Nuclear suitcase

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Nuclear suitcase
Today, the presidential "nuclear button" performs exclusively decorative functions.

The phrase "nuclear suitcase" you all probably heard. The symbol of the military power of the two superpowers, and perhaps the only one who survived the times of the Cold War, is a thing that is constantly guarded and top secret. However, using this expression, most of us are completely unaware of what we are talking about - is it really a case or just a figure of speech, what size is it, what is inside, how, finally, does the proverbial button work. All of these are absolute secrets that are not customary to say to anyone and never. In addition, in the case of a small suitcase, the circle of initiates is extremely narrow, which further complicates the collection of information about it. Today we will try to tell as much as possible about this mysterious object: as a result of our investigation, you will learn about the nuclear suitcase everything that you can really know about it without danger to life.

The first publication of a photo of a small suitcase was nearly recognized by the disclosure of state secrets.

In the USSR, as, indeed, in Russia, a nuclear suitcase is a scepter and a power in one bottle. Former Boris Yeltsin’s main bodyguard, Alexander Korzhakov, recalls how his boss used to get this relic from the hands of Allied Head Mikhail Gorbachev: “In fact, the official ceremony of handing over the nuclear suitcase was planned: Boris Nikolaevich wanted to invite journalists and publicly capture historical event. But, since the presidents of the USSR and Russia had a strained relationship, to put it mildly, Gorbachev refused to personally hand over to Yeltsin the symbol of a superpower. At some point, General Boldyrev simply appeared with special communications officers. He called from the reception of Yeltsin and said: "We have you."

To my surprise, the suitcase turned out to be the most ordinary, seemingly rather cheap case made of hard plastic. The special communications officer very quickly told Yeltsin how to use it, while he did not say anything abstruse, the instructions were set out in the simplest language. One of those present photographed the moment when the suitcase fell into the hands of Boris Nikolayevich. Subsequently, he presented this photo to some journalist, who published it in the newspaper. Then there was even some semblance of a scandal - it occurred to someone that secret information had been disclosed, although there was nothing on the card except for a case similar to those with which the soldiers are being demobilized>.

The system developed under Leonid Brezhnev was as simple as possible.

In fact, the main symbol of Russia, the honorary badge of a nuclear power and the memory of the greatness of the USSR is not just a small suitcase, but the Kazbek automated system for managing Russia's strategic nuclear forces. This system, part of which, in fact, is the notorious case, was created at the Research Institute of Automatic Equipment, which was headed by Academician Vladimir Semenikhin. The general customer - the Ministry of Defense - was represented by the Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff, Colonel-General Ivan Nikolaev. The method of working with a suitcase when traveling on foot, in a car, plane, the rules for equipping places of permanent residence of the head of state, as well as how the suitcase should be used, what equipment it needs, how many people will have access to the system - all this was developed by the designer one of the subsystems of the ACS, State Prize laureate Valentin Golubkov.

The system was developed at the height of the Cold War, specifically under the then leader of the country, Leonid Brezhnev - it had to be extremely simple so as not to frighten the elderly general secretary. The first "suitcase porters" - officers who should always be close to the head of state - were personally selected by General Nikolaev. The role of the “porter” was selected exclusively by professionals who had a representative appearance and well-tempered character, because they had to constantly be with the head of state, even in his family. The main problem in the selection - every second candidate, seeing the general, marshal or a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, was desperately shy. At the same time, General Nikolaev clearly ordered: to remove the unstable ones from the system. If a person in training is confused, what to expect from him at a crucial moment?

The readiness of the "nuclear button" is checked from time to time by test launches of missiles.

“I have often seen a nuclear suitcase, or a“ button, ”as it is also called,” Alexander Korzhakov continues his story. “Besides the briefcase, there is also a special communication machine that almost always accompanies the president. Well, where Yeltsin was constantly , special stationary equipment was also installed. So the "nuclear button" is a conditional name. In fact, it is a special software device that allows you to reach the command headquarters in the General Staff and reserve points via satellite. Namely from there comes the order to launch missiles.

A special elite unit of the Ministry of Defense serves the “button”: in any of Yeltsin’s trips, two or three special communications officers accompanied him. Actually, one could cope, but what can happen with a man — it hurts his stomach, the temperature jumps ... They were all dressed traditionally in a naval uniform. They used to wear combined arms, but when Minister Grachev changed form in the army, the novelty did not like it - there was something from the Wehrmacht in it. In the end, we decided to choose for these guys a stylish and strict uniform of a naval officer-submariner. They immediately stood out among the other military: many were jealous of them, they believed that they were fattening under the president. But this is not true: nothing but a hassle and meager travelers, the officers at the case had no.

