system is able to calculate the direction of flight even in the event of a nuclear impact on the launcher.
Testing began in 1979. Over the course of several years, the successful interaction of all components of the Perimeter system was confirmed. In January 1985, "Perimeter" took up combat duty. Since then, the system has been upgraded several times. Today, modern intercontinental ballistic missiles are used as command missiles. Unlike combat missiles, command missiles do not bring death and destruction to enemy territory in the form of a nuclear charge. They fly over their territory, and in their warheads there are transmitters that send out a launch command to all available combat missiles: in mines, aircraft, submarines and mobile road complexes. All means of destruction, equipped with a nuclear warhead, accept the command and start. The system is fully automated, the human factor in its work is practically excluded.

Beginning of the End

The decision to launch command missiles is made by an autonomous control and command system - a complex software system based on artificial intelligence. An impartial electronic brain receives and analyzes a large amount of various information: about seismic and radiation activity, atmospheric pressure, the intensity of radio traffic on military frequencies, controls telemetry from the observation posts of the Strategic Missile Forces and data from the missile attack warning system.
Having detected, for example, multiple point sources of anomalous radioactive and electromagnetic radiation and comparing them with data on seismic vibrations in the same coordinates, the system comes to the conclusion about a massive nuclear strike. In this case, "Perimeter" can initiate a retaliatory strike even bypassing "Kazbek".
"Perimeter" can also be activated "manually" - having received information from the missile attack warning system (SPRN) about the launch of missiles from the territory of other states, the country's leadership puts the "Perimeter" into combat mode. If after a specified time there is no command to turn off, the system will start launching missiles. Such a solution makes it possible to eliminate the human factor and guarantee a retaliatory nuclear strike even with the complete destruction of the command and personnel of the launch crews.

Four conditions

One of the main developers of "Perimeter" Vladimir Yarynich admitted that he did not know effective way disable the system. The control and command system, its sensors and missiles are designed to work in conditions nuclear apocalypse.
IN Peaceful time"Perimeter" is at rest, but does not stop the analysis of incoming information for a minute. When switching to combat mode or receiving an alarm signal from early warning systems, strategic missile forces and other systems, monitoring of the sensor network is launched to detect signs of nuclear explosions.
Before the retaliation algorithm is launched, the Perimeter checks for four conditions. First, whether there is a fact of a nuclear attack. Secondly, is there a connection with General Staff- if there is a connection, the system is turned off. If the General Staff does not show signs of life, "Perimeter" requests "Kazbek". If this system does not respond, artificial intelligence transfers the right to make a decision to a person in command bunker. And only after that it begins to act - command rockets soar into the sky, bringing the world the news of the inevitable end of human civilization.
In NATO, the creation of a system of guaranteed nuclear retaliation, operating without a human command, was called immoral. Meanwhile, the United States also has a similar complex.

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Russia possesses the only weapon in the world that guarantees a retaliatory nuclear strike against the enemy, even in the terrible event that we no longer have anyone to decide on this strike. The unique system counterattacks automatically - and brutally.

Perimeter system(Index URV Strategic Missile Forces - 15E601, nicknamed in the West "Dead Hand", and in the East "Hand from the Coffin") - missile command and control system strategic purpose- Strategic Missile Forces. In the documents, she received the name "Perimeter". The system involved the creation of such technical means and software, which would allow in any conditions, even the most unfavorable, to bring the order to launch missiles directly to the launch teams. According to the creators of the Perimeter, the system could prepare and launch missiles even if everyone died and there would be no one to give the order. This component has become informally called "Dead Hand or Hand from the Coffin."

How the system works:

The logic of the "Dead Hand" involved the regular collection and processing of a huge amount of information. From all kinds of sensors received a variety of information. For example, about the state of communication lines with a higher command post: there is a connection - there is no connection. About the radiation situation in the surrounding area: the normal level of radiation is an increased level of radiation. About the presence of people at the starting position: there are people - there are no people. About registered nuclear explosions and so on and so forth.
The “dead hand” had the ability to analyze changes in the military and political situation in the world - the system evaluated the commands received over a certain period of time, and on this basis could conclude that something was wrong in the world. When the system believed that its time had come, it activated and launched a command to prepare for the launch of the rockets.
Moreover, the “Dead Hand” could not begin active operations in peacetime. Even if there was no connection, even if the entire combat crew had left the starting position, there were still a lot of other parameters that would block the operation of the system.

