1995 Norwegian Rocket Incident Gone Wrong?

[Terranical]

What if the 1995 Norwegian Rocket Incident escalated into a nuclear war? Yeah and this does sound ASB but what if Boris Yeltsin was drunk or really terrified of the incident and actually took orders to fire nuclear weapons, boom civilization is kinda nearly dead?

 

[iVC]

what if Boris Yeltsin was drunk or really terrified of the incident and actually took orders to fire nuclear weapons, boom civilization is kinda nearly dead?

In Russian Federation, the consent of the majority of 3 people is required to give the order for a nuclear strike: the President, the Chief of the General Staff and the Minister of Defense. Therefore it's flatly impossible for two of them be persuaded that one rogue rocket requires launch-on-warning revenge strike. Especially in 1995 when the US-Russian honeymoon was still in effect.

Most likely, as of 1995, even if it was an ASB-accidental launch of a real missile, the Russian army would first wait for a report of the detonation of a nuclear device inside the territory of the Russian Federation, and then the Russian government would request urgent communication by a red line with Washington.

One missile cannot ignite a full-scale nuclear war.

 

[Histor32]

I would agree with @iVC

1 missile, depending on where it was heading of course, would prompt a quick phone call to understand what is going on. no one would shoot just one missile at a Russia if it was carrying a nuclear bomb

 

[General Tirpitz]

It is quite likely that this incident was blown out of proportion due to political reasons by Yeltsin. It was never as serious as often presented.

 

[creighton]

It is quite likely that this incident was blown out of proportion due to political reasons by Yeltsin. It was never as serious as often presented.

It was a single rocket, but the reason this incident gains so much notoriety is how close this came to an exchange. The rocket matched flight trajectory of a EMP attack that would prelude a first strike by the US. It was a quite serious incident, because the football was opened, and Yeltsin was looking at targeting options for response. Place yourself in Yeltsin's shoes, you're probably about 95% sure it's a fluke, but Russian/US relations, on the Russia side after the NATO expansion were iffy, and out of nowhere you're suddenly being told with high confidence that the US is trying to bind your early warning systems and communications.

https://books.google.com/books?id=WigJ8ZsWE1QC&pg=PA214#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[iVC]

Place yourself in Yeltsin's shoes, you're probably about 95% sure it's a fluke, but Russian/US relations, on the Russia side after the NATO expansion were iffy

NATO expansion took place only in the 1999 when Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic joined.
Previous expansion was 1982 invitation of Spain.