The domestic system "Perimeter", known in the United States and Western Europe as the "Dead Hand", is a complex of automatic control of a massive retaliatory nuclear strike. The system was created back in the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Its main purpose is to guarantee the delivery of a retaliatory nuclear strike even if the command posts and communication lines of the Strategic Missile Forces are completely destroyed or blocked by the enemy.
With the development of nuclear weapons of monstrous power, the principles of waging a global war have undergone major changes. Just one missile with a nuclear warhead on board could hit and destroy the command center or bunker, which housed the top leadership of the enemy. Here one should consider, first of all, the US doctrine, the so-called "decapitation strike". It was against such a strike that Soviet engineers and scientists created a system of a guaranteed retaliatory nuclear strike. The Perimeter system, created during the Cold War, took over on alert in January 1985. It is a very complex and large organism that was dispersed over Soviet territory and constantly controlled many parameters and thousands of Soviet warheads. At the same time, about 200 modern nuclear warheads are quite enough to destroy a country like the United States.
The development of a system of a guaranteed retaliatory strike in the USSR began also because it became clear that in the future the means of electronic warfare would only be continuously improved. There was a threat that they would eventually be able to block the regular channels of command and control of strategic nuclear forces. In this regard, a reliable backup method of communication was needed, which would guarantee the delivery of launch commands to all nuclear missile launchers.
The idea came up to use special command missiles as such a communication channel, which, instead of warheads, would carry powerful radio transmitting equipment. Flying over the territory of the USSR, such a missile would transmit commands to launch ballistic missiles not only to the command posts of the Strategic Missile Forces, but also directly to numerous launchers. On August 30, 1974, by a closed decree of the Soviet government, the development of such a missile was initiated, the task was issued to the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in the city of Dnepropetrovsk, this design bureau specialized in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Command missile 15A11 of the "Perimeter" system
The Yuzhnoye design bureau specialists took the UR-100UTTKh ICBM (according to NATO codification - Spanker, trotter) as a basis. A warhead specially created for a command missile with powerful radio transmitting equipment was designed at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, and the Strela Scientific and Production Association in Orenburg was engaged in its production. To aim the command missile in azimuth, a completely autonomous system with a quantum optical gyrometer and an automatic gyrocompass was used. She was able to calculate the required direction of flight in the process of placing the command missile on alert, these calculations were retained even in the event of a nuclear impact on the launcher of such a missile. Flight tests of the new rocket started in 1979, the first launch of a rocket with a transmitter was successfully completed on December 26. The tests carried out proved the successful interaction of all the components of the Perimeter system, as well as the ability of the head of the command missile to withstand the given flight path, the top of the trajectory was at an altitude of 4000 meters with a range of 4500 kilometers.
In November 1984, a command rocket launched from near Polotsk managed to transmit the command to launch a silo launcher in the Baikonur region. The R-36M ICBM (according to the NATO codification SS-18 Satan), which took off from the mine, after working out all the stages, successfully hit the target with its head in a given square at the Kura training ground in Kamchatka. In January 1985, the Perimeter system was put on alert. Since then, this system has been modernized several times, at present, modern ICBMs are used as command missiles.
The command posts of this system, apparently, are structures that are similar to the standard missile bunkers of the Strategic Missile Forces. They are equipped with all necessary control equipment and communication systems. Presumably, they can be integrated with launchers of command missiles, but, most likely, they are located on the ground at a sufficiently large distance to ensure better survivability of the entire system.
The only well-known component of the Perimeter system is the 15P011 command missiles, which have the 15A11 index. It is the missiles that are the basis of the system. Unlike other intercontinental ballistic missiles, they should fly not towards the enemy, but over Russia; instead of thermonuclear warheads, they carry powerful transmitters that send a launch command to all available combat ballistic missiles of various bases (they have special command receivers). The system is fully automated, while the human factor in its work has been minimized.