After the order received from the highest levels of control of the Strategic Missile Forces to a special command post, the command missile 15P011 with a special warhead 15B99 is launched, which in flight transmits launch commands to all launchers and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces with appropriate receivers.

System concept:

The system is designed to guarantee the launch of silo ICBMs and SLBMs in the event that, as a result of an enemy devastating nuclear strike on the territory of the USSR, all the command units of the Strategic Missile Forces capable of issuing an order for a retaliatory strike are destroyed. The system is the only doomsday machine (weapon of guaranteed retaliation) in existence in the world, the existence of which has been officially confirmed. The system is still classified and may be on alert to this day, so any information about it cannot be confirmed as unambiguously reliable or refuted, and must be viewed with a proper degree of skepticism.

At its core, the Perimeter system is an alternative command system for all branches of the armed forces armed with nuclear warheads. It was created as a backup system, in case the key nodes of the Kazbek command system and the communication lines of the Strategic Missile Forces were destroyed by the first strike, in accordance with the concept of Limited Nuclear War developed in the United States. To ensure the guaranteed fulfillment of its role, the system was originally designed as fully automatic and, in the event of a massive attack, is able to make a decision on a retaliatory strike on its own, without (or with minimal participation) a person. The existence of such a system in the West is called immoral, but it is in fact the only deterrent that gives real guarantees that a potential adversary will abandon the concept of a crushing preventive strike.

History of creation:

Development of a special team missile system, called "Perimeter", was set by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau by Decree of the USSR Government N695-227 of August 30, 1974. Initially, it was planned to use the MR-UR100 (15A15) rocket as the base rocket, later they settled on the MR-UR100 UTTKh (15A16) rocket. The rocket, modified in terms of the control system, received the index 15A11.


Command missile 15A11 of the Perimeter system

In December 1975 a draft design of a command rocket was completed. A special warhead was installed on the rocket, which had the index 15B99, which included the original radio engineering system developed by the OKB LPI. To ensure the conditions for its functioning, the warhead during the flight had to have a constant orientation in space. A special system for its calming, orientation and stabilization was developed using cold compressed gas (taking into account the experience of developing a propulsion system for the Mayak SHS), which significantly reduced the cost and time of its creation and development. The production of SGCh 15B99 was organized at the NPO Strela in Orenburg.

After ground testing of new technical solutions in 1979. LCI of the command rocket began. At NIIP-5, and sites 176 and 181, two experimental mine launchers were put into operation. In addition, a special command post was created at site 71, equipped with newly developed unique equipment. combat control to ensure remote control and launch of a command missile on orders received from the highest levels of control of the Strategic Missile Forces. A shielded anechoic chamber equipped with equipment for autonomous testing of the radio transmitter was built at a special technical position in the assembly building.

Flight tests of the 15A11 rocket (see layout diagram) were carried out under the leadership of the State Commission, headed by Lieutenant General V.V. Korobushin, First Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces.

The first launch of the 15A11 command missile with the equivalent of a transmitter was successfully carried out on December 26, 1979. The developed complex algorithms for interfacing all systems involved in the launch were tested, the possibility of providing the missile with a given flight path of the 15B99 warhead (the trajectory peak at an altitude of about 4000 km, the range of 4500 km), the operation of all service systems of the warhead in normal mode, the correctness of the adopted technical solutions was confirmed.

10 missiles were assigned for flight tests. In connection with the successful launches and the fulfillment of the assigned tasks, the State Commission considered it possible to be satisfied with seven launches.

During the tests of the “Perimeter” system, real launches of 15A14, 15A16, 15A35 missiles were carried out from combat facilities according to orders transmitted by the SSG 15B99 in flight. Previously, additional antennas were mounted on the launchers of these missiles and new receiving devices were installed. Subsequently, all launchers and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces underwent these modifications.

