1983-The Brink Of Apocalypse

Steyr

Did anybody watch this on Discovery Last Night? 2 Hour Programme, very interesting.

It was about "Able Archer83"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83

Able Archer 83 was a ten-day NATO command post exercise starting on November 2, 1983 that spanned Western Europe, centred on SHAPE's Headquarters situated at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons. Able Archer exercises simulated a period of conflict escalation, culminating in a coordinated nuclear release.[1] The 1983 exercise incorporated a new, unique format of coded communication, radio silences, participation by heads of state, and a simulated DEFCON 1 nuclear alert.

The realistic nature of the 1983 exercise, coupled with deteriorating relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and the anticipated arrival of Pershing II nuclear missiles in Europe, led some members of the Soviet Politburo to believe that Able Archer 83 was a ruse of war, obscuring preparations for a genuine nuclear first strike.

Artur.PL

I did but only half.
I know that story from different sources and I think there is one person we can call hero. This is Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov.
The man who broke the rules, orders and was brave enough to say "no" and he did not alerted high command.
Of course it was in USSR and it wasn't good for him.
I my opinion he should get free drinks for life.

Steyr

Are there any books out about this or anything like this during the Cold War?

Latchy

Artur.PL wrote: »

I did but only half.
I know that story from different sources and I think there is one person we can call hero. This is Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov.
The man who broke the rules, orders and was brave enough to say "no" and he did not alerted high command.
Of course it was in USSR and it wasn't good for him.
I my opinion he should get free drinks for life.

There was a two page article about this and the role Petrov played in the Daily Mail a few months back .

Artur.PL

Steyr wrote: »

Are there any books out about this or anything like this during the Cold War?

It's not similar but maybe interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Belgian_MiG-23_crash

MiG was lost from radar screen somewhere over the Polish coastal waters. Another two fighters were sent to find the place when that MiG probably crashed down but with no result. High Command (Russian Northern Group of Forces in Poland)were sure plane crashed down into the sea. They were event happy because there were no tolls.

banie01

Artur.PL wrote: »

I did but only half.
I know that story from different sources and I think there is one person we can call hero. This is Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov.
The man who broke the rules, orders and was brave enough to say "no" and he did not alerted high command.
Of course it was in USSR and it wasn't good for him.
I my opinion he should get free drinks for life.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, But that was a different incident to Abel Archer.
In Sept 1983 the Soviet Early warning system flagged a single ballistic launch from the US, and then over the course of a few hours flagged up other single launch events.
Petrov reasoned(Correctly Thank God) That a US 1st strike would have been a hell of a lot more than 1 missle and coupled with his knowledge of the systems teething problems and malfunctions refused to certify that it was a U.S first strike and escalate to his superiors which would have unleashed armageddon.

Abel Archer was a Wargame exercise in November 83 to test NATO's readiness and procedures for Nuclear release in the event of a Soviet invasion of western Europe.
The spike in secret communications along with the people the KGB had assumed would be involved in a nuclear release/1st strike implementation taking up their assigned war roles during the exercise led to the Soviet Hierarchy assuming a US/NATO led 1st strike was imminent.

2 different events seperated by only a couple of months,but Petrov's logical actions saved the world and cost him his career, but the event definitly fed the Soviet paranoia regarding a first strike at the time of Abel Archer.

Holybejaysus

banie01 wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong here, But that was a different incident to Abel Archer.
In Sept 1983 the Soviet Early warning system flagged a single ballistic launch from the US, and then over the course of a few hours flagged up other single launch events.
Petrov reasoned(Correctly Thank God) That a US 1st strike would have been a hell of a lot more than 1 missle and coupled with his knowledge of the systems teething problems and malfunctions refused to certify that it was a U.S first strike and escalate to his superiors which would have unleashed armageddon.

Abel Archer was a Wargame exercise in November 83 to test NATO's readiness and procedures for Nuclear release in the event of a Soviet invasion of western Europe.
The spike in secret communications along with the people the KGB had assumed would be involved in a nuclear release/1st strike implementation taking up their assigned war roles during the exercise led to the Soviet Hierarchy assuming a US/NATO led 1st strike was imminent.

2 different events seperated by only a couple of months,but Petrov's logical actions saved the world and cost him his career, but the event definitly fed the Soviet paranoia regarding a first strike at the time of Abel Archer.

Nope, the Petrov incident did indeed happen during Able Archer. The Russians were absolutely convinced that the exercise was going to be used for a sneak nuke attack on Moscow. Luckily good ol' Stan the Man guesstimated that the computer alert was a false alarm.

Manic Moran

Artur.PL wrote: »

It's not similar but maybe interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Belgian_MiG-23_crash

They were event happy because there were no tolls.

That's because they hadn't figured out how to collect at altitude yet.

That reminded me to look up what happened to Mathias Rust. He's had an interesting history since being released by the Soviets.

NTM

Artur.PL

That's because they hadn't figured out how to collect at altitude yet.

I'm not sure I understood you correctly I try to describe it.
Pilot took off at 9.18. 41 sec later(130m altitude)he reported to his air controller problem with engine then he turned plane over the Baltic Sea and ejected when he was on 100m altitude. After he left the plane he saw it vanishing and he was sure plane dropped into the sea. But 15 sec. after eject plane engine started to work on 100% power then minimum power and again maximum power. Plane was working in option "stabilization" till its fuel tank was empty. at 9.44 it crossed East and West Germany border and he was detected through US radar.
I know from my experience that it was possible they were sure that figher was crashed down into the sea.
I hope my English is intelligible enough here because translating military phrases is quite difficult for me.

Delancey

During the Cold War both sides frequently tested their missiles with test launches , e.g. Minuteman , MX , Polaris , etc. How did the other side know these were tests and not the real thing ?

Delancey

Manic Moran wrote: »

That reminded me to look up what happened to Mathias Rust. He's had an interesting history since being released by the Soviets.

NTM

IIRC the members of his flying club held a ' wake ' of sorts after he got such a short jail sentence !! Strange guy who I believe has serious mental health issues.

Skid

The full programme, '1983: The brink of Apocalypse' is on Youtube

Well worth a look, it's not widely known how close we came to a nuclear war

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpxbpeuSQyA

Manic Moran

I'm not sure I understood you correctly I try to describe it.

Ah, language difficulty. A toll is a fee that you have to pay to do something, usually travel on the road. My joke was about the inability to place a toll booth (where you pay the toll) in the sky.

Strange guy who I believe has serious mental health issues.

As evidenced by his stabbing someone.

NTM

johngalway

I wonder has the successor to the KGB now installed analytic capabilities for their information. It must have been quite confusing just receiving reams upon reams of raw information and lacking the skills to turn that into a bigger picture.

Phony Scott

There's a very famous saying in the film business by writer William Goldman; "Nobody knows anything".

I think it's an ideology that can be applied here. In this case it's how close we came to annihilation and the public didn't know about it and, much worse, both the USSR and the USA didn't know it.

me-skywalker

Is that programme on an Internet streaming 'player'?