Fail-deadly is a concept in

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space * Nuclear ...

military strategy that encourages deterrence by guaranteeing an immediate, automatic, and overwhelming response to an attack, even if there is no one to trigger such retaliation. The term ''fail-deadly'' was coined as a contrast to '' fail-safe''.

Military usage

Fail-deadly operation is an example of second-strike strategy, in that aggressors are discouraged from attempting a

first strike First strike most commonly refers to: * Pre-emptive nuclear strike * Pre-emptive war First strike may also refer to: * ''First Strike'' (1996 film), also known as ''Jackie Chan's First Strike'' or ''Police Story 4: First Strike'', an action movie ...

attack. Under fail-deadly nuclear deterrence, policies and procedures controlling the retaliatory strike authorize launch even if the existing command and control structure has already been neutralized by a first strike. The deterrent efficacy of such a system clearly depends on other nuclear-armed nations having foreknowledge of it. The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

used a fail-deadly system known as Dead Hand (codenamed "Perimeter"); after the collapse of the Soviet Union,

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retained the system (although it is now only activated in times of crisis). Fail-deadly can refer to specific technology components, or the controls system as a whole. The

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's fail-deadly policies delegate strike authority to submarine commanders in the event of a loss of command (using letters of last resort), ensuring that even when uncoordinated, nuclear retaliation can be carried out.{{cite book , last=Scott , first=Len , date=2000 , title=Planning Armageddon , location=Amsterdam , publisher=Overseas Publishers Association , page=301 , isbn=9058230066 An example of the implementation of such a strategy could be: US Navy ballistic missile submarines are ordered to surface at periodic intervals to receive communications indicating that no change has occurred in the defense condition. Should the submarines be unable to receive the proper command and control signals indicating normal, peacetime conditions, their orders would be to launch their nuclear missiles under the assumption that command and control structures had been destroyed in a nuclear attack and that retaliation was therefore necessary. All available means of verification and all due caution would naturally be applied. This approach is obviously exceptionally dangerous for a variety of reasons, as any benign communications disruption due to technical failure could conceivably incite a completely unnecessary nuclear war. The strategy's intended value lies in deterrence against attack on command, control, communications, and computer (see C4I) networks by any potential adversary. Fail-deadly is also associated with massive retaliation, a deterrence strategy that ensures that the counterstrike will be conducted on a larger scale than the initial attack.

References

Nuclear strategy Nuclear command and control

Military usage

See also

References