Launcher 15P716 - mine, automated, highly protected, type "OS".

Along with flight tests, a ground test of the operability of the entire complex was carried out under the influence of damaging factors nuclear explosion at the test site of the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, in the testing laboratories of VNIIEF (Arzamas), at the nuclear test site New Earth. The tests carried out confirmed the operability of the CS and SGS equipment at levels of nuclear explosion exposure exceeding those specified in the MO TTT.

Even during flight tests, a government decree set the task of expanding the functions solved by the command missile complex, bringing combat orders not only to the objects of the Strategic Missile Forces, but also to strategic missile submarines, long-range and naval missile-carrying aircraft at airfields and in the air, points management of the Strategic Missile Forces, Air Force and Navy.

LCTs of the command rocket were completed in March 1982. In January 1985 the complex was put on combat duty. For more than 10 years, the command missile complex has been successfully fulfilling its mission. important role in the defense of the state.

System Components

command posts systems

Apparently, they are structures similar to the standard missile bunkers of the Strategic Missile Forces. They contain the control equipment and communication systems necessary to ensure the operation of the system. Presumably integrated with the command missile launchers, however, most likely they are spaced quite a distance to ensure better survivability of the system.

command missiles

Command missile 15A11 of the Perimeter system. The only widely known component of the complex. They are part of the 15P011 command missile complex and have the index 15A11, developed by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau on the basis of 15A16 missiles (MR UR-100U). Equipped with a special warhead 15B99, containing a radio command system developed by the LPI Design Bureau, designed to guarantee the delivery of combat orders from the central command post to all command posts and launchers under the influence of nuclear explosions and active electronic countermeasures, when flying warheads on the passive part of the trajectory. The technical operation of the missiles is identical to the operation of the base rocket 15A16. Launcher 15P716 - mine, automated, highly protected, type OS, most likely - a modernized OS-84 launcher. The possibility of basing missiles in other types of launch silos is not ruled out.

The development of a command missile was started by the TTT of the Ministry of Defense in 1974. Flight design tests were carried out at NIIP-5 (Baikonur) from 1979 to 1986. A total of 7 launches were carried out (6 successful, 1 partially successful). The mass of the warhead 15B99 is 1412 kg.

Receiving devices

They ensure the receipt of orders and codes by the components of the nuclear triad from command missiles in flight. They are equipped with all launchers of the Strategic Missile Forces, all SSBNs and strategic bombers. Presumably, the receiving devices are hardware-connected to the control and launch equipment, providing autonomous execution of the launch order.

Autonomous command and control system

Mythic system component - key element Cars doomsday, about the existence of which there is no reliable information. Some proponents of the existence of such a system believe that this is a complex expert system, equipped with many communication systems and sensors that control combat situation. This system presumably monitors the presence and intensity of communications on the air at military frequencies, the receipt of telemetry signals from the Strategic Missile Forces posts, the level of radiation on the surface and in the vicinity, the regular occurrence of point sources of powerful ionizing and electromagnetic radiation at key coordinates, coinciding with sources of short-term seismic disturbances. V earth's crust(which corresponds to the picture of multiple ground nuclear strikes), and, possibly, the presence of living people at the command post. Based on the correlation of these factors, the system probably makes the final decision about the need for a retaliatory strike.

Another proposed variant of the system's operation is that upon receiving information about the first signs of a missile attack, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief puts the system into combat mode. After that, if within a certain time the command post of the system does not receive a signal to stop the combat algorithm, then command missiles are launched.

System location

The automated system "Perimeter" is installed in the area of ​​Mount Kosvinsky Kamen (Urals). According to Blair, "American strategists consider him the main decoration of the crown Russian system combat nuclear command, since from here it is possible to maintain communication through the granite thickness with the Russian strategic aviation long-range using a VLF radio signal (3.0 - 30.0 kHz), capable of propagating even in a nuclear war. This bunker is a critical link in the doomsday machine's communications network, designed to provide semi-automatic retaliation in response to a decapitation strike."

