What is a dead hand. System "Perimeter", or "Dead Hand". System operation and current status

In connection with the latest events in the world: the crisis of power and the armed conflict in Ukraine, the clash of interests and activation in Syria and Libya, the problem of state security is becoming one of the most pressing international issues. At a time when every major country either already has nuclear capability or is preparing to acquire it, no one in the world can be completely sure of their future. And the more terrible and vague the future must seem to the citizens of Russia, the more countries join the sanctions and openly express their indignation at the actions of our country.

On the pages of numerous Western publications, in English-language social networks and blogs, there are already dozens of articles directly calling for the start of hostilities against the Russian Federation. So why doesn't open expansion start anyway? Are our European and American partners stopped by the agreements signed earlier? And why, then, did the same agreements not prevent them from starting shelling Iraq, bombing Syria and Libya? Why exactly is a wave needed in the territories of the former Soviet republics, and why is it so important for the United States to place missile defense bases within their borders?

One of the answers to the questions asked can be the idea of the existence of such an ideal weapon as the system of guaranteed retaliation "Perimeter".

Creation concept

Let's go back for a moment and imagine how our relatives lived during the Cold War. A tightly closed "curtain", the presence of a strong and constantly developing "external enemy", the absence of more or less influential supporters abroad. In such a situation, any well-delivered blow could be the last for our country. And the more the atmosphere heated up, the more information about the American limited concept appeared in the press. According to this doctrine, inflicting a preventive strike on the territory of the USSR assumed the complete destruction of both the main command center of the Union and the key nodes of the Kazbek command system, as well as the disruption of the communication lines of the Strategic Missile Forces.

What could a decapitated and practically destroyed state do in such a situation? Only in the end, slam the door loudly and beautifully, so much so that this "clap" is remembered for a long time. To give the last, already meaningless battle, to deliver a retaliatory nuclear strike when there will be no one to control the missiles. It was with such thoughts that the leading Soviet scientists set about developing one of the most terrible modern weapons, forever remembered as the "weapon of the Last Judgment."

So, what is the Russian Perimeter system? And what is its main feature? The "Perimeter" - "Dead Hand" system is a complex for automatic control of a massive nuclear strike. Its main purpose is to ensure the guaranteed launch of all nuclear missiles in service with the USSR in the event that a crushing blow is inflicted on the country by the enemy, which will destroy all command links capable of ordering a retaliatory maneuver.

Thus, according to the plan of its creators, the Perimeter nuclear system could prepare and launch missiles even if everyone died, and there would simply be no one to give the order. It is for this idea of a retaliatory strike, which is carried out already beyond the line of death, that the system received its second name in the West - "Dead Hand". In the East, it was called even more precisely - "Hand from the coffin."

Principle of operation

The developers of the system for protecting the perimeter of the country's borders faced two global tasks. First, the system needed to be endowed with some kind of artificial intelligence, so that at the right moment it could independently understand that its time had come. Secondly, it was also necessary to debug the options for shutting down and starting the program in case of unforeseen situations. Simply put, it had to be able to monitor the state of the environment, checking about a hundred different indicators, and also have a kind of "stop tap" that responds to a direct shutdown order.

After several fruitless attempts, the developers still managed to create a complex that, no matter how incredible it may sound, fully met all their requirements. So what did they do?

As you know, any rocket that exists in this world is capable of taking off into the air only in one case - if there is a clear order. The procedure for transmitting such an order is ridiculously simple. A certain code is transmitted through the command communication lines, which removes all blockages from the system and gives permission to ignite the engines. The rocket rises into the air and rushes to its target. But what to do when there is no opportunity to give an order?

In this case, the responsibility to issue orders was delegated to the Perimeter system. She, having studied the situation and analyzed the internal and external political situation, the absence or presence of communication with the headquarters, as well as the electromagnetic background throughout the country, made a decision and gave the command to start.

At the signal of a smart program, a single missile was lifted into the air, which flew not at the alleged enemy, but through the main locations of the Soviet nuclear missile complex. It was this rocket, which, like the entire complex as a whole, had the name "Perimeter". And it was she who, with the help of a radio device located on it, gave a signal to the entire military power of the country. As soon as the code was received, all active and mothballed rocket carriers fired a salvo towards the alleged enemy. So a guaranteed victory turned into an equally crushing defeat.

History of creation

The Perimeter retaliation system was "conceived" back in August 1974, when the task of developing a special missile system was assigned to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau. Initially, it was planned to use the MP-UR100 model as the base rocket, but subsequently settled on the MP-UR1000UTTH.

It was completed in December 1975. According to him, a special warhead was installed on the rocket, which included a radio engineering system developed by the LPI Design Bureau. In addition to it, it was also necessary to create a stabilization program so that the rocket had a constant orientation in space throughout its flight.

Flight tests of the finished rocket were carried out under the leadership of the State Commission and with the personal participation of V. V. Korobushin, First Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces. Ten identical rockets were assigned to the experiment, but the very first launches were so successful that it was decided to stop at seven volleys.

In parallel, a special launcher, 15P716, was also created. According to the data received, its main components are a command missile and receiving devices that ensure the receipt of orders and codes from command missiles.

