When talking about nuclear war, some may think of a “red button” that triggers the firing, or perhaps a “red telephone”, in operation since 1963, when the missile crisis broke out, to warn the adversary of the launching of nuclear bombs.
Nuclear weaponry today relies on automatic devices activated remotely by computer equipment. In the USSR they were called “zveno” and sometimes “dead hand”. It came into operation in 1985, shortly after a major escalation that almost led to war between the US and the USSR.It is activated in response to a previous U.S. attack.The system sends command missiles with special warheads that transmit encrypted launch commands to all nuclear weapon carriers at sea, air and land installations of the Russian military’s strategic forces.The system hibernates while waiting for a signal from the missile attack early warning and is not fully automatic. A duty officer has to switch it to automatic mode, so there is no risk of accidental or unauthorized launches.
The system’s operation depends on radars, such as the one recently destroyed at Armavir. It is a sensor network that registers signals of an imminent nuclear attack, such as seismic activity, radiation, atmospheric pressure and intensity of military radio frequency conversations.Once the system is activated and before launch, the “dead hand” checks whether a nuclear explosion has occurred on Russian territory.
If the answer is yes, the system checks the communications link with the operations center.If it manages to establish a connection, after a certain time (15 to 60 minutes) with no sign of new attacks, the system assumes that the responders are still alive and the system is deactivated.If the headquarters operations center does not respond, the system sends a request to “Kazbek”, the automatic command and control system of the strategic nuclear forces.
If there is also no response, the system automatically transfers launch authority to the command bunker staff and initiates retaliation.The channels through which the “dead hand” receives its information are redundant, to eliminate the possibility of false information being passed to it.
In the thirties of the last century “zveno” were the fighters escorting Soviet strategic bombers in flight.The term later came to denote the airborne command post, which includes the airborne control of the Il-86VKP aircraft, the airborne radio relay of the Il-76RT aircraft, “Perimeter” silo-based command missiles and “Gorn” mobile command missiles.In a nuclear crisis, three Il-86VKP would carry on board the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff, respectively. The Il-86VKP is capable of deploying an 8-kilometer-long antenna, which even a nuclear explosion cannot affect.
Through the antenna, the aircraft transmits instructions to launch the country’s intercontinental missiles, even if all subway command posts were destroyed by the aggressor’s nuclear attack. The Il-76RT radio relay aircraft would issue missile launch orders to remote areas, including those deployed on submarines.
In this way, the “dead hand” guarantees a devastating retaliatory strike in case of communications disruption and destruction of command posts after the adversary’s first surprise nuclear strike. Its command missiles launch their warheads into space, where no hostile satellite or nuclear explosion can reach them, and from there activate the nuclear forces to strike back the first blow.
The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 led to a deep social and economic crisis.The Russian army also entered a period of dismantling. In 1995 the “dead hand” was withdrawn from combat service, until Putin’s arrival in government with the turn of the century.
In 2011 it was officially confirmed that the “dead hand” had re-entered service. The successful test launch of the 15Yu75 missile took place in Plesetsk in 2016.In addition, it has been modernized. In 2019 the Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract for the new Sirena-M missile complex, the most modern variant of the “dead hand” command missile system.
Testing of the Sirena-M missile, which is based on the first version of the Topol intercontinental ballistic missile, began in 1990. All were carried out successfully.
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