Mount Kosvinsky Stone

Operation and system status:

After being put on combat duty, the complex worked and was periodically used during command and staff exercises. Command missile system 15P011 with a 15A11 missile (based on the MR UR-100) was on combat duty until June 1995, when, under the START-1 agreement, the complex was removed from combat duty. According to other sources, this happened on September 1, 1995, when the 510th missile regiment armed with command missiles was taken off duty and disbanded in the 7th missile division (vypolzovo village). This event coincided with the completion of the withdrawal from combat strength Strategic Missile Forces of the MR UR-100 missiles and the process of re-equipping the 7th RD with the Topol mobile ground-based missile system that began in December 1994.

In December 1990, in the 8th Missile Division (Yurya), a regiment (commander - Colonel S.I. Arzamastsev) took up combat duty with a modernized command missile system, called "Perimeter-RTs", which includes a command missile , created on the basis of the RT-2PM Topol ICBM.

There is also evidence that earlier the Perimeter system, along with 15A11 missiles, included command missiles based on the Pioneer IRBM. Such a mobile complex with "pioneer" command missiles was called "Gorn". Complex index - 15P656, missiles - 15ZH56. At least one division is known Missile troops strategic purpose, which was armed with the Gorn complex - the 249th missile regiment, stationed in the city of Polotsk, Vitebsk region of the 32nd missile division (Postavy), from March-April 1986 to 1988 was on combat duty with a mobile command missile complex.

Organizations involved in the production of components and maintenance of the complex are experiencing funding difficulties. There is a high turnover of staff, resulting in a drop in the qualifications of staff. Despite this, the leadership of the Russian Federation has repeatedly assured foreign states that there is no risk of accidental or unauthorized missile launches.

In the Western press, the name “Dead hand” was assigned to the system.

In Japan, military experts dubbed this system as the "Coffin Hand".

According to Wired magazine in 2009, the Perimeter system is operational and ready to strike back.

In December 2011, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Sergei Karakaev, stated that the Perimeter system exists and is on alert.

According to sdelanounas.ru


The leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense is working on improving the Dead Hand nuclear strike control system, also known as the Perimeter. The "Dead Hand" is Russia's last defense in the event of the outbreak of the Third World War, guaranteeing the complete destruction of its enemies. Analysts have called the system a "doomsday machine" and was first developed during the years of Cold War paranoia.

Dr. Bruce Blair, one of the world's leading experts in the field of nuclear weapons, told the Daily Star () that, in his opinion, this system is still in working order and even "improved". According to him, the development of the system was stimulated by the fear of a "decapitating" US nuclear strike against the leadership of the USSR.

The Dead Hand is described as a "fully automatic" system that kicks in during times of crisis. It is managed by three specialists whose task is to make sure that no one influences its work. Sensors detect nuclear explosions around the perimeter of Russia and the loss of communication with the command post. The system then fires a command missile that sends out signals that simultaneously activate all missiles in silos and rocket launchers.

Despite the terrifying concept, Dr. Blair, co-founder of the Global Zero Movement, says that existence similar weapons actually helps reduce the risk of nuclear war. At the same time, he is concerned about the "vulnerability of the system to cyberattacks" as a problem of global security. The Dead Hand system means that the West will always have to think twice when it is tempted to launch a nuclear strike.

Context

The craziest invention of the Cold War

Helsingin Sanomat 04.09.2017

Not a performance, but a bomb!

Al Alam 06.03.2018

What is the Russian “Status-6” capable of?

The National Interest 01/23/2018

Nuclear war of the future

Corriere Della Sera 06/19/2017 The British analogue of the Dead Hand - Letters last resort» (Letters of Last Resort): Letters of orders handwritten by the Prime Minister of Great Britain for the command of submarines equipped with Trident nuclear missiles.

The Dead Hand system is believed to be housed in a deep underground bunker south of Moscow.

