Thieves Steel Equipment From Russian Nuclear Doomsday Plane

Yep, that's what I meant.

Smoke out a mole, maybe? Just seems odd.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: MykeNukem

The radios themselves just screw into the mountings. Four screws usually, a couple connectors on back, and Bob's your uncle.

Ouch.

Sounds simple enough. Be a cool home hobby garage setup...have the boys over, have a few brews, listen to the classified chatter....lol

a reply to: MykeNukem

It's all fun and games...until you take a Makarov bullet to the back of the skull.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: MykeNukem

It's all fun and games...until you take a Makarov bullet to the back of the skull.

True.

I forgot to mention that part.....lol

a reply to: MykeNukem

Maybe that's all it was. Somebody was about to retire, is into home radio and thought it'd be cool to have in their house. Wouldn't be the first time military equipment has been stolen because someone thought it was cool.

originally posted by: FauxMulder
But I'm not sure what good this radio equipment would be to any thieves.

Losing military communications gear (esp. nuclear related) is generally a bad thing.

These are likely some very hot potatoes that Russia is going to want back.

OTP and a HF. I don’t think having the equipment will help you with encrypted chatter. Generally the dots to shoot through for emergency destruction are quite accessible and idiot proof. Place barrel over dot. Pull.trigger. Hell, a hole punch and hammer will do the job in a pinch. However, unless you like timing transmissions, possessing the gear will do FA unless your reverse engineering some aspect to ID form and function.
a reply to: gb540

Call it a hunch, but I suspect the Russian government isn't going to just laugh this off.

Those involved with the theft in any capacity are likely to face interviews conducted by special investigators with nicknames such as "the Reaper", "the Dentist" and "the Walletmaker".

And as for that last one, trust me, you don't even want to know.

I AM THE TOECUTTER lol good times
a reply to: Majic

a reply to: FauxMulder

Bunch of teenagers, probably knocking door to door to try to sell it.

Ha that does happen but over here in England a lorry full of chocolate bars was robbed and the little scallywags responsible sold it by going door to door with the box's of chocolate on local council estates.

Seriously though I mean even if this was meant to be a red herring while the Russian command were really in there bunkers complex's what kind of idiot leaves it unguarded.

My best guess is China will have an interest in this technology even if it is out of date, you know just to have a look at it.

But I doubt it was anything genuinely cutting edge, the Russians are not that daft are they leaving there top tier technology unguarded were the local thug's could rob it.

I would imagine some heads will roll on this one.

So some enemy can jam or spoof Russian Nuclear Communications!
and know ware the Russian Nuclear planes are!

sounds safe to me!

a reply to: buddha

Yeah, that's not how it works.

originally posted by: LSU2018

originally posted by: ufoorbhunter

originally posted by: Catch_a_Fire
Strange story and you have to wonder what else will come of it, I'm not too sure it's much to worry about though, arent these already outdated?

Surely they have more secure comms than radio by now.

Didn't the Russian military just go back to replacing their computers with mechanical typewriters due to their systems vulnerable to hacking? Sometimes oldy world stuff is just more safe

Like analog cell phones... Lasted a lot longer, too.

Too right Remember the days when you could charge your old style Nokia 3210 up and it would last all week

originally posted by: gb540

originally posted by: FauxMulder
But I'm not sure what good this radio equipment would be to any thieves.

Losing military communications gear (esp. nuclear related) is generally a bad thing.

These are likely some very hot potatoes that Russia is going to want back.

Hot potatoes indeed! At this point though getting it back means little other than taking it out of circulation in the market. There's no way to determine to what extent the equipment and/or technology has been compromised so they can only assume it has been 100% compromised. To do anything less would be foolish. The only thing they can do now is to change procedures using the equipment until such time as newer, more advanced, equipment can be developed and fielded.

I've been checking for updates every day and not much has come out, but these guys do a pretty detailed break down if anyone wants to check it out.

Link

Here's just a snippet of the article.

Let’s have a look at the equipment this aircraft carries. Some of that is truly very specialized equipment carrying the highest security labels. One of the notable classified systems would be the Signal ASBU (automated combat control system), which receives, relays and transmits signals from the Kazbek nuclear suitcase to launch ICBMs and SLBMs in a retaliation strike against the enemy, when all communication and warning systems are disabled. The Kazbek system is an automated control system for nuclear response forces able to launch and command all of Russia's nuclear forces. There are three permanent suitcases, one for the president as the Supreme Commander, the second one for the minister of defence and the third one for the chief of the Russian General Staff. The suitcases do not stay with the aircraft, as they are always within the reach of the three appointed persons, carried by a uniformed communications officer in charge. The nuclear missile launch system will be activated if the code is entered into at least two of the three nuclear suitcases.

Other sensitive equipment include systems for centralized combat control (CBU), radio-based combat control commands (RBU) or classified communication equipment (ZAS) covering telecode, operational speech and audio telegraph information. The contents of the aircraft and the nomenclature of products are strictly classified, with very controlled admission, of course, until the moment when the metal workers at TANTK were allowed in the vicinity of the aircraft.

Nevertheless, the sensitive equipment aboard the Il-80VKP sports a different approach to design: the hardware is not really secret, what is secret are the codes used for it. The parts of the complex which store codes are in the form of removable cassettes and/or setting mechanisms which are never stored aboard the aircraft. It is not that the hardware itself might not be of any interest for intelligence service of a foreign nation, yet the seizure of such equipment would not provide access to nuclear weapons or the chain of command. It is also questionable whether there is anything to learn from a Soviet designed electronic system from the early 1980s, especially concerning the sensitive nature of the complex and the resulting difficulties in obtaining it.

.........As a matter of fact, there are rumours floating around that this particular Il-80VKP has been sitting on the ground for a very long time, not really having been involved in flight operations in at least a decade and that it would most likely be written off. Anyway, whether this is true or the aircraft still would be pushed back to service as announced, most of the equipment installed inside has been morally outdated for years and would likely still be dismantled to make room for installation of more modern semiconductor-based devices.