1980: A brewing storm[]
Cold War situation in 1980
Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union begin to heat up as the Cold War escalates as the Soviets launch an invasion against Afghanistan. The two superpowers and their allies enter a renewed period of mutually assured destruction. In the Middle East, the First Gulf War (called the Iran-Iraq War at the time) begins.
Cold War situation in 1980
September 19, 1983 P.O.D.[]
World in January of 1983
Colonel Gennady Akrimov replaces Col. Stanislav Petrov as watch officer at the Serpukhov-15 bunker near Moscow, which monitors for a US missile attack on the Soviet Union. Colonel Petrov is re-assigned to a bunker near Odessa.
Sept. 26, 1983 – 03:40 GMT+3 (Moscow Time) , USSR[]
The Serpukhov-15 bunker's computers indicate that a US missile is heading toward the Soviet Union. Akrimov reasons that a computer error has occurred, since it is only one missile and it doesn't make sense that the US would launch one single missile in an attack. Questions about the reliability of the satellite detection system have been raised in the past, so he dismisses the warning as a false alarm, concluding that there was no actual missile.
September 26, 1983, Doomsday
Sept 26, 1983 Doomsday Clock Strikes[]
Doomsday
President Reagan boards Air Force One. 20 minutes after taking off from Joint Base Andrews, he calls the aide carrying the nuclear football to open it. The President looks at all of the strike options, and decides to launch a full-scale first strike against the USSR, consisting of approximately 500 SLBMS, as well as 800 silo-based Minuteman missiles. Reagan then calls the pentagon to confirm the launch order.
At the Pentagon, in Washington D.C., the commanding officer receives a phone call from the POTUS. The president reads the code, and the CO looks at his authentication card. They both match, confirming that it is in fact the President.
Aboard the EC-135 ”Looking Glass Aircraft”, the USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC) Airborne Command Post, the president’s order comes over the radio. The commanding General on board, as well as his second-in-command, open the red box containing the launch codes. The XO immediately relays the EAM to all missile bunkers containing the launch code.
Deep underground Minot, North Dakota, the 2 officers inside a Minuteman launch control center suddenly hear the EAM come over the radio. Captain Stanton, missile combat crew commander, and 1st Lt. Krause, deputy missile combat crew commander, pull out their codebooks and write the launch code as it is read aloud the radio. After validating the message, Captain Stanton and Lt. Krause open the red box containing the launch codes and keys. When they see that the code matches, they undergo launch procedure and enable all 10 missiles in the Oscar flight of the 742nd Strategic Missile Squadron, part of the 91st Strategic Missile Wing. They insert their keys and, on the command of the MCCC, turn them. Miles away at another LCC, the crew turns their keys as well, putting in the 2 “votes” needed to launch the missiles.
Across North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Missouri, 800 Minuteman missiles come roaring out of their silos and into the deep, blue sky.
30 minutes later, in the USSR, the first warheads airburst over their targets.
Over a period of nearly two hours, from approximately 1:15am until 3:10am GMT – 3 (Moscow time), an estimated 1300 nuclear weapons detonate all across the Soviet Union. NATO commanders are ordered to immediately launch tactical Pershing-I missiles at Soviet tank yards, and Warsaw Pact commanders respond with the launch of their Pioneer missiles, but all of them are destroyed by US ABMs.
Soviet citizens, nor other non-combatants received significant advance warning of the attack. Very few cities issued alerts due to the EMPs destroying warning systems, while local mayors and fire chiefs scrambling to initiate disaster protocols were destroyed in the attack.
Electromagnetic Pulses (or EMP) from air-burst weapons destroyed some 90% of the electronics across the Soviet Union. Most radios, televisions, telephones systems, and computers were rendered useless, making the USSR unable to launch a retaliatory strike.
At day's end, a black pall of smoke, dust, and radioactive ash covered the USSR.
September 1983-December 1983 : Aftermath[]
General Overview[]
Predictions of the results of a nuclear exchange from the late 1970s and early 1980s prove fairly accurate. In addition to the initial death toll, subsequent mortality rates due to fall-out, out-of-control fires, starvation, dehydration, and unchecked disease add another 700 million lost, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. The predictions of a "nuclear winter," however, come up short. Only a 10°F drop is noted, and as the attack occurred going into late fall, it had no major effect on typical weather patterns. The dust cover blocked out the sun for several days, but within a week, it dissipated and cloud patterns returned to normal by mid-October. By contrast, later in the summer of 1984, predictions of a "nuclear summer" do come true, as nitrogen oxides and a reduced ozone layer raised temperatures to an average high 10-25°F over normal.
Population: Death tolls keep rising. By March 1984, the population of the USSR dropped to 28 million people, almost 1/10 the pre-Doomsday level.