NUCLEAR BRIEF CASE

20 Oct 2023 3 mins Download PDF

1. 1. The Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to China was witnessed by his officers carrying the “nuclear briefcase”.
2. The ‘nuclear briefcase’, also known as the ‘Cheget’ is named after a mountain in Russia.
3. It forms a part of a larger system in place for authorising the launch of nuclear strikes.
4. It’s part of a secured communication setup which is used to convey orders for a nuclear strike to the rocket forces of the country.
5. ‘Kazbek’ electronic command-and-control network is used for communication among the forces and it also supports another system, known as ‘Kavkaz’.
6. The first and only known instance of a nuclear briefcase being “opened” during a crisis was in 1995 as a product of the final phase of the Cold War.
7. The working of the Nuclear Brief case:
   • The radar operators sent out alerts of possible enemy action.
   • The Russian electronic command-and-control networks gets activated.
   • A special notification terminal, Krokus receives the information from the radar operator.
   • It then passes it to the Kavkaz, a complex network of cables, radio signals, satellites and relays that is at the heart of the Russian command and control.
   • The alert then reaches the nuclear briefcases and it can then be opened to launch a strike using the white button and a red one to stop the order.
8. American also has such briefcases officially called the Presidential Emergency Satchel and nicknamed the ‘football’ after a 1960s mission called ‘Dropkick’.