What is the Perimeter system and how does it work. Nuclear system "Perimeter". "Dead hand" of the Kremlin Perimeter nuclear defense program

No one dares to attack Russia: we have a system that guarantees a retaliatory nuclear strike under any circumstances. In America it is called the "Dead Hand". 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 are too. It started from the very time that nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles were created. This thread is called "fear." Fear of receiving a crushing, deadly response. Any champion-karateka will tell you: no ushirs and mawashi, jumps and screams of "Kiya!" will not be saved from a furious man with an ax. Especially if the guy is wearing a quilted jacket over his naked body and worn out kirzachs. Today, such a thread - a deterrent factor in the Third World War - is the presence in Russia of a system that allows a nuclear retaliatory 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 was nicknamed Dead hand - "Dead hand". The suitcase behind the back"Perimeter" is not a "nuclear suitcase" that officers in naval uniforms carry behind our president. By the way, for the American one too. And they began to do this much earlier than we did. They started it back under President Dwight D. 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 F. Kennedy questioned the control of the nuclear arsenal personally to him, the Supreme Commander of the United States of America. The "suitcase" has a 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 he could not indifferently watch how the potential enemy is constantly looking for ways to block the means of control and communication. What if the adversary strikes first and all command posts - to dust? Yes, and colleagues are far from young ... If a member of the Politburo on duty (and they had such a duty of "those responsible for the Motherland") were told that there were about seven minutes left before the fall of the first nuclear missiles of the Americans, what could happen to him, except for a heart attack? And it was not suitable to close everything on himself: he, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, for all the infinity of power, in the end, too, is only a person, although personal control must be maintained. It was decided to go in two ways. People, ay! At the end of the first road to 1984, a "nuclear briefcase" with a control and communication system appeared. On the second path, difficulties immediately became apparent. After all, it was necessary to create a system that would be guaranteed to bring combat orders to command posts and strategic missile launchers without communication channels, making decisions automatically! How to entrust the soulless iron with the decision about life and death on planet Earth? But the designers have found a solution. True, I had to create a system like artificial intelligence... Under normal circumstances, the "Perimeter" is dozing, waiting for a command or an alarm from the missile attack warning system (EWS). Having received a command or a signal to launch missiles from the territory of other countries, this system goes into combat mode. Automation starts monitoring a network of sensors to detect signs nuclear explosions... The "piece of iron" must establish absolutely unequivocally: whether there was an attack using nuclear weapons? If he doesn't, he'll doze again. Thread thickness Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy, deduced the criterion for assured destruction of the United States - “unacceptable damage” - estimated as the loss of half of its population and two-thirds of the economy. McNamara believed that for this the USSR would only need to deliver 100 megaton nuclear warheads to the United States. In subsequent years, the criterion was repeatedly specified. The estimates of recent years, made after the  year terrorist attack that destroyed the Twin Towers in New York, is 150-200 nuclear weapons. But they still need to be delivered there. Is this possible in the context of the deployment of the US missile defense system? Here is what December 16, 2011 in an interview " Komsomolskaya Pravda"Said the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Sergei Karakaev:" Two American anti-missiles are planned for one of our warheads. If 40 interceptor missiles are deployed in Poland, then their capabilities theoretically - in an ideal scenario - to intercept up to 20 warheads. And even then, if the Americans can modernize them in such a way that their flight speed will be comparable to the speed of our missiles. And in our country, for example, 170 blocks are flying from only one division. " So the "response" is guaranteed. The atomic explosion is accompanied by a shock wave, light, electromagnetic and ionizing radiation, which are detected by appropriate sensors from a decent distance. Having detected, for example, multiple sources of radiation simultaneously with seismic disturbances in the same coordinates, the Perimeter system comes to the conclusion about a massive nuclear strike... But she still does not know if those who are in command are still alive? What if the command "Hang up!" Will follow? Therefore, "Perimeter" first checks the connection with The General Staff... If there is a connection, it is disconnected. If the General Staff does not respond to persistent requests, "Perimeter" queries the system, where the top is the "nuclear suitcase". If they are silent there, artificial intelligence transfers the decision-making power to any person in its command bunker. Is he also silent? Well, then, no options ... Who didn’t hide, I’m not to blame! To everyone who hears me: take off! Command missiles are launched from positions. But they are flying not at 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 of strategic bombers, on submarines and mobile ground complexes. The command bypasses all locks. No keys and red buttons rotated at the same time, like in the movies. The system is fully automated, the human factor in its work is excluded. Such an 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 a way to disable the "Perimeter". How else to provide one hundred percent "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 dumped in the USA, where he exchanged information about the system for an American passport. In October 1993, an influential newspaper The new The York Times erupted with a panicked article under the headline "Russia has a Doomsday Machine." US newspapermen called the system immoral. "Perimeter" was on alert until June 1995. And then, within the framework of the START-1 agreement, he was removed from him. Our overseas friends applauded: they are champions of universal values and morality, including ... But on December 16, 2011, in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, the Commander of the Missile Forces strategic purpose Sergei Karakaev said: “Yes, the Perimeter system exists today. She's on alert. And when the need arises for a retaliatory strike, when there is no way to bring a signal to some part of the launchers, this command can come from these missiles from the "Perimeter". Fearfully? But not only and not so much to 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 (NWM) to 1,500-1675, and their carriers (intercontinental ballistic missiles, ballistic missiles on submarines and heavy bombers) up to 500 - 1100 units. In practice, in 2013, it was this: The United States has 792 nuclear warheads in 1654, Russia has 492 carriers and 1480 nuclear warheads. Russia and the United States have relative nuclear parity. However, in recent times a number of experts say that the missile defense(ABM) 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.

