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Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

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Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#81

Post by [deleted] »

0xbear wrote: post #70
majewsky wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1) The reported starts (5 in total) happened from a single base in the US which didn't make sense from the military point of view: the US would have put themselves at a grave disadvantage by sending just a few missiles There was an interview with Petrov (in the 90s or 00s) when he spoke about this point, and the interviewer said that in 1983, the US plans for a preemptive strike started with a "beheading strike", i…

This plan strikes me as idiotic TBH. The Kremlin is situated smack dab in the center of the most populous city in Russia, Moscow. You can’t take out just the Kremlin without taking out millions of people in the process. And even if you could, the USSR would have no choice but to respond. It’s like someone nuked the White House. Rockets would be flying within minutes. Nowadays there’s an automated system in place that…

[deleted]

Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#82

Post by dwringer »

0xbear wrote: post #70
majewsky wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1) The reported starts (5 in total) happened from a single base in the US which didn't make sense from the military point of view: the US would have put themselves at a grave disadvantage by sending just a few missiles There was an interview with Petrov (in the 90s or 00s) when he spoke about this point, and the interviewer said that in 1983, the US plans for a preemptive strike started with a "beheading strike", i…

This plan strikes me as idiotic TBH. The Kremlin is situated smack dab in the center of the most populous city in Russia, Moscow. You can’t take out just the Kremlin without taking out millions of people in the process. And even if you could, the USSR would have no choice but to respond. It’s like someone nuked the White House. Rockets would be flying within minutes. Nowadays there’s an automated system in place that…

Well... to that page's credit somewhere halfway down it does mention that the existence of a dead hand is only a hypothesis. I suppose it's just one more onto the pile of things from Dr. Strangelove that people interpret as absolute fact.

Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#83

Post by ams6110 »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #39
MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if there are other, still classified instances where the weapon has almost been launched. If lt. colonel Petrov was aware of the limitations of the early warning system then there must have been other faults as well - I bet there have been problems with the early warning system on both sides...

Ever hear of the bomb the US accidentally dropped on the mainland? When they recovered it, they discovered the bomb had armed itself and that all the safety mechanisms failed except one.

That's why redundant systems are good. It worked as designed.

Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#84

Post by ams6110 »

legostormtroopr wrote: post #49
trishmapow2 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey, it's a fellow Doctor Who fan (seems rare)! Also binge watching recently, and yes, good point.

Doctor Who fans - Rare? In what universe, Doctor Who is mainstream now.

Not really. Certainly in some circles it is. It was on Netflix in the US for a while; not sure it still is.

Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#85

Post by 0xbear »

dwringer wrote: post #82
0xbear wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This plan strikes me as idiotic TBH. The Kremlin is situated smack dab in the center of the most populous city in Russia, Moscow. You can’t take out just the Kremlin without taking out millions of people in the process. And even if you could, the USSR would have no choice but to respond. It’s like someone nuked the White House. Rockets would be flying within minutes. Nowadays there’s an automated system in place that…

Well... to that page's credit somewhere halfway down it does mention that the existence of a dead hand is only a hypothesis. I suppose it's just one more onto the pile of things from Dr. Strangelove that people interpret as absolute fact.

Of course it’s a “hypothesis”. No one wants to drink polonium tea after confirming it.

Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#86

Post by [deleted] »

0xbear wrote: post #85
dwringer wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well... to that page's credit somewhere halfway down it does mention that the existence of a dead hand is only a hypothesis. I suppose it's just one more onto the pile of things from Dr. Strangelove that people interpret as absolute fact.

Of course it’s a “hypothesis”. No one wants to drink polonium tea after confirming it.

[deleted]

Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#87

Post by [deleted] »

0xbear wrote: post #85
dwringer wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well... to that page's credit somewhere halfway down it does mention that the existence of a dead hand is only a hypothesis. I suppose it's just one more onto the pile of things from Dr. Strangelove that people interpret as absolute fact.

Of course it’s a “hypothesis”. No one wants to drink polonium tea after confirming it.

[deleted]

Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#88

Post by [deleted] »

0xbear wrote: post #85
dwringer wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well... to that page's credit somewhere halfway down it does mention that the existence of a dead hand is only a hypothesis. I suppose it's just one more onto the pile of things from Dr. Strangelove that people interpret as absolute fact.

Of course it’s a “hypothesis”. No one wants to drink polonium tea after confirming it.

[deleted]

Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died

#90

Post by dwringer »

0xbear wrote: post #85
dwringer wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well... to that page's credit somewhere halfway down it does mention that the existence of a dead hand is only a hypothesis. I suppose it's just one more onto the pile of things from Dr. Strangelove that people interpret as absolute fact.

Of course it’s a “hypothesis”. No one wants to drink polonium tea after confirming it.

The whole point of a doomsday device is lost if you keep it a secret! But, a little bit of polonium in your tea is nothing compared to the international conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.
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