Fail-deadly
Encyclopedia
Fail-deadly is a concept in nuclear
military strategy
which encourages deterrence
by guaranteeing an immediate, automatic and overwhelming response to an attack. The term fail-deadly was coined as a contrast to fail-safe
.
strategy, in that aggressors are discouraged from attempting a first strike
attack. Under fail-deadly nuclear deterrence, policies and procedures controlling the retaliatory strike will authorize launch even if the existing command and control structure has already been neutralized by a first strike. The deterrent efficacy of such a system clearly depends on other nuclear-armed nations having foreknowledge of it. The Soviet Union
used a fail-deadly system known as Dead Hand
(codenamed "Perimeter"); it is not certain if Russia
still uses it.
A specific example of the implementation of such a strategy would work as follows: ballistic missile submarines are ordered to surface at periodic intervals to receive communications indicating that no change has occurred in the Defense Condition
. Should the submarines be unable to receive the proper command and control signals indicating normal, peacetime conditions, their orders would be to launch their nuclear missiles under the assumption that command and control structures had been destroyed in a nuclear attack, and that retaliation was therefore necessary. All available means of verification and all due caution would naturally be applied. This approach is obviously exceptionally dangerous for a variety of reasons. The strategy's true value is in deterrence
against attack on command, control, communications, and computer (see C4I) networks by any potential adversary.
Fail-deadly is also associated with "massive retaliation
", a deterrence strategy which ensures that the counter strike will be conducted on a larger scale than the initial attack.
An example of a fail-deadly instrument is a "dead man's switch
", a switch which must be constantly held to prevent the triggering of an explosive, which ensures that a suicide bombing is not prevented by killing the person with the bomb
.
used in several works of fiction:
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
military strategy
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
which encourages deterrence
Deterrence theory
Deterrence theory gained increased prominence as a military strategy during the Cold War with regard to the use of nuclear weapons, and features prominently in current United States foreign policy regarding the development of nuclear technology in North Korea and Iran. Deterrence theory however was...
by guaranteeing an immediate, automatic and overwhelming response to an attack. The term fail-deadly was coined as a contrast to fail-safe
Fail-safe
A fail-safe or fail-secure device is one that, in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices or danger to personnel....
.
Military usage
It is an example of second strikeSecond strike
In nuclear strategy, a second strike capability is a country's assured ability to respond to a nuclear attack with powerful nuclear retaliation against the attacker...
strategy, in that aggressors are discouraged from attempting a first strike
First strike
In nuclear strategy, a first strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing...
attack. Under fail-deadly nuclear deterrence, policies and procedures controlling the retaliatory strike will authorize launch even if the existing command and control structure has already been neutralized by a first strike. The deterrent efficacy of such a system clearly depends on other nuclear-armed nations having foreknowledge of it. The Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
used a fail-deadly system known as Dead Hand
Dead Hand (nuclear war)
Dead Hand , known also as Perimeter, is a Cold-War-era nuclear-control system used by the Soviet Union and might still be in use in Russia. An example of fail-deadly deterrence, it can automatically trigger the launch of the Russian ICBMs if a nuclear strike is detected by seismic, light,...
(codenamed "Perimeter"); it is not certain if Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
still uses it.
A specific example of the implementation of such a strategy would work as follows: ballistic missile submarines are ordered to surface at periodic intervals to receive communications indicating that no change has occurred in the Defense Condition
DEFCON
A defense readiness condition is an alert posture used by the United States Armed Forces. The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and unified and specified combatant commands. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness for the U.S...
. Should the submarines be unable to receive the proper command and control signals indicating normal, peacetime conditions, their orders would be to launch their nuclear missiles under the assumption that command and control structures had been destroyed in a nuclear attack, and that retaliation was therefore necessary. All available means of verification and all due caution would naturally be applied. This approach is obviously exceptionally dangerous for a variety of reasons. The strategy's true value is in deterrence
Deterrence theory
Deterrence theory gained increased prominence as a military strategy during the Cold War with regard to the use of nuclear weapons, and features prominently in current United States foreign policy regarding the development of nuclear technology in North Korea and Iran. Deterrence theory however was...
against attack on command, control, communications, and computer (see C4I) networks by any potential adversary.