System "Perimeter"
American magazine Wired writes in dismay:
Russia possesses the only weapon in the world that guarantees a retaliatory nuclear strike against the enemy, even in the terrible event that we already have no one to decide on this strike. The unique system counterattacks automatically - and brutally.

System "Perimeter"(Index of the Strategic Missile Forces of the Strategic Missile Forces - 15E601, nicknamed in the West "The Dead Hand", and in the East "The Hand from the Coffin") - the strategic missile forces control system - Strategic Rocket Forces. In the documents, she received the name "Perimeter". The system envisaged the creation of such technical means and software that would make it possible, in any conditions, even the most unfavorable, to bring the order to launch missiles directly to the starting commands. As conceived by the creators of "Perimeter", the system could prepare and launch missiles even if everyone had died and there would have been no one to give the order. It was this component that became unofficially called "The Dead Hand or the Hand from the Coffin."

How the system works:
The logic of the Dead Hand's actions involved the regular collection and processing of a gigantic amount of information. A variety of information was received from all kinds of sensors. For example, about the state of communication lines with a higher command post: there is a connection - there is no connection. On the radiation situation in the surrounding area: normal radiation level - increased radiation level. On 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 it could conclude that something was wrong in the world. When the system believed it was its time, it activated and launched a command to prepare for the launch of the missiles.
Moreover, the "Dead Hand" could not start active operations in peacetime. Even if there was no communication, even if the entire combat crew 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 top management of the Strategic Missile Forces to a special command post, a 15P011 command rocket with a special 15B99 warhead is launched, which in flight transmits launch commands to all launchers and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces that have 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 a devastating nuclear strike by the enemy on the territory of the USSR, all command links of the Strategic Missile Forces capable of ordering a retaliatory strike are destroyed. The system is the only doomsday machine in the world (a weapon of guaranteed retaliation), 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 should be viewed with the due degree of skepticism.

At its core, the Perimeter system is an alternative command system for all branches of the armed forces armed with nuclear charges... It was created as a backup system, in case the key nodes of the Kazbek command system and the Strategic Missile Forces communication lines are destroyed by the first strike, in accordance with the concept of a 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 capable of deciding on a retaliatory strike on its own, without the participation (or with minimal participation) of 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 preemptive crushing strike.

History of creation:
Development of a dedicated team missile system, which received the name "Perimeter", was set by the design bureau "Yuzhnoye" by the decree of the government of the USSR N695-227 of August 30, 1974. Initially, it was supposed to use the MR-UR100 (15A15) rocket as the base rocket, later they stopped at the MR-UR100 UTTKh (15A16) rocket. The missile, modified in terms of the control system, received the index 15A11.

Command missile 15A11 of the "Perimeter" system

In December 1975. a preliminary design of the command missile was completed. A special warhead was installed on the rocket, which had the index 15B99, which included the original radio engineering system developed by 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 gas supply unit), which significantly reduced the cost and terms of its creation and development. The production of SGCH 15B99 was organized at the Strela Scientific and Production Association in Orenburg.

