Dead Hand ( nuclear war ) Dead Hand ( , Systema " Perimetr " , 15Э601 ) , known also as Perimeter , is a Cold - War - era nuclear - control system used by the Soviet Union . General speculation from insiders alleges that the system remains in use in post - Soviet Russia . An example of fail - deadly deterrence , it can automatically trigger the launch of the Russian intercontinental ballistic missile s ( ICBMs ) if a nuclear strike is detected by seismic , light , radioactivity and overpressure sensors . By most accounts , it is normally switched off and is supposed to be activated during dangerous crises only ; however , it is said to remain fully functional and able to serve its purpose whenever needed . Motivation . The purpose of the " Dead Hand " system , as described in a book of the same name , was to maintain a second strike capability , by ensuring that the destruction of the Soviet leadership would not have prevented the Soviet military from releasing its weapons . Soviet concern about the issue grew with the U . S . development of highly accurate submarine - launched ballistic missile ( SLBM ) systems in the 1980s . Until then , the United States would have delivered most nuclear weapons by long - range bomber or ICBM . Earlier U . S . sub - launched missiles , such as the 1960s - vintage UGM - 27 Polaris and 1970s - vintage UGM - 73 Poseidon , were considered too inaccurate for a counterforce or first strike , an attack against an opponent ' s weapons . SLBMs were reserved for attacking cities , where accuracy was of less importance . In the first case , an opponent with effective radar and satellite surveillance could expect a 30 - minute warning of an attack before the first detonation . This made an effective first - strike difficult , because the opponent would have time to launch on warning to reduce the risk of his forces being destroyed on the ground . The development of highly accurate SLBMs , such as the Trident C4 and later the D5 upset this balance . The Trident D5 is considered to be as accurate as any land based ICBM . Therefore , US or UK Trident submarine systems that could stealthily approach an enemy ' s coast and launch highly accurate warheads at close range would reduce the available warning to less than 3 minutes making a counterforce first strike or a decapitation strike viable . Some game theorists have argued that if one country believed it could defeat another ' s command - and - control system in a first strike , it would attempt to do so . The USSR , therefore , took steps to ensure that nuclear retaliation , and hence deterrence , remained possible even if its leadership were destroyed in a surprise attack . In contrast , Thompson argues that Perimeter ' s function was to limit acts of misjudgment by political or military leaderships in the tight decision making window between SLBM or cruise missile launches , and impact . He quotes Zheleznyakov on the purpose of Perimeter being " to cool down all these hotheads and extremists . No matter what was going to happen , there still would be revenge . " Operation . In the early 1990s several former high - ranking members of the Soviet military and the in a series of interviews to the American defense contractor BDM admitted the existence of the Dead Hand , making somewhat contradictory statements concerning its deployment . Colonel General Varfolomey Korobushin , former Deputy Chief of Staff of Strategic Rocket Forces , in his 1992 interview admitted that the Russians had a system which would automatically launch all missiles , triggered by a combination of light , radioactivity and overpressure , even if every nuclear command center and all of their leaders were destroyed . According to him , the system was to be activated only during a crisis . Colonel General Andrian Danilevich , Assistant for Doctrine and Strategy to the Chief of the General Staff in 1984 – 90 , stated in 1992 in an interview that the Dead Hand had been contemplated , but the Soviets considered automatic trigger systems too dangerous , furthermore they became unnecessary with the advent of efficient early warning systems and increased missile readiness , so the idea had been rejected . In 1993 Vitaly Katayev , Senior Adviser to the Chairman of the Defense Industry Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1967 – 85 , responsible for strategic arms and defense policy , arms control negotiations and military doctrine , confirmed in an interview to John G . Hines that the Dead Hand had been " definitely operational " by the early 1980s . According to him , it was not completely automatic , supposed to be activated manually during a threatening crisis . It was to be triggered by numerous sensors sensitive to light , seismic shock , radiation or atmospheric density . Although both Katayev and Korobushin claimed that the mechanism had already been deployed , Viktor Surikov , Deputy Director of the Central Scientific Research Institute for General Machine Building ( TsNIIMash ) in 1976 – 92 , confirmed in a 1993 interview that they had designed the automatic launch system with seismic , light and radiation sensors , but said that the design had been ultimately rejected by Marshal Sergey Akhromeyev on advice of Korobushin and never materialized . Accounts differ as to the degree of automation of Dead Hand . In a 1993 issue of " The New York Times " : However , more recent sources indicate the system was semi - automatic . In a 2007 article , Ron Rosenbaum quotes Blair as saying that Dead Hand is " designed to ensure semi - automatic retaliation to a decapitating strike . " Rosenbaum writes , " Of course , there ' s a world of difference between a ' semi - automatic ' doomsday device and the totally automatic — beyond human control — doomsday device . " David E . Hoffman wrote on the semi - automatic nature of Dead Hand : Current use . It is not known whether Russia continues to use the system , and it is possible that it is still in place . Some commentators say the system never operated in fully automatic mode . A 2009 article in " Wired " magazine claimed Dead Hand exists , is ready to react as intended , and still receives system upgrades . In 2011 a Russian tabloid confirmed operational state of Perimeter assessment and communication system . In popular culture . A similar automatic retaliation system called the " Doomsday Machine " features prominently in the movie " Dr . Strangelove " . The system depicted there is however " completely " automatic , and impossible to shut down . Thus , an American nuclear bomb dropped by accident on the Soviet Union causes an automatic reaction . This would , however , not be a nuclear - retaliation in the sense of launching nuclear weapons against America , but the detonation of 50 large cobalt bomb s buried on Soviet territory intended to create a " Doomsday shroud " of deadly radioactive fallout that would encircle the Earth and extinguish all life . The thriller movie " WarGames " also explored the consequences of putting a major nuclear arsenal under computer control , after a ( fictional ) surprise drill revealed that 30 % of bunker commanders were unwilling to launch their missiles when ordered to and be responsible for Armageddon ; in the story , the computer tries to launch a nuclear war , and is only stopped from doing so by the narrowest of margins . The film " The Forbin Project " explores similar themes of an automatic deterrent gone wrong . The video game " " had this concept also in the titular Peace Walker , which is a fail - deadly automatic retaliation system designed to maintain deterrence protocol , but if so needed , can launch an ICBM from any point or terrain . Like the example of " WarGames " , the Peace Walker system is eventually used to broadcast fake data to NORAD , to fool them into thinking that the Soviets had launched missiles toward America . In the movie " By Dawn ' s Early Light " , the Soviet President sends a teletype message to the President of the US after nuclear missiles are launched against the US . In the message , he states : " By now you will know a nuclear device was detonated over the Soviet city of Donetsk . At that time , it appeared the missile was launched by NATO forces from Turkey , and our defensive system retaliated " automatically . " "