‘The dead hand’ and Putin’s nuclear briefcase: the ‘zombie’ system that guarantees Russian retaliation against an attack, even if the entire government leadership has died

A project that began in Soviet times and came into operation in 1985, and although it was officially said that it was dismantled after the Cold War, American intelligence has indicated that it may has remained active and modernized. An idea that is not free, given that former Soviet space official Alexander Zheleznyakov confirmed its existence. Something that the commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, Sergei Karakaev, also did. In Komsomolskaya Pravda, in 2011, he said: «Yes, the Perimeter system exists and is in combat service«, and added that Russia had the capacity to destroy the United States in less than 30 minutes.

Another significant moment when ‘the Dead Hand’ came up was with former Soviet colonel Valery Yarynich, who was involved in the construction of the Perimeter System. He spoke in detail about its operation and that it was still in use in ‘Wired’ magazine. Ensuring that it is a system «very, very good«. He even revealed that He even talked about him with the former director of the CIAJames Woolsey, in 2009. He told him that he had built a doomsday device, to which Woolsey responded, “I hope to God the Soviets were more sensible than that.”

A report from the famous rand corporation It established how the rules of the ‘game’ have been modified since the times of the USSR. He stated that “which could exacerbate the confrontation that existed in the Cold War. By then mutual assured destruction generated strategic stability by reducing the incentives for the two blocs to adopt measures that could lead to a nuclear war. But the scene changed after Trump decided in 2019 to break the nuclear weapons treaty that Washington signed in 1987 with Moscow.

Operation details of ‘the Dead Hand’

In the interview that the former military man gave, Yarynich knew that he was taking a risk, given that previously a Soviet official who spoke about the system died in a mysterious fall down a staircase. Despite everything, the retired military man explained that the purpose of building Perimeter was ensure an automatic Soviet response to a US nuclear attack. And its differential point is that It could continue working even in the worst scenarios.

“Even if the United States paralyzed the USSR with a surprise attack, the Soviets could still fight back. It wouldn’t matter if the United States blew up the Kremlin, destroyed the Ministry of Defense, cut off the communications network, and killed everyone with stars on their shoulders. “The ground sensors would detect that a devastating blow had been dealt and a counterattack would be launched,” says the former colonel. At that time, they believed in something that is still alive and in use today, the strategy that the side with ehe largest arsenal and with the throwing weapon of your willingness to use it could gain influence in any crisis.

Perimeter guarantees the ability to counterattack, but the former colonel details that it is not a device that is easily activated. Let’s say that It remains semi-asleep until a senior official activates it. In that case it would begin monitoring a network of seismic, radiation and air pressure sensors for signs of nuclear explosions. “Before launching any retaliatory attack, the system had to mark four conditional statements: if activated, then would try to determine that a nuclear weapon had hit Soviet soil. If it looked like he had done it, the system would check if there were communication links left with the war room of the Soviet General Staff” is explained.

Then, if there were indeed any left and if between 15 minutes and an hour passed without further signs of an attackthe machine would assume that the officials were still alive and could order the counterattack and would shut down the system. “But if the line with the General Staff was cutPerimeter would come to the conclusion that it was facing the most critical scenario. I would transfer launch authority to whoever was operating the system at that moment in the protected bunker, whether it was an officer or a subordinate, bypassing all ranks.

Once the counterattack began, the process would be controlled by the so-called command missiles. “Hidden in silos to withstand the massive blast and electromagnetic pulses of a nuclear explosion, these missiles would be launched first, while coded commands would be radioed to any Soviet weaponry that had survived the first attack. At that moment, the Russian system would have taken full control of the war,” the Russian technician told Wired. I would be a ‘zombie’ retaliation system throughout its repertoire, and the thing is that they say that today he is still armed.

Stanislav Petrov

The problem with these systems, which depend for their initiation on an entrenched and perhaps incommunicado individual who must decide whether to give the green light or not, is in the error. Jaime Sevilla, researcher affiliated with the Center for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, as well as Lucía Ortiz de Zárate Alcarazo, researcher in ethics and governance in AI at the UAM and collaborator with the Alternativas Foundation, explain to ABC the example of lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov who eprevented a nuclear holocaust in 1983when the Soviet missile detection system gave a false positive warning that five missiles were heading towards Russian territory and indicating on its screen «Attack with nuclear missiles. Launch counterattack. It almost led to the USSR starting a nuclear conflict against the US, Sevilla tells ABC. But Petrov He ignored protocol and that cost him his job.

Real goal of the system

According to Yarynich, Perimeter was never conceived as an end-all machine. By guaranteeing the letter that Moscow could counterattack, Perimeter actually was designed to calm down all those hot-headed leaders or an overly extreme Soviet civilian who would like to act prematurely during a crisis. They were convinced that there was a system with which they could obtain revenge, although in reality they never planned to use it.

A new factor

Today, however, it is the factor of artificial intelligence in nuclear command and control systems of the leading powers allows to improve the flow of information, the development by Chinese, American and Russian companies of hypersonic missiles and weapons that use AI has reduced the time to give the green light to a counterattack before being disabled by the enemy, undermining the condition of mutual assured destruction, and that is an advantage that a nuclear power would not be willing to waste.

Cheguet briefcase

This means that the latent threat of AI can reinforce that of the traditional nuclear briefcase. This is called Cheguet in Russia. Putin received it in 1999, but it began operating when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. Putin in various public events has shown that he always accompanies him.

In reality there are three briefcases in total, the encrypted codes of Putin’s nuclear briefcase need to be the other two that are in the power of the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff. The ‘Cheguet’ is composed of a control system with one red button and several white ones. The one in the center of this color serves to give the attack order to the nation’s General Staff, whose lieutenant general would be ultimately responsible for initiating the nuclear deployment. This mechanism has Kavkaz, an encrypted telecommunications system that communicates with military officials.

Question of prudence

Despite these possibilities, the final idea remains that common sense will prevail. However, we still remember what Sevilla told ABC: «In the coming decades we will have technologies that can cause extreme damage on a global level, and there are reasons to think that we lack the expertise to allow us to manage them safely».