Russia’s last early warning satellite is dead. It is no more, has ceased to be, is bereft of life, it rests in peace. This is an ex-early warning bird. So should we be worried? Jeffrey and Aaron talk to David Hoffman, author of the magisterial The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy.
David Hoffman, The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms
Race and Its Dangerous Legacy (Anchor, 2009).
“Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces,” Pavel Podvig, editor (MIT Press, 2004).
Valery E. Yarynich, “C3: Nuclear Command, Control, Cooperation.” (Center for Defense Information, 2003).
Pavel Podvig, “Russia lost all its early-warning satellites,” Russianforces.org February 11, 2015.
Anton Valagin, “Guaranteed wages: how the Russian system ‘Perimeter’,” January 22, 2014. Rossiya Gazeta.
Michael Tymoshenko, “Retaliatory Nuclear Strike Will Be Mounted Under Any Circumstances,” Red Star, February 19, 2015.
Bruce Blair, “Russia’s Doomsday Machine,” New York Times, October 8, 1993. See also: William J. Broad, “Russia Has ‘Doomsday’ Machine, U.S. Expert Says,” New York Times, October 8, 1993.
“Previously Classified Interviews with Former Soviet Officials Reveal U.S. Strategic Intelligence Failure Over Decades, 1995 Contractor Study Finds that U.S. Analysts Exaggerated Soviet Aggressiveness and Understated Moscow’s Fears of a U.S. First Strike,” William Burr and Svetlana Savranskaya, editors, National Security Archive, September 11, 2009.
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What happened to the book scan you mentioned in the podcast?
How can David leave us hanging without mentioning the various asymmetrical Russian weapon systems?
Great podcast. Will leave feedback on itunes to that effect.
I remember reading Bruce Blair’s short book, “Global Zero Alert for Nuclear Forces,” and seeing all the footnotes crediting Valery Yarynich and searching long and hard for a copy of his book(unsuccessfully). I can’t convey how much I look forward to reading this when you are finished scanning and uploading. (And thank you to Bruce Blair and CDI for generously forking over their last copy.)