The plan is a dead hand. “Perimeter” or “Dead Hand” system

Nuclear explosion

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

Creation of the "Perimeter"

"Kazbek" and "Perimeter"

"Kazbek"— the main control system for strategic missiles. Known for the portable subscriber terminal “Cheget” or “nuclear suitcase”.
Perimeter system- a complex for automatic control of a massive retaliatory nuclear strike. It is an alternative command system for Russian nuclear forces.

In 1974, the development of the system was entrusted to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnepropetrovsk, which created intercontinental ballistic missiles. A special head part with a transmitter was designed in 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 capable of calculating the direction of flight even in the event of 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 has been confirmed. In January 1985, Perimeter went on combat duty. Since then, the system has been modernized 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 head parts there are transmitters that send a launch command to all available combat missiles: in silos, aircraft, submarines and mobile road complexes. All weapons equipped with a nuclear warhead receive the command and take off. The system is fully automated; the human factor in its operation is practically excluded.

The 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 at military frequencies, monitors telemetry from the Strategic Missile Forces observation posts and data from the missile attack warning system.
Having discovered, 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 (MAWS) about missile launches from the territory of other states, the country’s leadership switches “Perimeter” to combat mode. If a shutdown command is not received after a specified time, the system will begin launching missiles. This solution eliminates the human factor and guarantees a response 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 does not know effective way disable the system. The control and command system, its sensors and missiles are designed to operate in a nuclear apocalypse.
IN peacetime“Perimeter” is at rest, but does not stop analyzing incoming information for a minute. When switched to combat mode or receiving an alarm signal from early warning systems, strategic missile forces and other systems, monitoring of a network of sensors is launched to detect signs of nuclear explosions.
Before the retaliatory strike algorithm is launched, Perimeter checks for the presence of four conditions. Firstly, whether there is a nuclear attack. Secondly, is there a connection with the General Staff? If there is a connection, the system is switched off. If the General Staff shows no signs of life, Perimeter requests Kazbek. If this system does not respond, the artificial intelligence transfers the decision-making power to the person located in the 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.
NATO called the creation of a system of guaranteed retaliatory nuclear strike, operating without a human command, immoral. Meanwhile, the United States also has a similar complex.

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The Perimeter system is the ideal weapon of retaliation

In the 80s, the Soviet Union developed an unprecedented system for managing strategic forces - “Perimeter”. In the West, it received the designation Dead Hand, which means “Dead Hand”. In essence, this is a parallel, redundant system for controlling the country's nuclear forces, dispersed, hidden and well protected.

However, this is not even the main thing: the Perimeter system is capable of operating in automatic mode when contact with the country's leadership is lost or the top officials of the state have already turned into radioactive ash. In this case, the Perimeter system gives the command to launch all remaining nuclear weapons carriers and takes revenge for its burned cities and command posts...

According to the developers of Perimeter, there is no reliable and guaranteed way to disable this system, since it was designed to carry out its tasks in the very heat of a nuclear war.

In fact, “Perimeter” is an ideal weapon of retaliation, guaranteeing the aggressor a retaliatory strike even in the event of a surprise attack. It should be noted that the country's leadership, command posts and communications centers of the Strategic Missile Forces are the highest priority targets in the event of the outbreak of nuclear Armageddon.

The Perimeter system is still in service Russian army. Information about the principles of its operation and basic elements is one of the main military secrets of our country, therefore in open access Only the most general data is found. In 2011, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Karakaev, told reporters that the Perimeter system was on combat duty and was capable of performing its functions at any time.

The world learned about the existence of " Dead hand"after the breakup Soviet Union, in the early 90s, from designers who left for the West. There, this system was immediately dubbed the “Doomsday Machine” and called inhumane. True, at the same time, critics forgot about the American analogue of the Soviet “Perimeter”, as well as the fact that similar systems are probably used in the USA today.

For many years almost nothing was heard about Perimeter, but in lately The "dead hand" began to appear more and more often in Russian media. They say that only this system prevents American hawks from starting World War III. And here, most likely, there is a typical transfer of one’s own desires to the opponent. For it seems extremely unlikely that today anyone in the well-fed and prosperous West would want to unleash a large-scale nuclear Armageddon.

History of the Doomsday Machine

When talking about controlling nuclear weapons, we usually imagine a red button, or, at worst, a “nuclear suitcase.” However, at the dawn of the atomic age, immediately after the appearance of the first intercontinental ballistic missiles(ICBM), communication between high command and personnel directly carrying out the launch was much simpler. It was based on special packages that had to be opened after receiving the code word. And it was transmitted via regular radio or wire communication. In the USSR, the first nuclear forces control system was called “Monolith”.