Radar early warning system Voronezh-M, photo: vpk-news.ru, Vadim Savitsky
The decision to launch command missiles is made by an autonomous control and command system - a very complex software package based on artificial intelligence. This system receives and analyzes a huge amount of very different information. During combat duty, mobile and stationary control centers over a vast territory constantly evaluate a lot of parameters: the level of radiation, seismic activity, air temperature and pressure, control military frequencies, recording the intensity of radio exchange and negotiations, monitor the data of the missile attack warning system (EWS), and also control telemetry from the observation posts of the Strategic Missile Forces. The system monitors point sources of powerful ionizing and electromagnetic radiation, which coincide with seismic disturbances (evidence of nuclear strikes). After analyzing and processing all incoming data, the Perimeter system is able to autonomously make a decision to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike against the enemy (of course, the top officials of the Ministry of Defense and the state can also activate the combat mode).
For example, if the system detects multiple point sources of powerful electromagnetic and ionizing radiation and compares them with data on seismic disturbances in the same places, it may come to the conclusion about a massive nuclear strike on the country's territory. In this case, the system will be able to initiate a retaliatory strike even bypassing "Kazbek" (the famous "nuclear briefcase"). Another scenario is that the Perimeter system receives information from the early warning system about missile launches from the territory of other states, and the Russian leadership puts the system into a combat mode of operation. If, after a certain time, the command to turn off the system does not come, it will itself start launching ballistic missiles. This solution eliminates the human factor and guarantees a retaliatory strike against the enemy even with the complete destruction of the launch crews and the high military command and leadership of the country.
According to one of the developers of the Perimeter system, Vladimir Yarynich, it also served as insurance against a hasty decision by the top leadership of the state to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike based on unverified information. Having received a signal from the early warning system, the country's top officials could launch the Perimeter system and calmly wait for further developments, while being absolutely sure that even with the destruction of everyone who has the authority to issue the order to retaliate, the retaliation strike will not succeed prevent. Thus, the possibility of making a decision on a retaliatory nuclear strike in the event of inaccurate information and false alarm was completely excluded.
Rule of four if
According to Vladimir Yarynich, he does not know a reliable way that could disable the system. The "Perimeter" control and command system, all of its sensors and command missiles are designed taking into account the work in the conditions of a real enemy nuclear attack. In peacetime, the system is in a calm state, one might say it is in a "dream", without ceasing to analyze a huge array of incoming information and data. When the system is put into combat mode of operation or in the event of an alarm signal from the early warning missile system, the strategic missile missile system and other systems, the monitoring of the network of sensors is started, which should detect signs of nuclear explosions that have occurred.
Launch of ICBM "Topol-M"
Before launching the algorithm, which assumes a retaliatory strike by the "Perimeter", the system checks for the presence of 4 conditions, this is the "rule of four if". Firstly, it is checked whether a nuclear attack really happened, the sensor system analyzes the situation for nuclear explosions on the territory of the country. After that, it is checked by the presence of communication with the General Staff, if there is a connection, the system turns off after a while. If the General Staff does not answer in any way, "Perimeter" asks for "Kazbek". If there is no answer here, artificial intelligence transfers the power to decide on a retaliatory strike to anyone in the command bunkers. Only after checking all these conditions, the system begins to operate on its own.
American analogue of "Perimeter"
During the Cold War, the Americans created an analogue of the Russian system "Perimeter", their duplicate system was called "Operation Looking Glass". It was put into operation on February 3, 1961. The system was based on special aircraft - air command posts of the US Strategic Air Command, which were deployed on the basis of eleven Boeing EC-135C aircraft. These machines were continuously in the air for 24 hours a day. Their combat duty lasted 29 years from 1961 to June 24, 1990. The planes flew in shifts to various regions over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Operators working on board these aircraft monitored the situation and duplicated the control system of the American strategic nuclear forces. In the event of the destruction of ground centers or their incapacitation in another way, they could duplicate the commands for a retaliatory nuclear strike. On June 24, 1990, continuous combat duty was terminated, while the aircraft remained in a state of constant combat readiness.
In 1998, the Boeing EC-135C was replaced by new Boeing E-6 Mercury aircraft - control and communications aircraft created by Boeing Corporation on the basis of the Boeing 707-320 passenger aircraft. This aircraft is designed to provide a backup communication system with nuclear submarines with ballistic missiles (SSBN) of the US Navy, and the aircraft can also be used as an air command post of the United Strategic Command of the United States Armed Forces (USSTRATCOM). From 1989 to 1992, the US military received 16 of these aircraft. In 1997-2003, they all underwent modernization and today are operated in the E-6B version. The crew of each such aircraft consists of 5 people, in addition to them there are 17 operators on board (a total of 22 people).