According to unverified data, the launcher is a highly protected mine complex of the OS type, but the possibility of placing command missiles in other types of carriers is not excluded.

After flight tests, the creators of the complex were tasked with developing additional advanced functions that allow them to give orders to launch missiles not only to ground systems, but also to nuclear submarines and long-range and naval missile aviation aircraft (both standing at airfields and on combat duty) .

Finally, all work on the Perimeter system was completed in March 1982, and in January 1985 the complex was already put on a combat post, where it served until the very end of 1995.

Components included in the "Perimeter" complex

Of course, there is nowhere an exact description of all the components of the system and the order of their interaction with each other. However, even on the basis of the most indirect information, it can be assumed that the state border perimeter protection system is a complex multifunctional complex equipped with many different communication lines and transmitters.

There are several assumptions about the algorithm of the complex. In the first case, it is believed that, being on constant combat duty, "Perimeter" receives data from several tracking systems, including from missile attack early warning radars. After the received signals are transmitted to several independent command posts, which are located at a great distance from each other and duplicate their testimony (according to unverified data, there are only four such posts).

It is in these points that the most mystical component of the "Perimeter" is based - its main autonomous control and command system. This installation, which has all the features of artificial intelligence, is able, by summing up the data transmitted from different observation posts, to draw a conclusion about the likelihood of a nuclear attack. Here the principle of operation is extremely simple and is based on checking four basic conditions.

After analyzing all the data received, the system concludes whether a nuclear attack has been committed. After that, the presence of communication with the General Staff is checked. If the connection is present, then the system, which is already starting to gain momentum, is turned off again. If no one answers at the headquarters, then the program tries to contact the main anti-missile shield of the country - Kazbek. If they do not answer there either, then the system delegates the right to make a decision to any person currently in the command bunker. If no order follows, then only then the program begins to operate.

Another version of the system operation excludes the possibility of the existence of artificial intelligence. It involves the manual launch of a command rocket. According to this theory, the magic nuclear suitcase is in the hands of the head of state. And upon receipt of information about a massive nuclear strike, the first persons of the country can put the system into combat mode.

After that, if it does not receive new signals for an hour and cannot get in touch with any command center, then the Russian Perimeter system automatically begins the procedure for delivering a retaliatory strike. If the headquarters receives a signal about a false alarm, then all the security systems of the "Perimeter" again switch to the tracking mode. (The entire cancellation process is expected to take about 15 minutes.)

Location of the Perimeter

According to unverified sources, the main weapon of Russia - all the security systems of the "Perimeter" - are located in the Urals, in the region of the mountain. This mountain range, located near the Northern Urals, reaches a height of 1519 meters and is composed mainly of pyroxenites and duanites. It is precisely because of its, one might say, natural origin that this bunker, according to the American journalist Blair, is the subject of real admiration on the part of American strategists, since from there, through the entire granite thickness, it is possible to maintain communication using a VLF radio signal (propagating even in a nuclear war) with all systems of Russian strategic aviation.

Initially, the site for the construction of the bunker was the exhausted horizontal platinum mines, which in themselves were already a secret object. Duanites, which are the main mineral for making refractories, block scanning radio emissions and prevent enemy radio signals from pinpointing the exact location of an object.

To ensure uninterrupted supply of the bunker, an additional power line was installed near it, a new bridge was laid and a dirt road was made. The nearby village of Kytlym is gradually growing to the size of a military town, work is underway to build new houses for soldiers and officers, and other infrastructure is being installed.

Main armament complex

The main elements of the security system ("Perimeter", as the reader has already understood) is an autonomous command IPS, which includes all kinds of data transmission and analysis centers and command missile complexes.

Among the complexes that are part of the "Perimeter", we can separately distinguish:

The stationary command and control center of the system, located in the Sverdlovsk region under the Kosvinsky stone mountain.
Mobile command and control center.
1353 combat control center, located in the city of Glukhov (from 1990 to 1991) and now transferred to the city of Kartaly.
1193 combat control center (located in the Nizhny Novgorod region, in the urban-type settlement Dalnee Konstantinovo-5 since 2005).
15P175 "Siren" - a mobile ground complex of command missiles.
"Perimeter-RTs" - a modernized command missile system with a command missile on the RT-2PM "Topol" (took up combat duty in 1990).

Developers

Of course, the development and creation of a system of this level and scale is not a matter of one decade. And its creation would not have been possible without the competent and efficient work of many talented scientists. Since the "Perimeter" (the "Dead Hand" protection system), like all its components, is still absolutely secret, it is not possible to find detailed information about its creators and their future fate.

Among the main developers of the Perimeter system, the name of only one person is specifically known - Vladimir Yarynich, who, after the collapse of the USSR, continued to live and work in the United States, where he told Wired magazine about the existence of the Perimeter system of guaranteed retribution. (By the way, according to Yarynich, the system is manually controlled and activated by order of the head of state.)

Little is known about the other creators of the complex. Thus, many enterprises took part in the design and installation of equipment. The main among them are NPO "Impulse" under the leadership of V. I. Melnikov, Central Design Bureau "Geophysics" under the direction of G. F. Ignatiev, TsKBTM together with B. R. Aksyutin and many others.

Work on the "Perimeter" was supervised by so many different ministries and departments that it still seems inexplicable that the creation of the complex was kept secret for so long.