Vladimir Yarynich, in the future one of the developers of Perimeter, and in the 60s an ordinary rocket scientist, described in detail the shortcomings of this system. According to him, during the announcement of the training alert, the officer was so nervous that his hands were shaking, and for a long time he could not open the envelope with scissors. The problem was noticed and the bag was equipped with a special clasp. This “know-how” saved as much as 18 seconds...

However, the main drawback of the Monolith was clearly not the design of the secret package. The overall speed of the system was unsatisfactory, and the security of communication lines also left much to be desired. In addition, with the scheme of working through sealed packages, the order given could no longer be canceled...

But the weakest link of the Monolith was the person who had to directly carry out the order. It turned out that all Soviet nuclear power depended on a few officers pressing the “red buttons” in missile bunkers. Moreover, they understood the consequences of a nuclear war better than others. Everyone could ask themselves the question: if half of the world has already been destroyed, then why incinerate the other?

And it must be said that the prospect of using nuclear weapons terrified not only the rocket scientists. In 1972, the Soviet military presented Kosygin and Brezhnev with their calculations of the consequences of a massive American nuclear strike on the USSR. They were staggering: 80 million dead immediately after the attack, the complete destruction of industry and the military. After reading the report, the Secretary General, who himself had once gone through a war, was shocked. Then a training launch of three ballistic missiles was organized for Brezhnev. Those present recalled that Leonid Ilyich’s hands were shaking before pressing the button, and he asked several times whether the missiles were really training missiles. Ten years later, Ronald Reagan found himself in a similar situation. The American military took him to a special bunker and showed him a model of the possible outbreak of a nuclear war. The President had not yet finished his coffee when Washington was destroyed. And it took Soviet missiles less than half an hour to completely wipe out the United States from the face of the Earth. According to the recollections of advisers, Reagan was amazed that with one nod of his head he could incinerate tens of millions of people.

The Cuban missile crisis clearly showed all the shortcomings of the Monolith, and therefore in 1967 it was replaced by the Signal system, which had greater speed and security. And more importantly, now the order given could be canceled. “Signal” did not use packets; instead, 13 pre-programmed commands were introduced, which were transmitted to the direct performers.

Later, the Signal system was modernized several times. Its latest version, Signal-A, put into service in 1985, allowed the leadership of the Strategic Missile Forces to remotely change the targets of missiles located in silos. This took from 10 to 15 seconds. That is, the development of the nuclear weapons control system proceeded through its maximum automation and reducing the influence of the human factor on its operation. At the same time, the first Soviet “nuclear suitcase”, “Cheget,” was created.

In the 70s, the development of a backup system began, which, in addition to insuring the main channel, was supposed to solve one more important problem - to guarantee the protection of the system from being triggered by false alarms. It was these works that subsequently led to the emergence of the Perimeter control system.

How was "Dead Hand" created?

By the end of the 60s, the rapid development of electronic warfare systems jeopardized the transmission of orders from the top leadership of the country and the armed forces to the command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces and individual launchers.

In 1973, the United States put forward the concept of a “decapitation strike,” according to which, in the event of a full-scale nuclear conflict with the USSR, the first strike should be delivered to command posts and communications centers using medium- and short range, as well as cruise missiles stationed in Europe. In this case, due to the gain in flight time, the leadership of the Soviet Union would have been destroyed even before it made a decision on a massive retaliatory strike on US territory.

This became a serious challenge for the USSR, to which an answer certainly had to be found. The idea was proposed to use a special command missile to control nuclear forces, which had a powerful radio transmitter installed instead of a warhead. Its launch was supposed to occur automatically in the event of the destruction of command posts.

Work on the creation of a command rocket was entrusted to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau; it began in 1974, after the relevant government decree. The UR-100UTTH ICBM was taken as the basis. The project was very large-scale - dozens of enterprises, institutes and research centers of the Soviet Union took part in it.

In 1979, flight development tests of the rocket began. In addition, a special command post was built, on which new control equipment was installed. A total of 10 tests of the command rocket were carried out, during which real launches were carried out on its orders different types ICBM. At the same time, the operation of the complex was tested under exposure conditions damaging factors Nuclear weapons. Even during testing, the designers were tasked with expanding the capabilities of the Perimeter so that it could convey orders to missile-carrying submarine cruisers, strategic aircraft, as well as Navy and Air Force control centers.