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

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 General 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 the pairing of all systems involved in the launch were tested, the possibility of providing the missile with a given flight path of the 15B99 warhead (the top of the trajectory at an altitude of about 4000 km, a 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 found it possible to be satisfied with seven launches.

During the tests of the "Perimeter" system, real launches of 15A14, 15A16, 15A35 missiles from combat facilities were carried out according to orders sent by the 15B99 CGC in flight. Previously, additional antennas were mounted on the launchers of these missiles and new receivers were installed. All launchers and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces subsequently underwent these modifications.

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

Along with flight tests, ground testing of the entire complex was carried out under the influence of damaging factors of a 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 control system and the CGC equipment at the levels of the impact of a nuclear explosion exceeding those specified in the TTT MO.
Even during flight tests, a government decree set the task of expanding the functions solved by the command missile complex, with the delivery of combat orders not only to the facilities of the Strategic Missile Forces, but also strategic missile submarines, long-range and naval missile-carrying aircraft at airfields and in the air, points control of the Strategic Missile Forces, Air Force and Navy.

LKI command missile was completed in March 1982. In January 1985. the complex is put on alert. For more than 10 years, the command missile complex has successfully performed its important role in the country's defense capability.

System components:

Command posts of the system:
Apparently, they are structures similar to standard missile bunkers of the Strategic Missile Forces. Contain control equipment and communication systems necessary to ensure the operation of the system. Presumably integrated with command missile launchers, however, most likely, they are separated by a fairly large distance to ensure better system survivability.

Command missiles:

Command missile 15A11 of the Perimeter system. The only well-known component of the complex. They are part of the 15P011 command missile complex and have the 15A11 index, developed by the Yuzhnoye design bureau based on 15A16 missiles (MR UR-100U). They are equipped with a special 15B99 warhead containing a radio engineering 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 in the face of nuclear explosions and active electronic countermeasures, when the warhead is flying on a passive trajectory. The technical operation of the missiles is identical to that of the 15A16 base missile. The 15P716 launcher is a mine, automated, highly protected, type OS, most likely an upgraded PU OS-84. The possibility of basing missiles in other types of launch silos is not excluded.

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. All launchers of the Strategic Missile Forces, all SSBNs and strategic bombers are equipped with them. Presumably, the receiving devices are hardwired with the control and launching 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 is not known to exist. Some supporters of the existence of such a system believe that it is a complex expert system equipped with a variety of communication systems and sensors that monitor the combat situation. This system presumably monitors the presence and intensity of on-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, which coincide with the 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 suggested version 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 the Kosvinsky Kamen mountain (Ural). According to Blair, “American strategists regard it as the main adornment of the crown of the Russian system of military nuclear command, since from here it is possible to maintain communication through the granite stratum with Russian strategic long-range aircraft using a VLF radio signal (3.0-30.0 kHz) that can propagate even in a nuclear war. This bunker is a critical link in the Doomsday Machine communications network, designed to provide semi-automatic retaliation in response to a decapitation strike. "

Operation and system 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 alert until June 1995, when, within the framework of 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 removed from duty and disbanded in the 7th missile division (Vypolzovo town). This event coincided with the completion of the output from combat strength Strategic Missile Forces of MR UR-100 missiles and the process of rearmament of the 7th Rd with the Topol mobile ground missile system, which began in December 1994.

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

There is also evidence that earlier the Perimeter system, along with 15A11 missiles, included command missiles based on the Pioneer MRBM. Such a mobile complex with "Pioneer" command missiles bore the name "Horn". Complex index - 15P656, missiles - 15Zh56. It is known about at least one division 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 1986 to 1988 was on alert with a mobile complex of command missiles.

Organizations involved in the production of components and maintenance complex are experiencing funding difficulties. High staff turnover, resulting in a decline in staff qualifications. Despite this, the leadership of the Russian Federation has repeatedly assured foreign states that there is no risk of an accidental or unauthorized missile launch.
In the Western press, the system was called "Dead hand".

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

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 said that the Perimeter system exists and is on alert.

Operators:

Russia (The system is currently active).