Fail-deadly is also associated with "massive retaliation
Massive retaliation
Massive retaliation, also known as a massive response or massive deterrence, is a military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack.-Strategy:...
", a deterrence strategy which ensures that the counter strike will be conducted on a larger scale than the initial attack.
An example of a fail-deadly instrument is a "dead man's switch
Dead man's switch
A dead man's switch is a switch that is automatically operated in case the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death or loss of consciousness....
", a switch which must be constantly held to prevent the triggering of an explosive, which ensures that a suicide bombing is not prevented by killing the person with the bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
.
In fiction
Fail-deadly systems have been a plot devicePlot device
A plot device is an object or character in a story whose sole purpose is to advance the plot of the story, or alternatively to overcome some difficulty in the plot....
used in several works of fiction:
- An imagined Soviet fail-deadly doomsday deviceDoomsday deviceA doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
served as a main plot element of Stanley KubrickStanley KubrickStanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's 19641964 in filmThe year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, commonly known as Dr. Strangelove, is a 1964 black comedy film which satirizes the nuclear scare. It was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and featuring Sterling...
.
- The suicide bomb version appeared in the BBC television show CasualtyCasualty (TV series)Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
.
- In the TV show The Greatest American HeroThe Greatest American HeroThe Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
, "Operation Spoilsport" would hold back 20 nuclear missiles should the U.S. lose a nuclear war, which would then be launched the next day by automation. As the Soviet Union is digging out of the rubble of the previous day, believing to have won, the last 20 missiles would destroy anything remaining.
- In the film Speed, the explosives Annie is wearing are controlled by a fail-deadly remote.
- In Terminator 2, the dying Miles Dyson improvises a fail-deadly device by holding a detonator upside-down. Once he can no longer hold the component, it will immediately drop it causing the explosives to detonate. (Since the raiding party was attempting to avoid causing casualties to law enforcement, the dead man's switch also allowed the SWAT teams who discovered Dyson a few moments to evacuate. He even warned them, "I don't know how much longer I can hold this", whereupon the SWAT team hurriedly retreated.)
- In the Miami ViceMiami Vice (film)Miami Vice is a 2006 American crime drama film about two Miami police detectives, Crockett and Tubbs, who go undercover to fight drug trafficking operations. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same name, written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann...
film released in 2006, Detective James "Sonny" Crockett holds an armed grenade as an improvised fail-deadly during a Mexican standoffMexican standoffA Mexican standoff is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse; a confrontation that neither side can foreseeably win. The term is most often used in lieu of "stalemate" when the confrontational situation is exceptionally dangerous for all parties involved.In popular culture, the Mexican...
.
- The game Metal Gear Solid: Peace WalkerMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walkeris a video game produced by Konami and Kojima Productions that was released for the PlayStation Portable in 2010. Peace Walker is the fourth Metal Gear title for the PSP, although it is only the second to be considered part of the series' main canon, following Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops...
involves a giant mechanized fail-deadly nuclear deterrent, the titular Peace Walker.
- In Eric L. Harry's novel, Arc LightArc LightArc Light is the debut novel by Eric L. Harry, a techno-thriller about limited nuclear war published in 1994 and written in 1991-2.As China and Russia clash in Siberia in June 1999, nuclear missiles strike the United States. The U.S. retaliates against Russia, and World War III begins...
, American ballistic-missile submarinesBallistic missile submarineA ballistic missile submarine is a submarine equipped to launch ballistic missiles .-Description:Ballistic missile submarines are larger than any other type of submarine, in order to accommodate SLBMs such as the Russian R-29 or the American Trident...
are given a fail-deadly firing order to launch their SLBMsSubmarine-launched ballistic missileA submarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...
upon detection of an electromagnetic pulse consistent with a nuclear detonation over North America.