Flight testing of the missile was completed in 1982, and in 1985 the system was put into service. The first comprehensive test of the system was carried out during the large-scale exercise “Shield-82”.

In 1990, the modernized Perimeter-RC complex was put into service, in which the command missile was created on the basis of the Topol ICBM.

Until 1995, “Perimeter” was on combat duty, periodically taking part in various exercises. Then, as part of the obligations under the START-1 agreement, the system was removed from duty. However, it expired in 2009. In 2011, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Karakaev, confirmed to journalists that Perimeter exists and is on combat duty.

What does Perimeter consist of?

We do not know too much about the elements of the Perimeter system, and it is possible that some of the available information is “misinformation”, specially disseminated to hide the truth. This complex includes:

command post (or posts);
rockets for transmitting orders;
receiving devices;
autonomous control and computing complex.

The command posts of the Perimeter system are probably similar to conventional command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces. They are equipped with communications systems and equipment necessary to launch command missiles. The “Grotto” object, which is located in the Kosvinsky Kamen mountain range in the Urals, is most often referred to as such a control point. It is unknown how many such points exist, and how integrated they are with the command missile launchers.

The Command Missile is the most famous component of the Perimeter. It was initially developed on the basis of the UR-100 ICBM, but there is information that there were also command missiles based on the Pioneer IRBM, and in the late 80s the Topol was “adapted” to perform this task. The command rocket has a powerful radio transmitter through which the order “Launch!” is given. all ballistic missiles that survived the first enemy strike.

Receiving devices. They ensure the receipt of orders from the command missile; accordingly, all launch silos and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces, missile-carrying submarines and strategic aircraft must be equipped with them. However, nothing is known about their structure and operating principles.

The autonomous command system is, without a doubt, the most mysterious and interesting part"Perimeter". There is no official or at least any reliable data about it. Many people don’t believe in its existence at all. The main debate is about whether there is a so-called Doomsday Machine - a kind of supercomputer based on artificial intelligence - which is capable of making a decision on the use of nuclear weapons itself, without human intervention.

How does Dead Hand work?

There are two hypotheses regarding the operating principles of Perimeter. According to the first of them, during a period of international aggravation, which theoretically could end in a nuclear war, the head of state - who is also its commander in chief - transfers the system to combat mode. If, before a certain moment, “Perimeter” is not “turned off” again, then it will initiate the launch of command missiles, which, in turn, will launch the scenario of the Third World War.

This scheme is reminiscent of the operation of a bomb with a timer, which can only be turned off by one person.

The second version assumes the existence of some powerful electronic think tank, capable of receiving information, processing it, and then making independent decisions regarding the use of nuclear weapons. Moreover, according to this hypothesis, the system has large number sensors that collect and transmit information to the analytical center.

Measuring the level of electromagnetic radiation, radioactive background, seismic activity By recording the level and intensity of negotiations on military frequencies, as well as analyzing data from the SPNR, the system determines whether an enemy nuclear attack has occurred. It also constantly checks whether there is a connection with senior management countries and command centers of the Strategic Missile Forces. If data about a massive nuclear strike is confirmed, but there is no communication with the leadership, then the system itself gives the command to use nuclear weapons.

Such a hypothesis raises a lot of questions and has many opponents. One of the main functions of any nuclear weapon systems is protection against unauthorized activation. Therefore, rocket launches are still carried out manually. This is too serious a matter, and people here don't trust computers too much.

Vladimir Yarynich, already mentioned above, in an interview with Wired journalists said that the Perimeter system can really determine whether hit throughout the country. Then she tries to contact the General Staff and only if this is impossible, she transfers the right to launch nuclear weapons to anyone who is nearby in a secret and specially protected bunker at that moment. That is final decision the person still accepts...

By the way, Yarynich himself considered Perimeter the best insurance against the use of nuclear weapons in the event of a false alarm. Having received information about a massive launch of enemy missiles, the highest official of the state can simply switch the Perimeter into combat mode, knowing that even after destroying the entire leadership of the country, the aggressor will not avoid retaliation.

During the Cold War, Americans were not even aware of the Perimeter, which can be called very strange. The Soviet leadership needed to trumpet the existence of such a system, because the mere mention of it would serve as deterrence much better than any new missiles or nuclear-powered missile-carrying ships. Probably, the military was afraid that, having learned about the existence of the system, the Americans would be able to find a weak link in it. One way or another, the first information about “Perimeter” began to appear in Western press only after the collapse of the USSR.

The Perimeter system (Strategic Missile Forces air defense index: 15E601) is a complex for automatic control of a massive retaliatory nuclear strike, created in the USSR at the height of the Cold War.