F / N. An excerpt from an interview with this command post, Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Sergei Viktorovich Karakaev: http://www.kp.ru/daily/25805/2785953/

WHY DOES RUSSIA NEED A DEAD HAND?
KP: - At one time in our and foreign press there were publications about the "Perimeter" system, which existed in the USSR. And in 2009, the American magazine "Wyreth" told its readers that this system is functioning and is still alive. This is the rocket that, if everything is lost, takes off and gives the command to all other missiles. And they already automatically take off and hit the right targets. This system is called the "dead hand" in the West.
Sergey Karakaev: - And you do not eat your bread for nothing! Yes, the Perimeter system exists today. She's on alert. And when the need arises for a retaliatory strike, when there is no way to bring a signal to some part of the launchers, this command can come from these missiles from the "Perimeter" ...
KP: - There was a very interesting remark from Putin at the meeting with the Valdai Club. There someone says to him: "You can destroy the United States in about half an hour." But Putin thought and thought and replied: "Generally faster" ...
Sergey Karakaev: - I will answer briefly: Vladimir Vladimirovich is right. But I suppose today neither Russia nor the United States is going to destroy each other.

People out of habit do not pay attention to the fact that the world on the planet over the past decades has been on the edge of an abyss, and with it not only the lives of billions of people, but also the integrity of the planet Earth itself. And this global threat of a catastrophe on a planetary scale has arisen since the creation of nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles - intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The history of recent decades has known moments when the threat of kindling a nuclear war, and after it a nuclear winter, has dozens, if not hundreds of cases. The most ingenious plans for nuclear strikes were developed, as a result of which the existence of the Soviet Union would have long been history, but not in the same form as it is now, but in a different, apocalyptic one.

However, in the very last moments, as if some unknown force stopped the American officer's finger from pressing the red button. Maybe there really was, or maybe this restraining force still exists today? As it turned out relatively recently from semi-official and understandably unverified sources, such a deterrent force does exist.

Today, such a restraining force even from thoughts of inciting a third world war is a certain strictly classified system that Russia inherited from the USSR. It will make it possible to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike, even if command posts and communication lines in the strategic nuclear forces are completely destroyed. We call this system "Perimeter", and Western military analysts called it "Dead hand", which is translated from English "Dead hand".

How a system called "Perimeter" could have worked in the era of the USSR

The apocalyptic scenario could develop according to the following scenario. In a balanced world, the military-political situation would sharply aggravate, for example, because of some small country, for example, the Middle East region. The long patience of "Western democracy" incited by the military-political leadership of the countries participating in the North Atlantic alliance would come to an end.

Seeing no alternative for himself from the current situation, and considering himself in complete safety, the president of one of the leading states in this bloc would have made a decision and gave the order to inflict a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, justifying it as a preemption. From a great many mines, from several continents, without warning, the most deadly missiles on the planet would be launched, but this is not the whole picture of a massive nuclear strike. In addition to a ground attack, launchers on nuclear submarines plying the world's oceans would be activated, strategic bombers and other aircraft carrying nuclear weapons would attack the territory of the USSR from the air.

Large cities, nuclear power plants, strategic and military-industrial complexes, military facilities, as well as silos with strategic ballistic missiles would be dealt a swift, powerful nuclear missile strike. Rockets and bombs, stuffed with many thousands of warheads, would have swooped down on the unsuspecting, peacefully resting Soviet population, destroying everything around them with unprecedented power.

For some more time, the Soviet party leadership, being in a shocked and panic state, but having managed to move to special underground shelters of a bunker type, would have clarified the general situation. In a half-asleep state, the military-political leaders would try to contact at least someone and find out: was it not a tragic mistake, and is there a prospect of correcting the current situation? However, the incident could no longer be corrected by anything, and the government in its entirety would have been eliminated - intelligence indicated the exact coordinates of its shelters.

The largest metropolitan areas, with strategic industrial facilities and military centers, command and control centers and communications would have been done away with with one single massive attack. The mighty nuclear arsenals of the Soviet Union simply would not have had time to use: there was no command, and there was no one from whom, and in the absence of leaders in command centers, any most serious enemy is blinded and immobilized.

When immediately taken satellite photos would show that only ruins and ashes remained on the territory of the once powerful superpower. When the political leadership of the member states of the alliance, together with the NATO generals, would try to celebrate victory not in the "cold", but in the "hot" war. In those very moments when all the "winners" would rise glasses of champagne and "victory" toasts sounded, suddenly something unthinkable and incomprehensible would happen.