Current state and operation of the complex

Little is known about the true fate of the Dead Hand. According to documents, the country's system was in service until June 1995. And then, within the framework of the agreement on general disarmament, she was removed from combat duty. According to other sources, this significant event took place in September 1995, and the perimeter security system was not removed, but only modernized. And the 15A11 rocket was replaced by a new generation command rocket RT-2PM Topol.

There is no exact data on the current state of affairs anywhere. However, in 2009, the American magazine Wired again told its readers that Russia's weapon - the Perimeter system - still exists and is still functioning. This information was confirmed in December 2011 by the Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General S. V. Karakaev, who in his interview again reported that the complex was in a dormant state and was on alert.

It is also known from unconfirmed sources that it was the "Perimeter" (the "Dead Hand" defense system) that is still at the combat post and allowed V.V. Putin to declare that, if desired, Russia is capable of destroying the United States in less than thirty minutes. In principle, today is such a time that sometimes, in order to protect the interests of your state, it will not be superfluous to intimidate, so to speak, your opponent.

I would like to believe that the Perimeter system of 2014 is still in working order and, in all its characteristics, is in no way inferior to previous models.

Media about "Perimeter"

As mentioned earlier, the main publications about the system appeared in the 90s of the last century in Western and American journals. It was the Wired newspaper that renamed the Perimeter system to the Dead Hand. Also, a number of publications were published in a number of Japanese periodicals. It was with their light hand that the system of guaranteed retribution became known as the "Hand from the Coffin".

On the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as all post-Soviet republics, there are extremely few articles about the complex. Only "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" mentioned his work in their reviews. System "Perimeter", "Dead Hand" - these and other names are rarely seen in the press. The main source of information for Russian-speaking users is still data taken from the Internet and translated from foreign languages.

US retaliation

It cannot be said that the USSR was the only country that developed such weapons. Thus, from February 1961 until June 24, 1990, there was a program in America that was based on the same operating principle as the Perimeter system. In the US, this complex was called "Mirror".

It is clear that the main difference between American and Soviet complexes lies precisely in the human factor. The United States relied on the operational actions of its command, while in the USSR they designed weapons for really bad times. (Recall that if a threat is detected, any person who is in the bunker at that time, regardless of his rank and rank, can give the order to deploy the system.)

In the United States, the complex was based on 11 Boeing EC-135C aircraft, which are the main air command posts of the US Army, and 2 aircraft, called the "Looking Eye". The latter were constantly in the air, overseeing the borders of their country, passing over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The crews of the command posts consisted of 15 people, which certainly had to include at least one general, who, if any external threat was detected, could urgently give an order to the strategic nuclear forces of his country.

After the end of the Cold War, the United States withdrew its sponsorship of the system, and now all VKPs are located at four air bases in the country and are in a state of full combat readiness.

In addition to this system, the United States also had its own command missile complex, located on ten silo launchers. "Zerkalo" was also withdrawn from service in early 1991.

Of course, today we must not forget that, no matter how mysterious this Perimeter system may be, it is still a weapon of the past. It was created in the conditions of the Cold War. And today it is unlikely that it meets at least half of the requirements for modern military equipment. However, the mere fact that such a weapon exists, that work on its debugging is still underway, is already a good reason for hope.

“There can be no personal computer. There may be a personal car, a personal pension, a personal dacha. Do you even know what a computer is? A computer is 100 square meters of space, 25 service personnel and 30 liters of alcohol every month!”

N.V. Gorshkov, Chairman of the USSR State Committee for Computer Science and Informatics, 1980

Deputy Minister of the radio industry, of course, exaggerated, but the general level of electronics of that era is beyond doubt. Extremely primitive from the point of view of our time. The first domestic personal computer "Agat" (1984) - bit depth 8 bits, clock frequency 1 MHz, memory capacity tens of Kb - thousands, tens of thousands of times weaker than modern smartphones. In the depths of military bunkers, more productive "computer centers" probably existed, but the possibilities were still limited. The level of technology of the early 80s unequivocally set the computer as a bulky machine with a performance that is ridiculous by today's standards.

In the X-hour, a suddenly wiser computer would suddenly show signs of artificial intelligence. She was able to reliably analyze telemetry from the Strategic Missile Forces posts, the level of radiation and seismic activity in different parts of the country, the intensity of negotiations on military frequencies, the occurrence of point sources of ionizing and electromagnetic radiation at key coordinates (corresponding to strategically important objects on the territory of the USSR) and, making sure that all people who were in the bunker, would independently decide on a retaliatory nuclear strike!

This is how the principle of operation of the “Perimeter” system is described. Soviet "Skynet", a dead hand on a nuclear button, an "immoral" invention of the military. According to rumors, it was put on combat duty already in 1985-86.

Before arguing about morality, we first need to know if such a machine existed?

If you look at things in a logical plane, then one of the main damaging factors of a nuclear explosion is always called an electromagnetic pulse that disables electronics. How does a bulky computer developed in the 1970-80s. could have sufficient combat stability in a nuclear war?

Let's say an invulnerable computer can survive the impact. Absurd, but okay. The whole story with the “dead hand” is absurd.