They lived in the same way as the staff of the Presidential Security Service. Formally, it was I who gave permission for which of these officers to raise, whom to include or exclude from the group. On business trips, they were always allocated a room next to the presidential one, and they had their own equipped place on the plane. It was a bit crowded: for three there was a tiny room, which was located behind the dining room of Yeltsin. However, despite the difficult working conditions, the group was still considered elite. Sometimes at night I checked how it works: one of them does not sleep, is on duty with the device, keeps it in constant readiness. By the way, several times we checked how the nuclear briefcase works: the chief gave the order, and missiles were launched on Kamchatka. Everything worked perfectly.

But in general, few people know that the president himself cannot do anything special with his suitcase, because in fact there are three such cases. One - at the head of state, one - at the Minister of Defense, one - at the Chief of the General Staff. From each such impromptu console, a coded signal must be sent: only if three necessary confirmations are received, will the equipment work in the missile silo. So the launch of a nuclear warhead requires serious coordination>.

During an operation on his heart, Yeltsin did not even give the case to Chernomyrdin

The nuclear suitcase almost looked like 100% by the end of 1983 of the year. It weighed about 11 kilograms, had a very modern design for that time, and at the same time there was not a single import element in it. At the first demonstration of this miracle of technology, an unpleasant embarrassment happened: when the prototype was delivered to the Kremlin, they decided to try it in advance at the reception office of the head of state, but the system was working ... only on the windowsill. It turned out that when working in “pedestrian mode”, the suitcase should “cling” to the nearest antenna, and there was no such secret in the reception room of the general secretary. It’s good that the General Secretary was busy at the time and couldn’t accept the developers, otherwise they wouldn’t avoid serious problems.

After 10, a new bad luck happened to the suitcase - in 93, its technical resource simply expired. The operation of "Kazbek" in the mode of "patching holes" began, and difficulties immediately appeared. First, in the system, as we have said, only domestic parts were used, and almost all microelectronic production with the collapse of the USSR remained abroad. It was strictly forbidden to use imported elements - what little bugs will be there. Secondly, there are almost no specialists left alive who know all the subtleties of the “suitcase” case and are able to cope with any breakage.

And finally, thirdly, the very concept of a small suitcase became outdated: according to the Soviet military doctrine, it was necessary to be constantly ready for a massive nuclear attack by the enemy. The flight time of the American "Pershing-2" to our border was just 7 minutes - during this time it was necessary to fix the launch of enemy missiles, make a decision and have time to strike retaliation on enemy territory. Now we are no longer waiting for a nuclear avalanche from across the ocean, so by and large the briefcase with its capabilities of “massive retaliation” is simply not required.

As a result, now he plays mostly the symbolically decorative role of the main symbol of the head of state: no one has been thinking about using it for its intended purpose for a long time. As Gennady Zakharov, the former deputy head of the presidential security service, told us, Yeltsin didn’t even hand him over to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin when he replaced the president during a heart operation. The porters' officers simply sat in the hospital lobby, and as soon as Boris Nikolayevich came to his senses, the presidential toy was brought into his ward. What would happen if the nuclear strike on our territory was inflicted on the territory of the United States, it is better not to think at all.

Help

In the US, a suitcase is called a ball.


Of course, not only the Russian president has a nuclear suitcase: the US president constantly carries such a device along. However, the American missile control panel looks more like a bag than a case - on the sidelines it is called not a briefcase, but a soccer ball, hinting at the similarity with the projectile for the American version of this game. Behind the rounded folds of black leather is a heavy-duty titanium box of size 45x35x25 cm, which can be locked with a combination lock and attached to the wrist of the presidential aide with a special steel bracelet.

The “soccer ball” not only stores the president’s personal code (a plastic “authorizing plate”, which you can print out a special code to activate the American missile arsenal), but also a thirty-page instruction on what to do to the US leader in the event of a nuclear war. In particular, there is a list of secret bunkers, where the president can sit out.

The officers who wear the “ball” behind the president are selected from four types of armed forces and the US Coast Guard, each of them must pass the most complicated test and get the highest tolerance of secrecy “White Yankee”. All of them are armed with Beretta pistols and have the right, without warning, to open fire.

Of course, in the US, the “ball” also performs ritual functions: it moves from one president to another on the day of inauguration. Immediately after this, the new owner of the White House receives a special half-hour lecture on how to use the contents of the briefcase.

 
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4 comments
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  1. dred
    0
    27 November 2011 16: 43
    In the United States they call the sword hahahahahah.
  2. Artemka
    0
    27 November 2011 16: 46
    Yes, while he reads the instructions, his country will already be turned to hell.
  3. surprise_xxx
    0
    7 November 2012 19: 18
    Yes, he probably takes tests each week laughing
  4. 0
    April 23 2019 10: 02
    And in other countries what?

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