The Soviets complete the automated system called Perimeter or Dead Hand, a network of sensors and computers that can automatically order a retaliatory nuclear strike against the United States with ICBMs. The USSR, with its highly hierarchical and vertical structure, is well-suited to managing secrecy and dealing with the command and control of nuclear weapons, but for the same reasons, it is highly susceptible to a decapitating attack. By striking certain nerve centers, the Americans can decapitate the hierarchical structure, which will be unable to give the order for a counterattack. This is the rationale for Perimeter. It will give the Soviets more time to assess, on a case-by-case basis, whether an American attack is truly underway or a delusion. But on the other hand, it makes American “limited” nuclear warfare tactics very dangerous: Perimeter could still launch an all-out response.