Let's say the computer in the bunker survived. But what will be left of “a complex system of sensors located on the surface to measure seismic activity, air pressure and radiation”, while covering a large area?

Try to estimate the probability of a direct hit of nuclear warheads in the area where the bunker with the electronic components of the “Dead Hand” is located. The probability is the same as for the rest of the command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces.

As you can see, I deliberately do not mention the name “Perimeter” here. Because a system with that name really existed, but it performed a completely different task.

The currently obsolete backup communication system Strategic Missile Forces, which its creators are no longer shy about talking about.

"Perimeter" (URV index of the Strategic Missile Forces - 15E60) was designed to guarantee the delivery of combat orders from the highest levels of command (the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Directorate of the Strategic Missile Forces) to command posts and individual launchers of strategic missiles in case of damage to the main communication lines.

The essence of the invention radio transmitter mounted on a ballistic missile: flying over the territory of the USSR, the command rocket broadcast a signal about the beginning of the war to individual command posts and ICBM launchers.

The main scientific achievement in the process of creating a “relay rocket” is to ensure reliable signal reception from an ICBM flying in near space, in the absence of a stable (and even reference) orbit.

Command missiles of the 15P011 Perimeter complex, having the index 15A11, were developed by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau on the basis of 15A16 missiles (MR UR-100U). Equipped with a special warhead 15B99, containing a radio command system developed by the LPI Design Bureau, designed to guarantee the delivery of combat orders from the central command post to all command posts and launchers under the influence of nuclear explosions and active electronic countermeasures, when flying warheads on the passive part of the trajectory. The technical operation of the missiles is identical to the operation of the base rocket 15A16. Launcher 15P716 - mine, automated, highly protected, OS type, most likely, upgraded OS-84 launcher. The possibility of basing missiles in other types of launch silos is not ruled out. The development of a command missile was started by the TTT of the Ministry of Defense in 1974. Flight design tests were carried out at NIIP-5 (Baikonur) from 1979 to 1986. A total of 7 launches were carried out (of which 6 were successful and 1 was partially successful). The mass of the warhead 15B99 is 1412 kg.

Rockets and spacecraft of the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau / Ed. S. N. Konyukhova, 2001.

For greater persuasiveness, an image of the 15A11 command rocket is always attached to each material devoted to the “Perimeter”.

As for the popular legend about the “killer computer”, most of the materials focus on “automatic decision making”. Neither the authors nor the public think at all that the stated topic and the argument (a detailed description of the command rocket) do not correspond to each other. "Today we will study physics, so let's talk about chemistry."

No one thinks about the possibility of creating such a developed computer center with AI features on the Soviet element base of the late 70s - early 80s.

Not about the combat survivability of the system and its components (sensors located on the surface and data transmission channels hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers long) in a nuclear war.

Not about the very meaning of the existence of a “dead hand”: after all, the operability of communication systems also means the presence of communication between command posts, which makes it possible for the military to make decisions about a strike without the help of any machine.

Sometimes the “American analogue” is cited as an argument - AN / DRC-8 Emergency Rocket Communications System, which really was a direct analogue of the Soviet “Perimeter”. In technical terms, the complex consisted of transmitter missiles assembled on the basis of the Minuteman-2 ICBM, and, of course, had nothing to do with “killer computers”. The illustration shows the head part of the command rocket. The ERCS system was removed from combat duty in 1991.

You will not believe! But in the USA there was also an analogue of the “dead hand”. Unfortunately for fans of combat fiction, the system "Mirror" (Looking Glass) looked extremely primitive, despite all the achievements of Apple, Microsoft and IBM.

In an effort to prevent the destruction of stationary command posts by a preventive strike, the Americans dispersed control by organizing additional (reserve) command posts on board the aircraft. EC-135С, continuously replacing each other, spent 29 years in the air. The last Doomsday Plane landed on July 24, 1990.

Currently, the UK also has its own “dead hand”. A sealed letter from the Prime Minister with instructions in case of nuclear war is stored on board ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs). The exact content of the letter remains a secret, experts only voice guesses. Among the most reasonable assumptions considered are: delivering a retaliatory nuclear strike, refusing to strike, the commander acting at his own discretion, or transferring to the command of the allies.

conclusions

Doubts about the existence of the "Dead Hand" as an automatic decision-making complex will certainly cause a wave of criticism among those who are used to believing in this legend. I just wish the criticism was justified.

Indeed, in fact, the only confirmation of the “Dead Hand” is an unofficial interview with Wired magazine. Everything else is his endless interpretations in the absence of other evidence. Absolutely nothing is known about the mythical system, and its principle of operation and the need for existence contradict both the known facts about the Strategic Missile Forces and the capabilities of computer technology in the 1970s and 80s.

Lord, sleep well!

Silence after us

The unofficial motto of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces

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

Since the beginning of the nuclear age, the world has been on the edge of the abyss many times, and only a miracle has kept us from falling into it. At the same time, it should be recognized that the presence of nuclear weapons has become the most reliable means of deterrence - without it, the Cold War, no doubt, would have rolled into the Third World War ...

And although the era of the Great Confrontation between East and West is long gone, the situation has not changed fundamentally - 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 Cold War.

