HE MYSTERY OF THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT'S
"NUCLEAR BRIEFCASE".

As soon as President Boris Yeltsin came out of the woods after his recent heart surgery, he demanded back the ''nuclear briefcase'' Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin held while the President was unconscious.

The first public mention of the Russian (then Soviet) ''nuclear briefcase'' was made in the summer of 1991 when during the several days of the August coup attempt Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had no control over the country's strategic nuclear forces. In fact, he was disconnected from a highly-efficient system of emergency communications, which is commonly known as the ''nuclear briefcase''. Some time later photographs of that super-secret ''object'' appeared in mass media. What is this mysterious ''nuclear briefcase''?

It is really a small case, or rather, an attache case about 10 centimetres thick. Under its handle is a complicated code-lock and the sides of the case are reinforced with a band made of a superlight aluminium-magnesium alloy. This almost weightless and strong edging is said to have played the decisive role in choosing the receptacle for the ''nuclear button''. Actually, there is no what we might call a button inside the case. There is a miniature computer for electronic coding, which specialists rank as the best in the world, and a computer keyboard. The entire device is easy to handle and does not require special knowledge from the user. Its chief designation is control over the county's strategic nuclear forces.

The idea of making such a device first appeared in the late seventies when there were already powerful weapon systems and systems of control over them. However, to activate them in an emergency the country's commander-in-chief (it was normally the head of state) had to arrive at the central command post. At the same time, the flight time of the potential enemy's missiles aimed at the USSR was 7 to 10 minutes. In short, there was no way for the country's leader to arrive at the central command post in time. That situation required the development of a system that could receive a radio warning about a missile attack, transmit the corresponding directions and be always by the side of the country's leader. Hence the main qualities of that system: it had to be reliable, small and easy to handle.

Such a system was eventually developed in 1985 by a research institution specialising in space communications.

The ''nuclear briefcase'' operates as follows: linked with the corresponding radio missile attack warning systems, it is constantly in an operating position and ready to receive and transmit signals, but can be put into combat position with the aid of a 10-digit code only after credible information about an attack has been received. From there the signal goes to the central command post, where it is coded again and transmitted to all strategic nuclear forces in the form of coded orders. While nuclear weapons are prepared for use, the command is verified for identity. When the strategic nuclear forces are put on combat alert, a coded signal is sent to and received by the ''nuclear briefcase'', after which a final decision to strike back may be made.

In Soviet times there were three people who had ''nuclear briefcases'': the head of state, defence minister and chief of the General Staff. After the breakup of the USSR the latter was dropped from the list of the ''nuclear briefcase'' holders. There are several ''briefcases'' not because their holders want to be able to control each other, but because of the great urgency of decision-making. Technically, any holder of the ''nuclear briefcase'' can order a missile launch, but each holder is strictly identified with his own ''briefcase'' and this ensures reliability of control over the strategic nuclear forces.

Some experts believe that at present Russia continues to do research to modernise its ''nuclear briefcase'' and that this work is necessitated by both the development of some technical novelties and the changed political situation. However, there is reason to believe that the principle of operation of the entire system will remain the same.
(RIA Novosti)