Cheget

Then-Acting President Vladimir Putin receiving the "nuclear briefcase" for controlling Russia's nuclear forces on 31 December 1999.

Cheget (Russian: Чегет) is a "nuclear briefcase" and a part of the automatic system for the pinnacle command and control of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces (SNF) named Kazbek (after Mount Kazbek).^[1]

It was developed during Yury Andropov's times in the early 1980s. The suitcases were put into service just as Mikhail Gorbachev took office in March 1985^{[citation needed]}. It is connected to the special communications system code-named Kavkaz (after the Caucasus Mountains), 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 Russian President has a cheget on hand at all times. It is usually assumed although not known with certainty that the nuclear briefcases are also issued to the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff.^[2][3] The General Staff receives the signal and initiates the strike through the passing of authorization codes to missile silo launch complexes or by remotely launching individual ICBMs.

The control of the "nuclear briefcase" has become a symbol of political authority.

The system is named after Mount Cheget in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia.

See also

• Designated survivor
• Nuclear briefcase
• Nuclear Football - the American counterpart
• Two-man rule

References

1. ^ http://www.armscontrol.ru/START/Rus/exclusive/is0313.htm
2. ^ Adventures of the "Nuclear Briefcase": A Russian Document Analysis, Strategic Insights, Volume III, Issue 9 (September 2004), by Mikhail Tsypkin
3. ^ A 2nd Briefcase for Putin By Alexander Golts, Moscow Times, 20 May 2008