The system is capable of delivering strikes even in the event of the destruction of the military command and control system as a result of the first US strike. It is believed that the command missile fired by the "Dead Hand" is capable of issuing attack commands. Russian troops in any part of the world, including bombers and submarines. This means that even a tactical strike that completely destroys the highest echelon of the Russian leadership - for example, Putin - will not prevent the beginning of the apocalypse of the Third World War.

Dead Hand is also claimed to reduce the likelihood of an accidental nuclear strike by transferring control of second-strike missiles to an automatic system. The fears of nuclear war have almost repeatedly turned into reality with false alarms for both Russia and the US, almost leading to Armageddon.

According to Dr. Blair, the Dead Hand is fully automatic, except that it must be activated by the General Staff during a crisis, and there is a small team to perform a small number of operations before launch. This team is not from among the high-ranking officers. She will simply follow the instructions, and therefore the human factor will not matter. Here the effect of Pavlov's dog will play a role.

It will also take the pressure off the leaders to strike back immediately. So it can reduce the risk of a false alert.

The existence of the "Dead Hand" was confirmed by the commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, Sergei Karakayev, in 2011. Blair described the system as a "legal and ethical" way to prevent nuclear war in terms of deterrence theory. He believes that Russia is handing over control of its nuclear weapons automatic system due to historical distrust of their own military. This is what "made the emphasis on automation and high-tech precautions," the specialist believes.

One gets the impression that Russia and the West are entering the era of a new cold war. The scandal surrounding the poisoning of Sergei Skripal with Novichok nerve gas deepens the confrontation. In connection with the incident, more than 100 Russian diplomats were expelled around the world, including 60 from the United States. Russia warned that this Western decision was a "mistake". Putin and the Kremlin deny any involvement in the Skripal assassination attempt and say the UK has no evidence of Russia's involvement in the case. Russia has announced military exercises. The crisis looks set to continue as the world waits for Putin's "final decision" on how to respond to Western actions.

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

To ensure the guaranteed fulfillment of its role, the system was originally designed as fully automatic, and in the event of a massive attack, it is able to decide on an adequate retaliatory strike on its own, without the participation (or with minimal participation) of a person. The existence of such a system is sometimes called immoral, but it is, in fact, the only deterrent that gives real guarantees that a potential adversary will abandon the concept of a crushing preventive strike.

According to Vladimir Yarynich, one of the developers of the system, the system also served as insurance against making a hasty decision by the country's top leadership on the basis of unverified information. Having received a signal from the missile attack warning system, the first persons of the state could activate the Perimeter system and calmly await the development of events, while being fully confident that even the destruction of everyone who has the authority to issue a command for a retaliatory attack will not be able to prevent the strike retribution. Thus, the possibility of making a decision on a retaliatory strike in the event of a false alarm was completely excluded.

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    Subtitles

How the system works

After the order received from the highest command and control units of the Strategic Missile Forces to a special command post, the 15P011 command missile with a special warhead 15B99 is launched, which in flight transmits launch commands to all launchers and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces that have the appropriate receivers.

Composite Components

Command posts of the system

Apparently, they are structures similar to the standard missile bunkers of the Strategic Missile Forces. They contain the control equipment and communication systems necessary to ensure the operation of the system. Presumably integrated with the command missile launchers, however, most likely they are spaced quite a distance to ensure better survivability of the system.

command missiles

The only widely known component of the complex. They are part of the 15P011 command missile complex and have the index 15A11, developed by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau based on 15A16 missiles (MR UR-100U). Equipped with a special warhead 15B99, containing a radio command system developed by OKB LPI, designed to guarantee the delivery of combat orders from the central command post to all command posts and launchers under the influence of nuclear explosions and active electronic countermeasures, when the warhead is flying in the passive section of the trajectory. The technical operation of the missiles is identical to the operation of the base rocket 15A16. Launcher 15P716 - mine, automated, highly protected, type OS, most likely - modernized PU OS-84. The possibility of basing missiles in other types of launch silos is not ruled out.