The Perimeter system is the perfect weapon of retaliation

In the 1980s, the Soviet Union developed an unprecedented strategic force control system - "Perimeter". In the West, she received the designation Dead Hand, which means "Dead Hand". In fact, this is a parallel, duplicating system of control of the country's nuclear forces, dispersed, hidden and well protected.

However, even this is not the main thing: the Perimeter system is capable of operating automatically when communication with the country's leadership is lost or the first persons of the state have already turned into radioactive ashes. In this case, the Perimeter system gives the command to launch all the remaining carriers of nuclear weapons and avenges its burnt 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 an ideal retaliation weapon that guarantees the aggressor a retaliatory strike even in the event of a sudden attack. At the same time, it should be noted that the leadership of the country, command posts and communication centers of the Strategic Missile Forces are the highest priority target in the event of a nuclear Armageddon.

The Perimeter system is still in service with the 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 the designers who left for the West. There, this system was immediately dubbed the “Doomsday Machine” and 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 operated in the USA today.

For many years, almost nothing was heard about the "Perimeter", but recently the "Dead Hand" began to appear more and more often in the Russian media. Like, 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

Speaking about the control of nuclear weapons, we usually imagine a red button, well, or, at worst, a “nuclear briefcase”. However, at the dawn of the atomic age, immediately after the appearance of the first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), 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 they transmitted it by conventional radio or wired communication. In the USSR, the first control system for nuclear forces was called "Monolith".

Vladimir Yarynich, one of the developers of Perimeter in the future, 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 trembling, and for a long time he could not open the envelope with scissors. The problem was noticed, and the package was provided with a special fastener. 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, 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 man who had to directly carry out the order. It turned out that the entire Soviet nuclear power depended on a few officers pressing the "red buttons" in the missile silos. Moreover, they were better than others aware of the consequences of a nuclear war. Everyone could ask themselves a 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 horrified not only the rocket scientists. In 1972, the Soviet military presented to Kosygin and Brezhnev their calculations of the consequences of a massive American nuclear strike on the USSR. They were stunning: 80 million dead immediately after the attack, the complete destruction of industry and the armed forces. 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 rockets 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 a possible nuclear war. The President had not yet had time to finish his coffee when Washington was destroyed. And it took Soviet missiles less than half an hour to completely wipe the United States off the face of the Earth. 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 Caribbean 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 given order could be canceled. "Signal" did not use packages; instead, 13 pre-programmed commands were introduced, which were transmitted to 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 in the mines. This took 10 to 15 seconds. That is, the development of the nuclear weapons control system proceeded by maximizing its 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 1970s, the development of a backup system began, which, in addition to protecting the main channel, had to solve another important task - to guarantee the protection of the system from false alarms. It was these works that subsequently led to the emergence of the Perimeter control system.

How "Dead Hand" was created

By the end of the 1960s, the rapid development of electronic warfare 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 "decapitating strike", according to which, in the event of a full-scale nuclear conflict with the USSR, the first strike should be delivered 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 be destroyed even before it decides on a massive retaliatory strike on US territory.

This became a serious challenge for the USSR, which certainly had to be answered. The idea was proposed to use a special command missile 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.

Work on the creation of a command rocket was entrusted to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, they began in 1974, after the relevant government decree. The ICBM UR-100UTTH 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 design tests of the rocket began. In addition, a special command post was built, on which new control equipment was installed. In total, 10 tests of the command missile were carried out, during which, on her orders, real launches of various types of ICBMs were carried out. At the same time, the operation of the complex was tested under the influence of 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-carrying submarine cruisers, strategic aircraft, as well as naval and air force command posts.

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 large-scale exercises "Shield-82".

In 1990, the modernized Perimeter-RTs 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 journalists that Perimeter exists and is on alert.

What is the "Perimeter"

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

command post (or posts);
rockets to transmit orders;
receiving devices;
autonomous control and computer complex.

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

The Command Missile is the best-known component of the Perimeter. Initially, it was developed on the basis of the UR-100 ICBM, however, there is information that there were also command missiles based on the Pioneer IRBM, and in the late 80s, Topol was “adapted” for this task. The command rocket has a powerful radio transmitter, through which the command "Launch!" all ballistic missiles that survived the first enemy strike.

receiving devices. They ensure the receipt of an order from a command missile, respectively, all launch silos and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces, missile submarines and strategic aircraft should be equipped with them. 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 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 the principles of operation of the "Perimeter". According to the first of them, during the period of international aggravation, which theoretically could end in a nuclear war, the head of state - he is also his commander in chief - puts the system into combat mode. If before a certain moment the "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.

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

The second version assumes that Perimeter has some kind of powerful electronic analytical center 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, the radioactive background, seismic activity, fixing the level and intensity of negotiations on military frequencies, as well as analyzing data from SPNR, the system determines whether an enemy nuclear attack has occurred. Also, the presence of communication with the top leadership of the country and the command centers of the Strategic Missile Forces is constantly checked. If the information about 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 system for the use of nuclear weapons is protection against unauthorized operation. 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 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 this transfers the right to launch a nuclear weapon to anyone who at that moment is nearby in a secret and especially 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 highest person in the state can simply put the "Perimeter" into combat mode, knowing that even if the entire leadership of the country is destroyed, the aggressor will not escape retribution.

During the Cold War, the 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 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.