- In Saw IIISaw IIISaw III is a 2006 Canadian-American horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from a screenplay by Leigh Whannell and story by James Wan and Whannell. Wan and Whannell directed and wrote Saw and Bousman wrote and directed Saw II. It is the third film in the seven-part Saw film series and stars...
, Lynn has to keep John Kramer alive. She has a collar around her neck with five shotgun shells connected to a heart monitor. If John flatlines, the shells will be fired at Lynn.
- In WarGamesWarGamesWarGames is a 1983 American Cold War suspense/science-fiction film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy....
, a computer named WOPRWOPRWOPR is a fictional military supercomputer featured in the movie WarGames and its sequel. It is an acronym for War Operation Plan Response. Director John Badham invented the name "WOPR" when he thought the NORAD SIOP was "boring, and told you nothing"...
will call a fail-deadly if the computer was disabledDecapitation strikeIn the theory of nuclear warfare, a decapitation strike is a first strike attack that aims to remove the command and control mechanisms of the opponent, in the hope that it will severely degrade or destroy its capacity for nuclear retaliation....
- In "Fallout: New VegasFallout: New VegasFallout: New Vegas is a first person action role-playing video game in the Fallout series developed by Obsidian Entertainment, and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is based in a post-apocalyptic environment in and around Las Vegas, Nevada...
" Dead Money add-on, the Courier wears a explosive collar that will detonate if any of the players companions die.
- In "Snow CrashSnow CrashSnow Crash is Neal Stephenson's third novel, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's other novels it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, memetics, and philosophy....
" by Neal Stephenson, a villain named Raven has a fail-deadly nuclear device in the sidecar of his motorcycle, triggered when a monitor attached to his brain determines that his neurons have stopped firing.
- In "HancockHancock (film)Hancock is a 2008 American action-comedy superhero film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron. It tells the story of a vigilante superhero, John Hancock from Los Angeles whose reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars...
", Red Parker has a dead-man's-switch detonator in his hand that will cause explosives attached to each hostage to explode. Hancock must remove Red's hand at the wrist to save the day.
- In the TV movie Captain America (1979)Captain America (1979 film)Captain America is an 1979 telefilm....
, Captain America forces a truck to stop by bending its exhaust pipe into the trailer, where he discovers a man wearing a dead-man's-switch heart monitor attached to a neutron bombNeutron bombA neutron bomb or enhanced radiation weapon or weapon of reinforced radiation is a type of thermonuclear weapon designed specifically to release a large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation rather than explosive energy...
. Backup with oxygen arrives just in time.
See also
- Doomsday deviceDoomsday deviceA doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
- Fail-safeFail-safeA fail-safe or fail-secure device is one that, in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices or danger to personnel....
- Failing badlyFailing badlyFailing badly and failing well are concepts in systems security and network security describing how a system reacts to failure. The terms have been popularized by Bruce Schneier, a cryptographer and security consultant....
- Launch on warningLaunch on warningLaunch on warning is a strategy of nuclear weapon retaliation that gained recognition during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the invention of intercontinental ballistic missiles , launch on warning became an integral part of mutually assured destruction theory...
- Mutual assured destructionMutual assured destructionMutual Assured Destruction, or mutually assured destruction , is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would effectively result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of...
- Dead man's switchDead man's switchA dead man's switch is a switch that is automatically operated in case the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death or loss of consciousness....
- Special Weapons Emergency Separation SystemSpecial Weapons Emergency Separation SystemSpecial Weapons Emergency Separation System , also known informally as the dead man's switch, was a nuclear bomb release system that Strategic Air Command built into bombers such as the B-52 Stratofortress...
- Two Generals' ProblemTwo Generals' ProblemIn computing, the Two Generals' Problem is a thought experiment meant to illustrate the pitfalls and design challenges of attempting to coordinate an action by communicating over an unreliable link...
- Dead Hand (nuclear war)Dead Hand (nuclear war)Dead Hand , known also as Perimeter, is a Cold-War-era nuclear-control system used by the Soviet Union and might still be in use in Russia. An example of fail-deadly deterrence, it can automatically trigger the launch of the Russian ICBMs if a nuclear strike is detected by seismic, light,...