Plausibility and information check.

Hi there guys, I am thinking of writing an Alt.Hist based on the 1995 Black Brant scare. I was wondering if anyone would be able to point me in the direction of Russia's nuclear capabilities around this period, and what sort of destruction could be wrought if they went full tilt with their nukes.
 
Since i doubt that either a canadian sounding rocket nor a goose is a plausible cause for wwiii, what are you talking about?

I googgled black brant and didnt see anything on the first page...
 
Since i doubt that either a canadian sounding rocket nor a goose is a plausible cause for wwiii, what are you talking about?

I googgled black brant and didnt see anything on the first page...

I believe he's referring to a Norwegian sounding rocket that supposedly almost led to WWIII in 1995. The way I heard the story, the Russians were notified this was going to be launched, but the memo got lost between the Foreign Ministry and their version of NORAD, and so it looked like a missile was being shot at them. So they woke up Yeltsin and told him he had five minutes to make the call of whether or not to launch a nuclear counterstrike. Which, fortunately, he didn't do. It's an incident that frequently appears on "nuclear near-miss" lists to illustrate the dangers of accidental war even in this day and age.

I have several problems, however, with the idea it could lead to war. A) The Russians are almost certainly not, and probably have never been, on a launch-on-warning status; the whole point of all those submarines and mobile missiles is so that they can afford to ride out an American strike before retaliating. B) It's a single missile. Nobody starts WW3 with a single missile, and the Russians know that. And C) Nobody is going to start WW3 with Russia in 1995, and the Russians know that, too.
 
Honestly, the timeline is probably going to be in alien Space bats or the Writer's forum, I'm just looking to create a background for a post nuclear war survival. The TL is going to be basically told from the POV of surviors ala Protect and Survive. The narrative being the important bit, but I want to get a good idea onc apabilities at the time.
 
Honestly, the timeline is probably going to be in alien Space bats or the Writer's forum, I'm just looking to create a background for a post nuclear war survival. The TL is going to be basically told from the POV of surviors ala Protect and Survive. The narrative being the important bit, but I want to get a good idea onc apabilities at the time.

Fair enough.
 
Top