"Our strategic nuclear forces (SNF) are configured in such a way as to threaten Russian nuclear and economic facilities. Even at the moment when we are negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin, we are keeping his Kremlin office at gunpoint. That's the truth of life." - Joseph Cirincione, director of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. December 2001.

The Perimeter system (Strategic Missile Forces air defense index: 15E601) is a complex for automatic control of a massive retaliatory nuclear strike, created in the USSR at the height of the Cold War. Designed to guarantee the launch of silo-based ICBMs and SLBMs in the event that, as a result of a crushing nuclear strike by the enemy on the territory of the USSR, all command units of the Strategic Missile Forces capable of ordering a retaliatory strike are destroyed.

The system is a backup communications system used in the event of the destruction of the Kazbek command system and the combat control systems of the Strategic Missile Forces, Navy and Air Force.

The Perimeter system with its main component, the Dead Hand, was put into service in 1983. The first information about it became known in the West only in the early 1990s, when some of the developers of this system moved there. October 8, 1993 newspaper “ The New The York Times published an article by its columnist Bruce Blair, “The Russian Doomsday Machine,” in which for the first time information about the control system of the Russian missile forces appeared in the open press.

At the same time, she first announced the top-secret name - “Perimeter”, and in English language a new concept was introduced - “dead hand”. Some in the West called the Perimeter system immoral, but at the same time, even its most ardent critics were forced to admit that it is, in fact, the only deterrent that provides real guarantees that a potential enemy will refuse to launch a preventive nuclear strike .

Possible operating principle

There is no reliable information about the 15E601 “Perimeter” system, however, based on indirect data, it can be assumed that it is a complex expert system equipped with many communication systems and sensors. The system probably has the following operating principle.

“Perimeter” is on constant combat duty; it receives data from tracking systems, including early warning radars for missile attacks. Apparently, the system has its own independent command posts, which are in no way (outwardly) indistinguishable from many similar points of the Strategic Missile Forces. According to some reports, there are 4 such points, they are separated over a long distance and duplicate each other’s functions.

At these points, the most important and most secret component of the Perimeter operates - the autonomous control and command system. It is believed that this is a complex software system created on the basis of artificial intelligence. By receiving data, she is able to draw conclusions about the fact of a massive nuclear attack.

The system tracks:

The presence and intensity of negotiations on air on military frequencies,

Information from the Missile Attack Warning System (MAWS),

Receiving telemetry signals from Strategic Missile Forces posts,

Radiation levels on the surface and in the surrounding area,

Regular occurrence of point sources of powerful ionizing and electromagnetic radiation along key coordinates, coinciding with sources of short-term seismic disturbances in earth's crust(which corresponds to the picture of multiple ground-based nuclear strikes),

Presence of living people at the control point, etc.

In peacetime, “Perimeter” is in a calm state - one might say, “sleeping” - without ceasing, however, to analyze incoming information. When switched to combat mode or receiving an alarm signal from early warning systems, strategic missile forces and other systems, monitoring of a network of sensors is launched to detect signs of nuclear explosions.

If “the situation is ripe,” the system itself is transferred to a state of full combat readiness. Before launching the retaliatory strike algorithm, Perimeter checks for the presence of four conditions. First, whether a nuclear attack occurred. Then the connection with the General Staff is checked - if there is a connection, the system is turned off.

If the General Staff does not respond, “Perimeter” requests “Kazbek” (known thanks to the “Cheget” subscriber complex or “nuclear suitcase”). If they are silent there too, the artificial intelligence transfers the right to make decisions to any person located in the command bunker. And only after that it begins to act.

15A11 command missiles are released from the silos. Created on the basis of the MR UR-100 intercontinental missiles (launch weight 71 tons, flight range up to 11 thousand km, two stages, liquid-propellant jet engine), they carry a special warhead. In itself, it is harmless: it is a radio engineering system developed at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic. These missiles, rising high into the atmosphere and flying over the territory of the country, broadcast launch codes for all nuclear missile weapons.

Another proposed option for the system’s operation is that upon receiving information about the first signs of a missile attack from the early warning system, the top officials of the state could switch the system to combat mode. After this, if within a certain time the system’s control center does not receive a signal to stop the combat algorithm, then the procedure for delivering a retaliatory nuclear strike is initialized. This completely excluded the possibility of making a decision on a retaliatory strike in the event of a false alarm and ensured that even the destruction of everyone who has the authority to issue a command for launches would not be able to prevent a retaliatory nuclear strike.