It would seem that the enemy, who had been silent for ever and ever, seemed to have awakened. The most sophisticated equipment would alert, and vaunted intelligence immediately confirmed that the launch of strategic ballistic missiles was found from the ruins and ashes. Nuclear missiles thousands would have rushed in the direction opposite to the initial start, towards the aggressor, who risked the first to press the "red button", counting on a swiftly successful operation.

The same feelings and emotions: surprise, fear, panic, but also not very long-lasting. All this would last exactly as long as it took ballistic missiles to fly to specific Western states and drop your deadly cargo. Flying to the targets, thousands more warheads would fly out of the missiles' warheads like bees.

With incredible efforts and colossal costs, the missile defense built would intercept almost nothing. Soviet missiles, called "Satan" in the west, would begin to erase the earth's surface large cities, military bases, command centers. No winners, no losers - no one. A nuclear winter would quietly descend on the planet.

This is how the system called in the Soviet Union “Perimeter”, which has acquired the chilling name “Dead Hand” in Western expert circles, would have reacted. This would be the consequences of the last argument of the Soviet (and now Russian) strategic forces. Despite the numerous Doomsday Machines invented by science fiction writers, guaranteeing retribution for any enemies who could get there and completely eliminate it, only Perimeter will really be able to do it.

However, the system for inevitable retaliation "Perimeter" is in such a strictly classified mode that there were many doubts about its actual existence and the same amount of rumors circulated. There were also rumors about the famous American system SOI. It was said that everything is a bluff to quickly ruin economic situation Soviet Union. So, what can you learn from open sources?

Perimeter system of inevitable retaliation

No one who has never been privy to one of the strictest secrets that the Soviet military "defense" concealed in itself would have known about the existence of the "Perimeter" in the former Soviet Union, whenever one person, his development engineer, would have thought of moving to the United States. There, he successfully managed to give out information of particular importance about the availability of a system for obtaining an American passport without problems. Already in 1993, the influential American newspaper The New York Times spread a panicky article with a sensational headline about the "Doomsday machine" allegedly in Russia.

The system was described as immoral by the US newspapermen. The "Perimeter" had to carry on combat duty for several years after its "exposure", because according to the START-1 agreement it was removed from combat duty in 1995.

A little later in December 2001, the director of the nonproliferation project nuclear weapons some information was released in which he shared the so-called "truth of life." American strategic nuclear forces(SNF) is configured in such a way as to carry a constant military threat to Russian nuclear and economic facilities. Even in the moments of negotiations with the participation of President V. Putin, they keep their target on his office in the Kremlin.

In December 2011, an interview with the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces S. Karakaev was published in one of the newspapers, in which he confirmed that the "Perimeter" is still in operation. Moreover, he has to be on alert, and in the event of a necessary retaliatory strike, when there is no longer a chance to bring a signal to some parts of the launchers, these commands can come from the Perimeter missiles.

Reckoning Weapon System "Perimeter": Automatic Launch

Wired magazine wrote that Russia has the only weapon in the world that guarantees the use of a retaliatory nuclear strike against its enemies, even if no one has to make a decision about it. It was also emphasized there that with the help of a unique system, a counterattack would occur automatically.

Kiselev's famous phrase that Russia is the only country that can "turn the United States into radioactive ash" was discussed throughout the world. At the same time, the host of Vesti Nedeli briefly talked about Perimeter. But how exactly does this system work?

In the same Wired magazine, one of the system's development engineers, Vladimir Yarynich, reported information on the Perimeter operation algorithm. The system was designed to stay in sleep mode until an emergency is activated by a high-ranking official. Then she would start monitoring sensors - seismic, radiation, atmospheric pressure- to identify signs of a nuclear explosion.

Before launching a retaliatory strike, the system must check four “ifs”:

If the system were activated, then it would determine whether nuclear weapons were used in the vastness of the USSR;
If this were the case, the system would check the connection with the General Staff;
If there was a connection, then the system made an automatic shutdown. After some time - from 15 minutes to 1 hour, which passed without a hint of an attack, she would assume that the list of officials capable of giving the order to strike was still in place;
If there was no connection, the "Perimeter" would decide on the onset of the "Doomsday", and immediately he would give the right to make this decision to anyone who then could stay in a deep and protected bunker, bypassing the usual numerous instances.