The best remedy would be the resuscitation of the Perimeter system

Now there is an intensive discussion of military reform in the media. In particular, many journalists demand to name all potential opponents by name.

I hasten to reassure everyone, at present there will be no big war guaranteed. The blue dream of pacifists came true - "XXI century without wars". Since 2000, not a single country in the world has been at war for a single day, although not a single day has passed without hostilities being waged in one or more parts of the globe.

FRENCH OPTION FOR RUSSIA

Now the war is called "the fight against terrorism", "peacekeeping", "peace enforcement", etc. Therefore, I propose to change the terminology and talk not about war or the defense of the fatherland, but about the reaction of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to threats to national security. The illusions of some liberals, who believed that communism was the source of the Cold War and that after its disappearance peace and prosperity would come, turned out to be a delusion.

Moreover, if until 1991 the UN Security Council and international law to a certain extent contained conflicts, now their effect is negligible. As for the notorious world public opinion, everything fell into place during the August 2008 conflict. The entire world community supported the aggressor, not his victim. Western TV channels showed the burning streets of Tskhinval, passing it off as Georgian cities.

It is time to remember the testament of Alexander III the Peacemaker: "Russia has only two allies - its army and navy." Does this mean that Russia in a crisis should get involved in a symmetrical arms race like the USSR? Until 1991, the USSR traded mostly at a loss, selling it cheaply to "friends" or even just giving it away.

Curious why our politicians and military are not willing to remember the French phenomenon of 1946-1991? France was devastated by the Second World War, then took part in two dozen large and small colonial wars in Laos, Vietnam, the war for the Suez Canal in 1956, the Algiers War (1954-1962). Nevertheless, the French managed, independently of other countries, to create a full range of weapons from ATGMs to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), almost on par with the superpowers. All French ships, including nuclear submarines with ICBMs and aircraft carriers, were built in French shipyards and carry French weapons. And our Ministry of Defense now wants to buy French warships.

But the French people, in order to create the third largest military-industrial complex in the world, did not at all drag their belts. The market economy was intensively developing in the country, the standard of living was steadily rising.

The casket opens easily. Between 1950 and 1990, approximately 60% of the weapons produced by France were exported. Moreover, exports were carried out in all directions. So, in the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973, the armies of Israel and all Arab countries were armed to the teeth with French weapons. Iran and Iraq also fought among themselves with French weapons. England is an ally of France in NATO, but in the Falklands War, it was French-made aircraft and missiles that caused the greatest damage to the British fleet.

I fully admit that a refined intellectual will be indignant: “The French arms trade in all azimuths is immoral!” But, alas, if France had not sold these weapons systems, others would have been guaranteed to sell them.

A rhetorical question arises, can our nuclear submarines sold to Iran, Venezuela, India, Chile, Argentina, etc., even hypothetically, harm Russia at least in a separate future? What about nuclear boats? Let's take purely defensive weapons - anti-aircraft missiles. Why can't the S-300 anti-aircraft system be sold to Venezuela, Iran, Syria and other countries?

AMERICAN ROCKET CHALLENGE

Unfortunately, our politicians and the media pay very little attention to the American ship-based missile defense system, created during the modernization of the Aegis anti-aircraft system. The new missile was named "Standard-3" (SM-3) and after certain alterations (which ones the Pentagon keeps secret) it can be equipped with any of the 84 US Navy ships with the Aegis system. We are talking about 27 Ticonderoga-class cruisers and 57 Airlie Burke-class destroyers.

In 2006, the CG-67 Shiloh cruiser hit a missile warhead with an SM-3 missile at an altitude of 200 km, 250 km northwest of Cauan Island (Hawaii archipelago). Interestingly, according to Western media, the warhead was guided from the Japanese destroyer DDG-174 Kirishima (total displacement 9490 tons; equipped with the Aegis system).

The fact is that since 2005, Japan, with the help of the United States, has been equipping its fleet with SM-3 anti-missiles of the Aegis system.

The first Japanese ship equipped with the Aegis system with the SM-3 was the destroyer DDG-177 Atado. He received anti-missiles at the very end of 2007.

On November 6, 2006, SM-3 missiles launched from the DDG-70 Lake Erie destroyer intercepted two ICBM warheads at once at an altitude of about 180 km.

And on March 21, 2008, an SM-3 missile from the same Lake Erie hit at an altitude of 247 km and shot down an American secret satellite L-21 Radarsat with a direct hit. The official designation for this secret spacecraft is USA-193.

So, in the Far East, American and Japanese destroyers and cruisers can shoot down ballistic missiles of Russian submarines in the initial part of the trajectory, even if they are launched from their own territorial waters.

I note that American ships with the Aegis system regularly visit the Black, Baltic and Barents Seas. The naval missile defense system is dangerous for the Russian Federation not only during the war. The US military deliberately exaggerates its capabilities, deceiving incompetent people in the US and Europe from presidents and ministers to shopkeepers.

The possibility of a nuclear retaliatory strike by the Soviet Union scared everyone, and since 1945 there has been no direct military clash between the West and Russia. Now, for the first time in 60 years, the politicians and the inhabitants of the NATO countries have the illusion of their own impunity. Meanwhile, it does not occur to our media to spoil this euphoria by recalling American nuclear weapons tests at altitudes of 80 to 400 km in the summer of 1962 on Johnson Atoll. Then, after each explosion, radio communications were interrupted for several hours throughout the Pacific Ocean.