About the Perimeter rocket

In the early 70s, the capabilities of the enemy's electronic suppression of the Strategic Missile Forces' combat command and control systems increased significantly. The task of ensuring the transmission of combat orders from the highest echelons of command to command posts and individual launchers has become urgent. strategic missiles. To solve this problem, it was proposed to use (in addition to the existing communication channels) a special command missile equipped with a powerful radio transmitting device, which, after launch, would give commands to launch all missiles on combat duty.

In December 1975 Yuzhnoye Design Bureau completed a preliminary design of a command missile based on the MR-UR100 ICBM. The control system that ensured the flight of the warhead along a trajectory with its apex at an altitude of about 4000 km was modified. with a range of 4500 km. Later, the MR-UR-100 UTTH missile was used, which received the index 15A11.

The rocket was equipped with a special warhead (SCH), which had the index 15B99, which included a radio engineering system developed by OKB LPI. During the flight, the SHF had to have a certain orientation in space, for which an orientation and stabilization system using compressed gas was developed.

At the same time, the experience of developing engines for the Mayak SNG was used, which significantly reduced the cost and development time. The production of SGC 15B99 was organized at NPO Strela in Orenburg.

In 1979 flight development tests (FDT) of the command rocket began. At NIIP-5, at sites 176 and 181, two experimental mine launchers were put into operation. In addition, a command post was created at site 71, equipped with newly developed combat control equipment. The first launch of a 15A11 rocket with an equivalent transmitter was successfully carried out on December 26, 1979. 10 missiles were allocated for flight testing.

In connection with the successful launches and the completion 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 SGCh 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).

Along with flight tests, a ground test was carried out to test the functionality of the complex under conditions of exposure to the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. The tests carried out confirmed the operability of the control system and SGCh equipment when exposed to a nuclear explosion. During the flight tests, a government decree set the task of placing receiving devices of the Perimeter system on missile submarines, on long-range bombers at air force and naval control posts.

The flight tests of the command rocket were completed in March 1982. Total launches during the flight test: successful - 6, partially successful - 1. In January 1985. The missile was placed on combat duty in silo "OS" 15P716. As part of the START-1 agreement in June 1995. The command missile complex was removed from combat duty.

There is also evidence that previously the Perimeter system, along with 15A11 missiles, included command missiles based on the Pioneer MRBM. Such a mobile complex with “pioneer” command missiles was called “Gorn”. The index of the complex is 15P656, the missiles are 15Zh56. It is known about at least one unit of the Strategic Missile Forces, which was armed with the Horn complex - the 249th Missile Regiment, stationed in the city of Polotsk, Vitebsk Region, 32nd Missile Division (Postavy), from March-April 1986 to 1988 was on combat duty with a mobile complex of command missiles.

In December 1990, a regiment (commander - Colonel S.I. Arzamastsev) with a modernized command missile system, called "Perimeter-RC", which includes a command missile created on the basis of the RT-2PM Topol ICBM.

The START I Treaty expired on December 5, 2009. By this time, the war of 08.08.08 had already passed and Russia had completely lost the illusion of the friendliness of the West. The time has come to think about protecting your country and citizens. It is not known for certain, however, based on a number of signs it can be assumed that “Perimeter” and “Perimeter-RC” escaped the fate of being cut up and these complexes were again put on combat duty.

The year is 2012. Russia has updated its “doomsday” system - New satellite communications will improve work

On November 15, 2012(!), the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces (VKO) successfully launched the Meridian communications satellite into orbit, which will support normal operation Unified system satellite communications (ESSC) of the Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defense explained to Izvestia what is remarkable about the current launch from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region.

This is a network of communication nodes, transmitting stations and computer terminals that provide stable, noise-free and closed communication with any point globe. They are the ones who give the signal for the combat use of all strategic nuclear forces,” the interlocutor said.

According to him, the system remains Russia's best-kept secret, and the Ministry of Defense is responsible for its work special department. The source refused to say on what principles the signal is sent to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), strategic bombers and submarines with nuclear missiles, which make up the nuclear triad.

"Meridian" (GUKOS index - 14F112) is a series of Russian dual-use communications satellites developed by OJSC "ISS" by order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Status: In operation

Total built - 7
Total launched - 7
In working order - 4
Accidents in orbit - 1
Lost - 2
First launch - 12/24/2006
Last run - 10/30/2014

The year is 2015. “Dead hand” of the future - Russia declared the development of nuclear forces the main priority for 2015

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov, said that the main priority for the development of the country's armed forces next year will be the development of strategic nuclear forces. Experts note that the military needs to focus not on creating new missiles, but on improving the Dead Hand automatic control system, as well as on creating high-precision non-nuclear weapons.

