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The Soviets knew that theory. They had mobile launchers all across the USSR and submarines on standby. And the idea that only the president can launch nukes is
by Tsubasachan 8y ago
The Soviets knew that theory. They had mobile launchers all across the USSR and submarines on standby.
And the idea that only the president can launch nukes is false. There were contingency plans.
- ohithereyou 8y agoJust wait until you hear about Wing Attack Plan R and the strategic mine shaft gap.
- matthewdgreen 8y agoAs I understand it, the Soviets had mobile contingency plans, but they were also afraid of delegating launch capability to the field -- for the very pragmatic reason that a rival power center (e.g., a portion of the military) could rebel and exploit it. This put a lot of pressure on central leadership to respond to possible missile warnings rapidly, since a decapitation strike could actually succeed. Allegedly the answer was Perimeter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand), which allowed delegation with a bunch of technical safeguards added.