In 2001, the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduce Agency (DTRA) attempted to assess the possible impact of testing on low-orbit satellites. The results were disappointing: one small nuclear charge (from 10 to 20 kilotons - like a bomb dropped on Hiroshima), detonated at an altitude of 125 to 300 km, "is enough to disable all satellites that do not have special protection against radiation. Denis Papadopoulos, a plasma physicist at the University of Maryland, had a different opinion: "A 10-kiloton nuclear bomb, detonated at a specially calculated altitude, could lead to the loss of 90% of all low-orbit satellites for about a month." It is estimated that the cost of replacing the equipment disabled by the consequences of a high-altitude nuclear explosion will be more than $ 100 billion. This is not counting the general economic losses from the loss of opportunities provided by space technology!

Why not ask American missile defense experts to explain how the Aegis and other missile defense systems will work after the explosion of two dozen hydrogen charges in low orbits? Well, then let the Western taxpayers think for themselves what the Pentagon spends money on in a crisis.

INTRODUCED TOMAHAWKS

Another weapon that has created instability in the world and gives rise to a sense of impunity among the military and politicians is the American Tomahawk-type cruise missiles with a range of 2200-2500 km. Even now, surface ships, submarines and aircraft of the United States and NATO countries can launch thousands of such missiles at the Russian Federation. "Tomahawks" can hit ICBM silos, mobile ICBM complexes, communication centers, command posts. Western media argue that a surprise attack by non-nuclear cruise missiles could completely deprive Russia of the ability to launch a nuclear strike.

In this regard, it is surprising that the issue of Tomahawk missiles is not included by our diplomats in the framework of the START negotiations.

By the way, it would be nice to remind our admirals and designers of the Novator Design Bureau that our analogues of the Tomahawks - different Grenades and others - are not even a match for American cruise missiles. And I'm not saying this, but Aunt Geography.

The American Air Force and Navy will never let our ships within 2,500 km of the coast of America. Therefore, the Russian response to the American Tomahawks can only be the ship-based Meteorite and Bolid missiles or their more effective counterparts with a firing range of 5-8 thousand km.

WELL FORGOTTEN OLD

The best way to rid the West of illusions about the possibility of delivering an unpunished strike on Russia would be the resuscitation of the Perimeter system.

The system so frightened the West in the early 1990s that it was called the "Dead Hand". Let me briefly remind you of this horror story.

In the 1970s, the development of the "Limited Nuclear War" doctrine began in the United States. In accordance with it, the key nodes of the Kazbek command system and the communication lines of the Strategic Missile Forces will be destroyed by the first strike, and the surviving communication lines will be suppressed by electronic interference. In this way, the US leadership hoped to avoid a retaliatory nuclear strike.

In response, the USSR decided, in addition to the existing RSVN communication channels, to create a special command missile equipped with a powerful radio transmitter, launched during a special period and giving commands to launch all intercontinental missiles on alert throughout the USSR. Moreover, this rocket was only the main part of a large system.

To ensure the guaranteed fulfillment of its role, the system was originally designed as fully automatic and, in the event of a massive attack, is able to make a decision on a retaliatory strike on its own, without (or with minimal participation) a person. The system included numerous devices for measuring radiation, seismic vibrations, it is connected with early warning radar stations, missile attack early warning satellites, etc. The existence of such a system in the West is called immoral, but it is, in fact, the only deterrent that gives real guarantees that a potential adversary will abandon the concept of a crushing preventive strike.

ASYMMETRIC "PERIMETER"

The principle of operation of the Perimeter system is as follows. In peacetime, the main components of the system are in standby mode, monitoring the situation and processing the data coming from the measuring posts. In the event of a threat of a large-scale attack using nuclear weapons, confirmed by the data of early warning systems for a missile attack, the Perimeter complex is automatically put on alert and begins to monitor the operational situation.

If the sensor components of the system confirm with sufficient certainty the fact of a massive nuclear strike, and the system itself loses contact with the main command nodes of the Strategic Missile Forces for a certain time, it initiates the launch of several command missiles, which, flying over their territory, broadcast a control signal using powerful radio transmitters installed on board. signal, and launch codes for all components of the nuclear triad - mine and mobile launch systems, nuclear submarine missile cruisers and strategic aviation. The receiving equipment of both the command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces and individual launchers, having received this signal, begins the process of immediately launching ballistic missiles in a fully automatic mode, providing a guaranteed retaliatory strike against the enemy even in the event of the death of all personnel.

The development of a special command missile system "Perimeter" was assigned to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau by a joint resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU No. 695-227 of August 30, 1974. Initially, it was planned to use the MR-UR100 (15A15) rocket as the base rocket, later they settled on the MR-UR100 UTTKh (15A16) rocket. The rocket, modified in terms of the control system, received the index 15A11.

In December 1975, a draft design of a command rocket was completed. A special warhead was installed on the rocket, which had the index 15B99, which included the original radio engineering system developed by the LPI Design Bureau (Leningrad Polytechnic Institute). 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 a special warhead "Mayak"), which significantly reduced the cost and time of its creation and development. The manufacture of a special MS 15B99 was organized at the Strela NPO in Orenburg.