“The main priority (for 2015), of course, is the state and development of strategic nuclear forces,” General Valery Gerasimov said in an interview with RIA Novosti. Earlier, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the military would purchase more than 50 intercontinental strategic missiles in 2015, and two Borei class strategic missile carriers armed with 20 Bulava intercontinental missiles would go on combat duty. At the same time, four new regiments will be formed in the Strategic Missile Forces - 12 missiles (presumably Yars) each.

According to the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, retired captain of the first rank Konstantin Sivkov, the priority of the development of nuclear forces means the development of the entire complex that ensures the production and use of nuclear weapons.

“We are talking about maintaining the required level of combat readiness of strategic nuclear forces. This means that the combat strength of Russia's strategic nuclear forces and their control system must ensure the use of a guaranteed retaliatory strike, causing damage unacceptable to the enemy in any situation. And this is a whole range of measures,” says Sivkov.

For this purpose, there is a complex for automatically launching nuclear missile weapons in the event of an attack on Russian territory. It was created back in the USSR and received the name “Dead Hand” in the West.

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No one will dare to attack Russia: we have a system that guarantees a retaliatory nuclear strike under any circumstances. In America it is called "Dead Hand". About the benefits of fear We habitually do not notice that peace on earth has been hanging by a thread for more than half a century. Our lives too. This began from the very time nuclear weapons were created and intercontinental missiles. This thread is called “fear”. Fear of receiving a crushing, deadly response. Any champion karateka will tell you: no ushirs and mawashis, jumping and yelling “Kiya!” they won’t save you from a furious man with an axe. Especially if the man is wearing a padded jacket on his naked body and worn-out tarpaulins. Today, such a thread - a deterrent to the third world war - is the presence in Russia of a system that allows a retaliatory nuclear strike even with the complete destruction of command posts and communication lines of strategic nuclear forces. In our country this system is called “Perimeter”, and in the USA it is nicknamed Dead hand. Suitcase behind your back“Perimeter” is not a “nuclear suitcase” that officers in naval uniform carry behind our president. By the way, the same goes for the American ones. And they started doing this much earlier than we did. For them, this began under President Dwight Eisenhower, who knew his reckless generals well. But it ended after the Cuban missile crisis, when the thread became thinner than a hair. Then President John Kennedy doubted the control of the nuclear arsenal personally by him, the supreme commander of the United States of America. The "suitcase" has weak point: Only the living can use it. And we also need communication lines. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev had no doubts about his marshals and generals. But watch indifferently as likely enemy Constantly looking for ways to block controls and communications, he couldn’t. What if the adversary strikes first and all command posts turn to dust? And my colleagues are far from young... If you tell a member of the Politburo on duty (and they organized such duty as those “responsible for the Motherland”) that there are seven minutes left before the first American nuclear missiles fall, what could happen to him other than a heart attack? But it was not good to concentrate everything on oneself: he, Secretary General The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with all the limitlessness of power, in the end, is also just a person, although personal control must be maintained. It was decided to go two ways. People, ah! At the end of the first path, by 1984, a “nuclear suitcase” with a control and communication system appeared. On the second path, difficulties immediately emerged. After all, it was necessary to create a system that would be guaranteed to convey combat orders to command posts and strategic missile launchers without communication channels, making decisions automatically! How can you trust soulless iron with decisions about life and death on planet Earth? But the designers found a solution. True, we had to create a system similar to artificial intelligence. In normal situations, the Perimeter sleeps, waiting for a command or alarm signal from the missile attack warning system (MAWS). Having received a command or signal to launch missiles from the territory of other countries, this system goes into combat mode. The automation starts monitoring a network of sensors to detect signs of nuclear explosions. Zhelezyaka must establish absolutely unequivocally: was there an attack using nuclear weapons? If he doesn’t install it, he’ll doze off again. Thread thickness Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy, developed a criterion for guaranteed destruction of the United States - “unacceptable damage” - assessed as the country losing half of its population and two-thirds of its economy. McNamara believed that for this, the USSR would only need to deliver 100 megaton-class nuclear warheads to the United States. In subsequent years, the criterion was repeatedly refined. Ratings recent years, made after the terrorist attack in  that destroyed the twin towers in New York - 150 - 200 nuclear warheads. But they still need to be delivered there. Is this possible given the