Such a system is proposed in the official source, but how things really are, we can only guess.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

After us - silence

Unofficial motto of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces

On August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb "Malysh" with a capacity of 21 kilotons of TNT was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Since then in the history of mankind began new era... And for more than seventy years now we have been constantly living under the threat of a global catastrophe, which can not only erase our biological species from the face of the Earth, but also turn the entire planet into a lifeless radioactive ball.

Since the beginning of the nuclear era, the world has been on the edge of the abyss many times, and only a miracle prevented us from falling into it. At the same time, it should be recognized that the presence of nuclear weapons has become the most reliable deterrent - without them, the Cold War would undoubtedly slide into World War III ...

And although the era of the Great Confrontation between East and West is long over, the situation has not fundamentally changed - a full-scale war between the leading nuclear powers is impossible even today, because there will be no winners in it ...

This status quo is maintained not only thanks to the nuclear parity that exists between Russia and the United States, but also to other creepy tools that our country has inherited since the days of Cold war.

System "Perimeter" - the ideal weapon of retaliation

In the 1980s, the Soviet Union developed an unprecedented strategic force control system, the Perimeter. In the West, she received the designation Dead Hand, which means "Dead Hand". In fact, it is a parallel, duplicate control system of 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 an automatic mode when communication with the country's leadership is lost or the first persons of the state have already turned into radioactive ash. In this case, the Perimeter system gives the command to launch all the remaining carriers of nuclear weapons 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 perform its tasks in the very heat of a nuclear war.

In fact, the "Perimeter" is the ideal weapon of retaliation, guaranteeing the aggressor a retaliatory strike even in the event of his 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 start of a nuclear Armageddon.

The "Perimeter" system is still in service Russian army... Information about the principles of its operation and the main elements is one of the main military secrets of our country, therefore only the most general data are in the public domain. In 2011, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Karakaev, told reporters that the Perimeter system was on alert and capable of performing its functions at any time.

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

For many years, almost nothing was heard about "Perimeter", but recently "Dead Hand" began to appear more and more often in the Russian media. They say that only this system does not allow the American hawks to unleash the Third World War. 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 we talk about managing nuclear weapons, we usually imagine a red button, or, at worst, a "nuclear briefcase." However, in the dawn of the atomic era, just after the first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) appeared, communication between high command and the personnel directly involved in launching was much simpler. It was based on special packages that had to be opened after receiving the code word. And it was transmitted by ordinary radio or wire communication. In the USSR, the first control system for nuclear forces was called "Monolith".

Vladimir Yarynich, in the future one of the developers of the "Perimeter", and in the 60s an ordinary missile engineer, described in detail the shortcomings of this system. According to him, during the announcement of the drill, the officer was so nervous that his hands were trembling, and he could not open the envelope with scissors for a long time. The problem was noticed, and the bag was equipped with a special fastener. This know-how saved 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 work through sealed packages, the given order 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 the missile bunkers. Moreover, they understood the consequences of a nuclear war better than others. Everyone could ask himself the question: if half of the world has already been destroyed, then why incinerate the second?

And I must say that the prospect of using nuclear weapons terrified not only the missilemen. In 1972, the Soviet military presented to Kosygin and Brezhnev their calculations of the consequences of a massive American nuclear strike against 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 the war, was shocked. Then a training launch of three ballistic missiles was organized for Brezhnev. Those present at the same time recalled that Leonid Ilyich's hands trembled before pressing the button, and he asked several times whether the missiles were really training ones. Ten years later, Ronald Reagan found himself in a similar situation. The US military took him to a special bunker and showed him a model of the possible start of a nuclear war. The President had not yet finished his coffee when Washington was destroyed. And to completely wipe the United States off the face of the earth, Soviet missiles took less than half an hour. According to the memoirs 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. More importantly, the order could now be canceled. The "signal" did not use packets, instead of them 13 preprogrammed commands were introduced, which were transmitted to the direct executors.

Later, the Signal system was modernized several times. Its latest version, Signal-A, entered service in 1985, allowed the leadership of the Strategic Missile Forces to remotely change the targets of missiles in the silos. This took 10 to 15 seconds. That is, the development of the nuclear weapons control system proceeded through its maximum automation and reducing the impact 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 redundant system began, which, in addition to insuring the main channel, had to solve another important problem - to guarantee the protection of the system from being triggered by false alarms. It was these works that later led to the emergence of the "Perimeter" control system.