Boeing E-6 Mercury
Currently, these aircraft are flying in order to meet the needs of the US Department of Defense in the Pacific and Atlantic zones. On board the aircraft there is an impressive set of electronic equipment necessary for operation: an automated complex for controlling ICBM launches; onboard multichannel terminal of the Milstar satellite communication system, which provides communication in the millimeter, centimeter and decimeter ranges; a super-long-wavelength complex of increased power, designed for communication with strategic nuclear submarines; 3 radio stations of decimeter and meter range; 3 VHF radio stations, 5 HF radio stations; VHF automated control and communication system; emergency tracking equipment. To provide communication with strategic submarines, ballistic missile carriers in the super-long-wave range, special towed antennas are used, which can be released from the aircraft fuselage directly in flight.
Operation of the "Perimeter" system and its current status
After being put on alert, the Perimeter system worked and was periodically used as part of the command post exercises. At the same time, the 15P011 command missile system with the 15A11 missile (based on the UR-100 ICBM) was on alert until mid-1995, when, within the framework of the signed START-1 agreement, it was removed from combat duty. The Perimeter system is operational and ready to retaliate in the event of an attack, the article was published in 2009, according to Wired magazine, which is published in the United Kingdom and the United States. In December 2011, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Lieutenant General Sergei Karakaev, noted in an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda journalists that the Perimeter system still exists and is on alert.
Will "Perimeter" protect against the concept of a global non-nuclear strike
The development of promising systems for an instant global non-nuclear strike, on which the US military is working, is able to destroy the existing balance of power in the world and ensure Washington's strategic dominance in the world arena. A representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense spoke about this during a Russian-Chinese briefing on missile defense, which took place on the sidelines of the first committee of the UN General Assembly. The concept of a rapid global strike assumes that the American army is able to deliver a disarming strike against any country and anywhere in the world within one hour, using its non-nuclear weapons for this. In this case, cruise and ballistic missiles in non-nuclear equipment can become the main means of delivering warheads.
Launching a Tomahawk rocket from an American ship
AIF journalist Vladimir Kozhemyakin asked Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), to what extent an American instant global non-nuclear strike threatens Russia. According to Pukhov, the threat of such a strike is very significant. With all the Russian successes with "Caliber", our country is only making the first steps in this direction. “How many of these“Calibers”can we launch in one salvo? Let's say a few dozen units, and the Americans - several thousand "Tomahawks". Imagine for a second that 5,000 American cruise missiles are flying towards Russia, skirting the terrain, and we don't even see them,”the specialist noted.
All Russian long-range radar detection stations record only ballistic targets: missiles that are analogous to Russian ICBMs Topol-M, Sineva, Bulava, etc. We can track rockets that take off from mines located on American soil. At the same time, if the Pentagon issues the command to launch cruise missiles from its submarines and ships located around Russia, they may well be able to wipe out a number of strategic objects of prime importance from the face of the earth: including the top political leadership, command headquarters.
At the moment, we are almost defenseless against such a blow. Of course, in the Russian Federation there is and operates a system of double redundancy known as "Perimeter". It guarantees the possibility of a retaliatory nuclear strike against the enemy under any circumstances. It is no coincidence that in the United States she was called "The Dead Hand". The system will be able to ensure the launch of ballistic missiles even if communication lines and command posts of the Russian strategic nuclear forces are completely destroyed. The United States will still be hit with retaliation. At the same time, the very existence of the "Perimeter" does not solve the problem of our vulnerability to the "instant global non-nuclear strike."
In this regard, the work of the Americans on such a concept, of course, causes concern. But the Americans are not suicides: as long as they realize that there is at least a ten percent chance that Russia will be able to respond, their "global strike" will not take place. And our country can only respond with nuclear weapons. Therefore, it is necessary to take all necessary countermeasures. Russia should be able to see the launch of American cruise missiles and respond to it adequately with conventional means of deterrence, without unleashing a nuclear war. But so far Russia does not have such funds. In the context of the ongoing economic crisis and the reduction in funding for the armed forces, the country can save on many things, but not on our nuclear deterrent forces. They are given absolute priority in our security system.