deployment of the US missile defense system? This is what Sergei Karakaev, commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, said in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda on December 16, 2011: “We are planning to have two American interceptor missiles for one of our warheads. If 40 interceptor missiles are deployed in Poland, then theoretically their capabilities will be ideal situation- intercept up to 20 warheads. And only if the Americans can modernize them in such a way that their flight speed will be comparable to the speed of our missiles. But we have, say, 170 blocks flying from just one division.” So the “response” is guaranteed. An atomic explosion is accompanied by a shock wave, light, electromagnetic and ionizing radiation, which are detected by appropriate sensors from a considerable distance. Having detected, for example, multiple sources of radiation simultaneously with seismic disturbances in the same coordinates, the Perimeter system comes to the conclusion of a massive nuclear strike. But she still doesn’t know if those in command are alive? What if the command “Hang up!” will follow? Therefore, Perimeter first checks communication with the General Staff. If there is a connection, it turns off. If the General Staff does not respond to persistent requests, “Perimeter” requests a system where the top is the “nuclear suitcase”. If they are silent there too, the artificial intelligence transfers the right to make decisions to any person in its command bunker. Is he also silent? Well, then there are no options... Whoever didn’t hide, it’s not my fault! To everyone who can hear me: take off! Command missiles are launched from the positions. But they are not flying towards the enemy, but over Russia. Instead of warheads, the missiles carry radio transmitters. They send out the command “Start!” all available combat missiles - in underground mines, under the wings strategic bombers, on submarines and mobile ground complexes. The command bypasses all blocking. No keys and red buttons turned at the same time, like in the movies. The system is fully automated; the human factor is excluded in its operation. This algorithm makes it possible to guarantee a retaliatory strike even if the command and launch crews are completely destroyed. Even its creators did not know how to disable the Perimeter. How else can we ensure a 100% “response”?! "Doomsday Machine" None of the uninitiated would have known about the existence of “Perimeter” in our country if one of its developers had not fled to the USA, where he exchanged information about the system for an American passport. In October 1993, the influential newspaper The New York Times burst out with a panicked article entitled “Russia has a Doomsday Machine.” US newspapermen called the system immoral. "Perimeter" was on combat duty until June 1995. And then, within the framework of the START-1 agreement, it was withdrawn from it. Our overseas friends applauded: they are also champions of universal human values and morality... But on December 16, 2011, in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Sergei Karakaev, said: “Yes, the Perimeter system exists today. She's on combat duty. And when the need arises for a retaliatory strike, when it is not possible to reach some part of the launchers with a signal, this command can come from these missiles from the Perimeter. Scary? But not only and not so much for us. So the thread is intact... Parity? According to the 2010 START-3 Treaty, the United States and Russia are obliged to reduce the number of nuclear weapons (NWS) to 1500 - 1675, and their carriers (intercontinental ballistic missiles, ballistic missiles on submarines and heavy bombers) to 500 - 1100 units. In practice in 2013, this was the following: The United States has 792 carriers of nuclear warheads, 1654, Russia has 492 carriers and 1480 nuclear warheads. Russia and the United States have relative nuclear parity. However, recently a number of experts have stated that the US-created missile defense(BMD) is capable of neutralizing the Russian nuclear missile potential. At the same time, other experts argue that the American missile defense system is not capable of seriously threatening Russia’s strategic nuclear forces. Author: Mikhail Timoshenko

The Russian Federation is modernizing its guaranteed retaliatory strike system

Russia is modernizing the Dead Hand, the Perimeter nuclear strike control system developed in the USSR. One of the world's leading experts on nuclear disarmament, Bruce Blair, stated this to the British tabloid Daily Star. This automatic complex is capable of delivering a retaliatory nuclear strike against an aggressor even if the entire military command of the country is destroyed.

“The “dead hand” is Russia’s last defense in the event of the outbreak of the Third World War, guaranteeing the total destruction of its enemies,” the tabloid notes.

According to Blair, the system is not only operational, but even “improving.” As the expert said, the development of the “Dead Hand” during the Cold War was spurred by fears of a “decapitating” US nuclear strike on the Soviet leadership.

The automatic complex is equipped with sensors that detect nuclear explosions throughout the entire perimeter of Russia. After this, the system fires a command missile, sending a signal that simultaneously activates all the missiles located in the launch silos and missile launchers.

“Despite the scary idea, Dr Blair, co-founder of Global Zero International, says the existence of such weapons actually helps reduce the risk of nuclear war. A functioning Dead Hand means the West will always have to think twice when tempted to launch a nuclear strike.

