Lou Konscol

If Vladimir Putin went off the deep end and decided to unilaterally launch a nuclear strike on the United States, could he do it? Do the Russians have any system in place to prevent one unstable person from starting WW3?

- Question posed on Quora

The nuclear release procedure of the US and Russia are almost identical, they were developed together in 1962.

Nuclear release can only occur when the military presents the political leadership with a number of options., without these no release is possible.

The Russians have a nuclear briefcase, Cheget ((named after a mountain) similar to the American Nuclear Football.

This is a communications device, it can’t be used to fire nuclear weapons. The actual release codes are kept by the military.

Just like in the US, the briefcase is there to allow a President to communicate with the military over a secured line, it is nothing more than a big phone.

In both countries, the final decision to deploy nuclear weapons lies with the military.

These systems were created jointly by the US and the Soviet Union in 1962 as a result of a meeting between Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Lemnitzer, and the Supreme Commander of the Unified Armed Forces of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, Marshal of the Soviet Union Grechko. These protocols are known as the Berlin Accords.

- Thierry Etienne Joseph Rotty, Senior Controller at NATO

Tim adds:

I don't know about that. The treaty was with the Soviet Union, a country that no longer exists.

Russia's current nuclear stockpile goes back to 2005, well after the demise of the Soviet Empire. Putin took money from the U.S. earmarked for destroying the old Soviet nukes and spent it to make a spiffy new arsenal. I don't think the controls that were in place are there anymore. Certainly Mr. Putin would not have allowed a voluntary check on his own authority at that point - especially from the military. The military and the KGB always hated each-other and rarely cooperated.

Mr. Putin, as a former KGB agent, no doubt would not give the military this authority over him.

I suspect this NATO guy is trying to quell fears by blowing smoke up our posteriors. I am of the belief that Mr. Putin can launch his birds whenever he wishes.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 12:00 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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