INCHINA, PUTIN’SSTAFFSEENCARRYING ‘NUCLEARBRIEFCASE’: WHATISTHEBAG

DURING RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to China, officers accompanying him were seen carrying what is known as the ‘nuclear briefcase’.

After a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Putin wasseeninavideofootagebeingfollowed by two Russian naval officers in uniform, each carrying a briefcase. One of these is likely to be the nuclear briefcase.

What is the ‘nuclear briefcase’?

Alsoknownasthe‘cheget’, namedafter a mountain in Russia, the briefcase is partofalargersysteminplaceforauthorising the launch of nuclear strikes. It’s part of a secured communication setup, meant to convey orders for a nuclear strike to the rocket forces of the country.

Apartfromtherussianpresident, the Defenceministerandthechiefofgeneral Staff have a briefcase each, and the three are supposed to coordinate in case of a potential order to strike. The President carries the briefcase on his visits abroad.

Has the nuclear briefcase ever come close to being used?

Accordingtotheus-basedcenterfor Arms Control and Non-proliferation (CACNP), the first and only known instance of a nuclear briefcase being “opened” during a crisis was in 1995.

A 1998 report in The Washington Post said the briefcase was “a product of the final phase of the Cold War, during the tense early 1980s, when Soviet leaders feared a sudden attack launched from Europe or nearby oceans. They needed a remotecommandsystemtocutdownreaction time.”

Thebriefcaseswerefirstputintoservicejustaroundthetimerussianpresident Mikhailgorbachevtookoffice(1990-91). By1995, Borisyeltsinhadsucceededhim.

The CACNP said that on January 25, 1995, Russian officers at the Olenegorsk Radarstationinthenorthwesternregion

Reuters ofrussiadetectedthe“launch” ofarocket offnorway’snortherncoastandmistook it for a hostile American missile.

Inreality, itwastheblackbrantxii, an aeronauticalresearchrocketsenttostudy the Northern Lights phenomenon. Even thoughthejointus-norwayprojecthad been announced earlier, Russians were not aware of it and had their strategic forces put on high alert. This is when the briefcases were handed to the leaders to plan a response.

Eventually, the nature of the launch became clear to the Russians and the attack was held. The possibility of a strike emerging and the standing down of forcesallhappenedwithinafewminutes.

How did the system work?

Once radar operators sent out alerts of possible enemy action, the Russian electronic command-and-control networks were activated.

“The duty general received his informationfromtheradaroperatoronaspecial notification terminal, Krokus. He then passed it to the Kavkaz, a complex networkofcables, radiosignals, satellites and relays that is at the heart of the Russiancommandandcontrol,” thepost report notes.

The alert then reached the three nuclearbriefcases.“yeltsinimmediatelygot onthetelephonewiththeothersholding the black suitcases, and they monitored therocket'sflightontheirterminals,” the report added. Yeltsin later announced thathehadusedthenuclearbriefcasefor the first time.

Do other countries have such a briefcase?

Yes, the American President has a similar briefcase officially called the Presidential Emergency Satchel. It is thought to have come into use in the era of John F Kennedy, who was concerned abouthow, intheeraof thecoldwar, ordersforanuclearstrikecouldbeverified quickly.

LONGER VERSION

Two Russian naval officers carry what is believed to be Russia’s nuclear briefcase, while accompanying President Vladimir Putin at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, on Wednesday.