As the Daily Star notes, the British equivalent of "The Dead Hand" is "letters last hope": handwritten letters from the British Prime Minister with orders to the command submarines Vanguard equipped with Trident nuclear missiles.

It is especially emphasized that the Perimeter system is capable of delivering strikes even in the event of the destruction of military command and control bodies, as well as transmitting orders to attack Russian troops in any part of the world.

“This means that even a tactical strike that completely destroyed the highest echelons of the Russian leadership - for example, Vladimir Putin - will not prevent the outbreak of the Third World War apocalypse,” warns the Daily Star.

Blair says the system is almost completely automatic, requiring one employee to turn it on in the event of a crisis. General Staff, as well as a small command to perform a small number of operations before launching.

At the same time, the “Dead Hand” is capable of reducing the risk of an accidental nuclear strike by transferring control over nuclear missiles intended for a retaliatory strike, automatic system.

The fact that Russia has transferred control of its nuclear weapons to an automated system is explained, according to Blair, by a historical mistrust of its own military. This is what “forced them to focus on automation and high-tech safety precautions,” says the British expert.

We asked Alexander Khramchikhin, Deputy Director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, to comment on the little that is known about the classified Perimeter system from Western sources in the public domain.

“SP”: - In 1992, Colonel General Varfolomey Korobushin told Pentagon experts that he worked with “Perimeter” in Leningrad. “At the moment, we have a system for automatically launching missiles even if all command posts are destroyed and the leadership is killed. Detecting a flash of light, a release of radiation or a change in pressure, this “dead hand” would come into action and launch command missiles that would fly over the country, sending signals to our nuclear missiles. These missiles are very well protected. Your missiles do not have such protection. We connected this with the fact that your country was preparing to strike first,” said Korobushin. “Perimeter” was our know-how, did the Americans have something similar?

I have not heard of this American analogue, and there is no one else to compare it with. Naturally, the Perimeter system is unique - there could not be more than two of them.

“SP”: - Washington Post correspondent David Hoffman wrote a book about the Cold War years and the Perimeter system, for which he received a Pulitzer Prize. In it, he claims that the system was collapsed under Boris Yeltsin. Now the Daily Star writes that the system is alive, and is even being modernized. Who's right?

I can’t say whether Perimeter is being modernized now. As they say, if I had known, I wouldn’t have said it, that’s understandable. But I strongly suspect that the system is alive.

Moreover, it is believed that one of the Russian missile divisions was built for this system.

“SP”: - Korobushin said that in a normal situation “Perimeter” is inactive. It is activated only in times of crisis. If the system detected signs of a nuclear explosion on Soviet territory, it would first try to establish contact with the Kremlin. If there was a connection, the system would stop checking, but if there was no connection, it would come into action. Bypassing the usual chain of command, she would transmit the order to launch missiles to duty officers located in fortified underground bunkers. And the direct decision to strike would be made not by a computer, but by a person. Why not a computer?

If the officers are alive, it would be strange to completely exclude them from the system. The easiest thing to think would be to make the system completely automatic - regardless of whether the Kremlin is intact or not.

Let me note that if everything is automatic, then there is no need for personnel at all - in all missile divisions.

“SP”: - It is known that during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 in the USSR, orders missile forces strategic purposes were transmitted via radio and wire communications using the Monolith system. The system was designed in such a way that the order from Moscow to launch missiles could not be canceled. But already in the “Signal” system, which replaced the “Monolith”, cancellation of the launch was provided for. "Perimeter" moved even further from the original rigid scheme. Why was such an evolution necessary?

I am not ready to answer this question - for all reasons. I can only say that I was not present when such decisions were made.

“SP”: - Western sources claim that the United States did not know anything about the “Perimeter” during the Cold War. Although the opposite situation would seem more logical: in this case, a system of guaranteed retaliation would serve as an additional deterrent. But after the collapse of the Union, the Americans knew about Perimeter for sure. Since then, have the States been developing a similar system?

Now, perhaps, the Americans will try to do something similar. There is obvious paranoia about Russia in the United States, and I cannot rule out such a scenario.

“SP”: - Why did Britain suddenly remember about “Perimeter”?

This is also due to the current local exacerbation. Now, I note, there is mutual paranoia, and, strictly speaking, there is nothing to compare it with.

I can't compare it to the Cold War years. Then people were, I would say, more rational, and the USSR-USA confrontation had more obvious justifications. Plus, I’m not afraid of these words, intellectual and moral level The elite was much higher than it is now.

In this sense, the situation is worse now than it was then.