''Cheget'' () is a " nuclear briefcase" (named after in Kabardino-Balkaria) and a part of the automatic system for the command and control of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

's Strategic Nuclear Forces (SNF) named ''Kazbek'' (, named after Mount Kazbek on the Georgia–Russia border). From when it was first developed, a "nuclear suitcase" has been available to the Russian head of state, Minister of Defense and the head of the General Staff.

History

The ''cheget'' was developed during

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...

's administration in the early 1980s. The suitcase was put into service just as

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

took office as

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the Party leader, leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, country's dissoluti ...

in March 1985. It is connected to the special communications system code-named ''Kavkaz'' (, the Russian name for the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

region), which "supports communication between senior government officials while they are making the decision whether to use nuclear weapons, and in its own turn is plugged into ''Kazbek'', which embraces all the individuals and agencies involved in command and control of the Strategic Nuclear Forces." The

President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...

(the Supreme Commander-in-Chief) has a ''cheget'' on hand at all times. It is one of three, with the other two held by the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

and the Chief of the General Staff. It may be that affirmations from two of the three are needed to trigger an actual launch. The

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

receives the signal and initiates the nuclear strike through the passing of

authorization Authorization or authorisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences), in information security, computer security and identity management, IAM (Identity and Access Managemen ...

codes to missile silo launch complexes/ ballistic missile submarines or by remotely launching individual land-based

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

s (ICBMs)/

submarine-launched ballistic missile A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from Ballistic missile submarine, submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which ...

s (SLBMs). On 25 January 1995, in the Norwegian rocket incident, the cheget was activated in response to a misidentified three-stage scientific sounding rocket ( Brant XII as third stage), launched by Norwegian and U.S. scientists; it was the only known time a nuclear briefcase has been activated in preparation for an attack.

Gallery

File:Vladimir Putin 31 December 1999-1.jpg, Then- Acting President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

receiving the "nuclear briefcase" on 31 December 1999. File:Vladimir Putin inauguration 7 May 2012-26.jpeg, The ceremony of passing the "nuclear briefcase" during Vladimir Putin's third inauguration on 7 May 2012.

References

{{reflist Nuclear command and control Military communications Strategic Rocket Forces Presidency of Russia

History

Gallery

See also

References