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

Flight tests of the 15A11 missile were carried out under the leadership of the State Commission, headed by the First Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Varfolomey Korobushin.

The first launch of the 15A11 command missile with the equivalent of a transmitter was successful on December 26, 1979. The interaction of all systems involved in the launch was checked; the rocket brought the warhead 15B99 to a regular trajectory with a peak of about 4000 km and a range of 4500 km. A total of 10 missiles were made for flight testing. However, only seven launches were carried out between 1979 and 1986.

During the tests of the system, real launches of various types of ICBMs from combat facilities were carried out according to orders transmitted by the 15A11 command missile during the flight. To do this, additional antennas were mounted on the launchers of these missiles and receiving devices of the Perimeter system were installed. Later, all launchers and command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces underwent similar modifications. In total, during the flight design tests (LCT), six launches were recognized as successful, and one was partially successful. In connection with the successful progress of the tests and the fulfillment of the tasks set, the State Commission considered it possible to be satisfied with seven launches instead of the planned ten.

THE CURINE FOR POSSIBLE ILLUSIONS

Simultaneously with the LCI of the rocket, ground tests were carried out for the functioning of the entire complex under the influence of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. Tests were carried out at the test site of the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology, in the laboratories of VNIIEF (Arzamas-16), as well as at the Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site. The checks carried out confirmed the operability of the equipment at levels of exposure to the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion exceeding those specified by the TTZ of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

In addition, during the tests, the Council of Ministers of the USSR set the task of expanding the functions of the complex with bringing combat orders not only to launchers of ground-based intercontinental missiles, but also to nuclear missile submarines, long-range and naval missile-carrying aircraft at airfields and in the air, as well as command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces, Air Force and Navy. Flight design tests of the command missile were completed in March 1982, and in January 1985 the Perimeter complex was put on combat duty.

Data on the Perimeter system is extremely classified. However, it can be assumed that the technical operation of the missiles is identical to the operation of the base rocket 15A16. The launcher is mine, automated, highly protected, most likely of the OS type - a modernized OS-84 launcher.

There is no reliable information about the system, however, according to indirect data, it can be assumed that this is a complex expert system equipped with many communication systems and sensors that control the combat situation. The system monitors the presence and intensity of over-the-air negotiations at military frequencies, the receipt of telemetry signals from the Strategic Missile Forces posts, the level of radiation on the surface and in the vicinity, the regular occurrence of point sources of powerful ionizing and electromagnetic radiation at key coordinates, coinciding with sources of short-term seismic disturbances in the earth. bark (which corresponds to the picture of multiple ground nuclear strikes), and the presence of living people at the command post. Based on the correlation of these factors, the system probably makes the final decision on the need for a retaliatory strike. After being put on combat duty, the complex worked and was periodically used during command and staff exercises.

In December 1990, a modernized system was adopted, called the "Perimeter-RC", which worked until June 1995, when, under the START-1 agreement, the complex was removed from combat duty.

It is quite possible that the Perimeter complex should be modernized so that it can quickly respond to a strike by non-nuclear Tomahawk cruise missiles.

I am sure that our scientists can come up with dozens of asymmetric responses to the US military threat, and an order of magnitude cheaper. Well, as for their immorality, if some British ladies consider anti-personnel mines to be immoral weapons, and Tomahawks to be very respectable, then it’s not bad at all to scare them well. And the more the ladies will vote, the less will our Western friends have the desire to bully Russia.

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

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

How the system works:

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

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

System concept:

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

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

History of creation:

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

Command missile 15A11 of the Perimeter system

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Along with flight tests, a ground test of the performance 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, at the test laboratories of VNIIEF (Arzamas), at the Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site. The tests carried out confirmed the operability of the CS and SGS equipment at levels of nuclear explosion exposure exceeding those specified in the MO TTT.

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

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

System Components

Command posts of the system

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

command missiles

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

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

Receiving devices

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

Autonomous command and control system

The mythical component of the system is a key element of the Doomsday Machine, the existence of which is not known. Some supporters of the existence of such a system believe that this is a complex expert system, equipped with many communication systems and sensors that control the combat situation. This system presumably monitors the presence and intensity of communications on the air at military frequencies, the receipt of telemetry signals from the Strategic Missile Forces posts, the level of radiation on the surface and in the vicinity, the regular occurrence of point sources of powerful ionizing and electromagnetic radiation at key coordinates, coinciding with sources of short-term seismic disturbances. in the earth's crust (which corresponds to the pattern of multiple ground nuclear strikes), and, possibly, the presence of living people at the command post. Based on the correlation of these factors, the system probably makes the final decision on the need for a retaliatory strike.

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

System location

The automated system "Perimeter" is installed in the area of Mount Kosvinsky Kamen (Urals). According to Blair, “American strategists consider it the crown jewel of the Russian nuclear combat command system, since from here it is possible to communicate through the granite thickness with Russian long-range strategic aviation 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's communications network, designed to provide semi-automatic retaliation in response to a decapitation strike."

Mount Kosvinsky Stone

Operation and system status:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

According to sdelanounas.ru