The development of a command missile was started by the TTT of the Ministry of Defense in 1974. Flight design tests were carried out at NIIP-5 (Baikonur) from 1979 to 1986. A total of 7 launches were carried out (of which 6 were successful and 1 was partially successful). The mass of the warhead 15B99 is 1412 kg.

Receiving devices

They ensure the receipt of orders and codes by the components of the nuclear triad from command missiles in flight. They are equipped with all launchers of the Strategic Missile Forces, all SSBNs and strategic bombers. Presumably, the receiving devices are hardware-connected to the control and launch equipment, providing autonomous execution of the launch order.

Autonomous command and control system

The mythical component of the system is a key element of the Doomsday Machine, the existence of which there is no reliable information. Some supporters of the existence of such a system believe that this is a complex expert system, equipped with many communication systems and sensors that control the combat situation. This system presumably monitors the presence and intensity of over-the-air communications at military frequencies, the receipt of telemetry signals from the Strategic Missile Forces posts, the level of radiation on the surface and in the vicinity, the regular occurrence of point sources of powerful ionizing and electromagnetic radiation at key coordinates, coinciding with sources of short-term seismic disturbances in the earth's crust (which corresponds to the pattern of multiple ground-based nuclear strikes), and, possibly, the presence of living people on the command post. Based on the correlation of these factors, the system probably makes the final decision on the need for a retaliatory strike.

Another proposed variant of the system's operation is that upon receiving information about the first signs of a missile attack, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief puts the system into combat mode. After that, if within a certain time the command post of the system does not receive a signal to stop the combat algorithm, then command missiles are launched.

In an informal interview with Wired magazine, one of the developers of the system, Vladimir Yarynich, reports the following information about the algorithm of the Perimeter system:

It was designed to lie dormant until a high-ranking official activates it in a crisis. Then she would start monitoring a network of sensors - seismic, radiation, atmospheric pressure- for signs of nuclear explosions. Before launching a retaliatory strike, the system would have to check four "ifs": if the system was activated, it would first try to determine if a nuclear weapon had been used on Soviet territory. If this turned out to be true, the system would check the presence of communication with the General Staff. If there was communication, the system would automatically shut down after some time - from 15 minutes to an hour - passed without further signs of attack, assuming that officials capable of ordering a counterattack were still alive. But if there had been no communication, Perimeter would have decided that Doomsday had arrived, and immediately transferred the right to decide on the launch to anyone who at that moment would be deep in a protected bunker, bypassing the usual numerous instances.

Original text (English)

It was designed to lie semi-dormant until switched on by a high official in a crisis. Then it would begin monitoring a network of seismic, radiation, and air pressure sensors for signs of nuclear explosions. Before launching any retaliatory strike, the system had to check off four if/then propositions: If it was turned on, then it would try to determine that a nuclear weapon had hit Soviet soil. If it seemed that one had, the system would check to see if any communication links to the war room of the Soviet General Staff remained. If they did, and if some amount of time-likely ranging from 15 minutes to an hour-passed without further indications of attack, the machine would assume officials were still living who could order the counterattack and shut down. But if the line to the General Staff went dead, then Perimeter would infer that apocalypse had arrived. It would immediately transfer launch authority to whoever was manning the system at that moment deep inside a protected bunker-bypassing layers and layers of normal command authority .

doomsday machine

Arguments against the possibility of implementing the Doomsday Machine in the Perimeter system

Opponents of the possibility of the existence of the Doomsday Machine system give the following arguments:

History of the system

After ground testing of the technical solutions of the missile system in 1979, flight design tests of the command missile began. For this, two experimental mine launchers were built at the test site. In addition, a special command post was created, equipped with new, unique combat control equipment to ensure remote control and launch of a command missile. Flight tests of the rocket were carried out under the leadership of the State Commission, headed by Lieutenant General V.V. Korobushin, First Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces. The first launch of a rocket with an experimental transmitter model was successfully carried out on December 26, 1979. During the tests, the developed complex algorithms for interfacing all the systems participating in the tests, the possibility of providing the missile with a given flight path and the operation of all service warhead systems in the normal mode were tested, the correctness of the adopted technical solutions was confirmed.