How the Dead Hand was created

By the end of the 60s, the rapid development of funds electronic warfare threatened the transmission of orders from the country's top leadership 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 struck at command posts and communication centers using medium and short-range missiles, 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 it was imperative to find an answer. An idea was proposed to use a special command rocket to control nuclear forces, in which a powerful radio transmitter was installed instead of a warhead. Its launch was supposed to take place automatically in the event of the destruction of command posts.

The work on the creation of the command missile was entrusted to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and it began in 1974, after a corresponding government decree. The ICBM UR-100UTTH was taken as a 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 tests of the rocket began. In addition, a special command post was built, to which new control equipment was installed. In total, 10 tests of the command missile were carried out, during which real launches were carried out on her orders different types ICBM. At the same time, the operation of the complex was checked under the influence of the damaging factors of nuclear weapons. Even during the tests, the designers were tasked with expanding the capabilities of the "Perimeter" so that it could convey orders to missile submarine cruisers, strategic aircraft, as well as command posts of the Navy and Air Force.

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

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

Until 1995, "Perimeter" was on alert, 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 reporters that the "Perimeter" exists and is on alert.

What "Perimeter" consists of

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

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

The command posts of the "Perimeter" system are probably similar to the usual command post of the Strategic Missile Forces. They are equipped with communication systems and equipment necessary to launch command missiles. The "Grotto" facility, which is located in the Kosvinsky stone mountain range in the Urals, is most often referred to as such a KP. It is not known how many such sites exist, or how integrated they are with command missile launchers.

The command missile is the most famous component of the Perimeter. Initially, it was developed on the basis of the UR-100 ICBM, but there is information that there were also command missiles based on the Pioneer MRBM, and in the late 1980s, the Topol was “adapted” for this task. The command rocket has a powerful radio transmitter, through which the order "Launch!" all ballistic missiles that survive the first enemy strike.

Receiving devices. They ensure the reception of an order from a command missile, respectively, they must be equipped with all launch silos and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces, missile submarines and strategic aircraft. However, nothing is known about their structure and principles of operation.

The Autonomous Command System is without a doubt the most mysterious and interesting part of the Perimeter. There is no official or at least some reliable data about her. Many do not believe in its existence at all. The main debate is over whether there is a so-called Doomsday Machine - a kind of supercomputer based on artificial intelligence - that is capable of itself, without human intervention, to make a decision on the use of nuclear weapons.

How Dead Hand works

There are two hypotheses regarding how Perimeter works. According to the first of them, during the period of international exacerbation, which could theoretically end nuclear war, the head of state - who is also its commander-in-chief - puts the system into combat mode. If until a certain moment the "Perimeter" is not "turned off" again, then it initiates the launch of command missiles, which, in turn, will launch the scenario of the Third World War.

Such a scheme resembles the operation of a bomb with a timer, which can only be turned off by one person.

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

By measuring the level of electromagnetic radiation, radioactive background, seismic activity, recording the level and intensity of negotiations at military frequencies, as well as analyzing data from the SPNR, the system determines whether an enemy nuclear attack has occurred. Also, at the same time, the presence of communication with the top leadership of the country is constantly checked and command centers Strategic Missile Forces. If the data on a massive nuclear strike is confirmed, but there is no connection with the leadership, then the system itself gives the command to use nuclear weapons.

This hypothesis raises a lot of questions and has many opponents. One of the main functions of any systems for the use of nuclear weapons is to protect against unauthorized operation. Therefore, missile launches are still carried out manually. This is too serious a business, and people here do not trust computers too much.

Already mentioned above, Vladimir Yarynich, in an interview with Wired journalists, said that the "Perimeter" system can really determine whether a blow was struck on the territory of the country. Then she tries to contact the General Staff, and only if it is impossible to do so transfers the right to launch nuclear weapons to anyone who is at that moment nearby in a secret and specially protected bunker. That is, the final decision is still made by a person ...

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 the massive launch of enemy missiles, the top person of the state can simply transfer the "Perimeter" to combat mode, knowing that, even having destroyed the entire leadership of the country, the aggressor will not escape retaliation.

During the Cold War, the Americans did not even know about the "Perimeter", which can be called very strange. Soviet leadership it was necessary to trumpet the existence of such a system, because the mere mention of it would serve to deterrence much better than any new missiles or nuclear-powered missile carriers. 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, but the first information about the "Perimeter" began to appear in the Western press only after the collapse of the USSR.