The Soviet Doomsday Machine

[muckhole]

Interesting article about a 80's era Soviet countermeasure for nuclear attack, called "Perimeter".

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/17-10/mf_deadhand?currentPage=all

Yarynich is talking about Russia's doomsday machine. That's right, an actual doomsday device—a real, functioning version of the ultimate weapon, always presumed to exist only as a fantasy of apocalypse-obsessed science fiction writers and paranoid über-hawks.

Essentially it's a system like a dead-man's switch, designed to assess if a nuclear strike has occurred, and then send a retaliatory strike, even if there's no one to launch it. It's been a poorly kept secret for a while now, even though many U.S. higher-ups seem to be unaware of it's existence.

The system remains so shrouded that Yarynich worries his continued openness puts him in danger. He might have a point: One Soviet official who spoke with Americans about the system died in a mysterious fall down a staircase. But Yarynich takes the risk. He believes the world needs to know about Dead Hand. Because, after all, it is still in place.

The whole thing sounds a bit "tinfoil hat", pretty interesting stuff. Hope it never malfunctions! (Though apparently it's only to be turned on during potential escalation.)

[Phoenix Dark]

What about the suitcase nukes!

[Brehvolution]

That's pretty cool.

[Phoenix Dark]

What if it's connected to Putin's heart, programmed the detonate the second it stops beating

[Mandark]

[youtube=560,345]cmCKJi3CKGE[/youtube]

The whole point of the Doomsday Device is lost if YOU KEEP IT A SECRET!

[Akala]

[youtube=560,345]cmCKJi3CKGE[/youtube]

The whole point of the Doomsday Device is lost if YOU KEEP IT A SECRET!

That was the first thing I thought of too. 

I was going to go digging for it, but the author referenced it in the article.

[Great Rumbler]

[youtube=560,345]cmCKJi3CKGE[/youtube]

The whole point of the Doomsday Device is lost if YOU KEEP IT A SECRET!

My favorite part of that scene is George C. Scott accidentally tripping over but still continuing with the scene. 

[Mandark]

What about the suitcase nukes!

That's actually a pretty good point.

Automatically triggered nuclear retaliation only works if you know another country will be responsible rather than a terrorist, and you already know which country to boot.

I wonder how much analysis and research on war and international relations generally is now obsolete because it assumed a bipolar world.

[Akala]

Suitcase nukes are still kind of a myth, ya?

Nuclear war isn't quite that outdated yet. Cool (?) to imagine some third party detonating a nuke, but odds are kind of against it, right?

[E-DuB]

What if it's connected to Putin's heart, programmed the detonate the second it stops beating

You are crazy, Putin is immortal

[Bocsius]

Assuming Putin has a heart... 

[chronovore]

What if it's connected to Putin's heart, programmed the detonate the second it stops beating

You are crazy, Putin is immortal

Sure he is, now that he's got a nuclear-powered heart.

[Mandark]

Suitcase nukes are still kind of a myth, ya?

Yeah.  Even if it's possible to develop the technology, no country would want to.

Now that I think about it, even during the Cold War the UK and France had their own deterrents.  It would have sucked if Paris let one go and some automated response system wiped out the US as a result.

[The Fake Shemp]

That sounds like a black comedy.

Some French beatnik, drunk on wine and eating es cargo, accidentally slips his hand and launches a nuclear weapon at Russia. America gets annihilated as a consequence.

"Houp!"

[Reb]

That sounds like a black comedy.

Some French beatnik, drunk on wine and eating es cargo, accidentally slips his hand and launches a nuclear weapon at Russia. America gets annihilated as a consequence.

"Houp!"

Is that some kind of Spanish freight?