A total of 10 missiles were made for flight tests. During the tests of the system, real launches of ICBMs were carried out different types from combat facilities on orders transmitted by command rocket 15A11 during the flight. To do this, additional antennas were mounted on the launchers of these missiles and receiving devices of the Perimeter system were installed. Later, all launchers and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces underwent similar modifications. In total, during flight design tests, six launches were recognized as successful, and one was partially successful. In connection with the successful progress of the tests and the fulfillment of the tasks set, the State Commission considered it possible to be satisfied with seven launches instead of the planned ten. Simultaneously with the flight tests of the rocket, ground tests of the performance of the entire complex under impact conditions were carried out. The tests were carried out at the test site, in the laboratories of VNIIEF  (Arzamas-16), as well as at the Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site. The checks carried out confirmed the operability of the equipment at levels of impact of damaging factors nuclear explosion exceeding those specified by the terms of reference of the Ministry Defence USSR. In addition, during the tests, a government decree set the task of expanding the functions of the complex, bringing combat orders not only to the objects of the Strategic Missile Forces, but also for SSBNs, long-range and naval missile-carrying aircraft at airfields and in the air, and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces, Air Force and Navy . Flight design tests of the command rocket were completed in March 1982, and in January 1985 the Perimeter complex was put on combat duty.

Many enterprises and organizations of various ministries and departments took part in the creation of the complex. The main ones are: the Experimental Design Bureau at the Kalinin LPI (Impulse Design Bureau, V.I. Melnik), NPO AP (N.A. Pilyugin), KBSM (A.F. Utkin), TsKBEM (B.R. Aksyutin), MNIIRS (A. P. Bilenko), (B. Ya. Osipov), Central Design Bureau “Geophysics” (G. F. Ignatiev), (E. B. Volkov).

System operation and current status

After being put on combat duty, the complex worked and was periodically used during command and staff exercises. The 15P011 command missile system with the 15A11 missile (based on the MR UR-100) was on combat duty until June 1995, when, under the START-1 agreement, the complex was removed from combat duty. According to other sources, this happened on September 1, 1995, when the 510th Missile Regiment, armed with command missiles, was taken off duty and disbanded in the 7th Missile Division (village Vypolzovo). This event coincided in time with the completion of the withdrawal of the MR UR-100 missiles from the Strategic Missile Forces and the process of re-equipping the 7th RD with the Topol mobile ground missile system that began in December 1994.

There is also evidence that earlier the Perimeter system, along with 15A11 missiles, included command missiles based on the Pioneer IRBM. Such a mobile complex with "pioneer" command missiles was called "Gorn". Complex index - 15P656, missiles - 15ZH56. It is known about at least one unit of the Strategic Missile Forces, which was armed with the Gorn complex - the 249th missile regiment, stationed in the city of Polotsk, Vitebsk region of the 32nd missile division (Postavy), from March-April From 1986 to 1988 he was on combat duty with a mobile complex of command missiles.

Organizations involved in the production of components and maintenance of the complex are experiencing funding difficulties. There is a high turnover of staff, resulting in a drop in the qualifications of staff. Despite this, the leadership of the Russian Federation has repeatedly assured foreign states that there is no risk of accidental or unauthorized missile launches.

In the Western press, the system was given the name "Dead Hand" (dead hand) .

Notes

  1. Dr. Bruce G. Blair Preface to C3: Nuclear Command, Control, Cooperation
  2. Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS) - United States Nuclear Forces (indefinite) . Archived from the original on March 3, 2012.
  3. http://epizodsspace.testpilot.ru/bibl/kb-ujn/09.html (unavailable link - story , copy)
  4. Rockets and spacecraft of the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau / Ed. S. N. Konyukhova. - Dnepropetrovsk: ColorGraph LLC, 2001. - S. 47-48.
  5. Dr. Strangelove"s "Doomsday Machine": It"s Real, NPR (September 26, 2009). Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2017. "...So now, we need to bypass all the traditional layers of command authority, and suddenly, the ability to launch a nuclear retaliatory strike is given to some junior official in a bunker."
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