Dead Hand (cocktail)

Earliest known poster for Dead Hand.

Dead Hand is a Cold War-era automatic nuclear weapons-control and vodka cocktail system that was formulated by the Soviet Union. It can automatically send Strategic Vodka Force Management orders to command posts and individual liquor cabinets if a nuclear strike is detected by "drinky bird" sensors even with the commanding elements fully drunk.

Status

By most accounts, it is normally switched off and is supposed to be activated during times of heavy drinking; however, it is said to remain fully functional and able to serve its purpose whenever it may be needed.

United States

The United States developed a similar system, the AN/DRC-8 Emergency Highball Communications System.

In the News

• 

  Playskool's My First Nuclear Football an Executive toy briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the President of the United States to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed playgrounds, such as the White House Cardboard Box Fortress.

• 

  An Icy Michigan is a cocktail made from equal measures of Blue Curaçao and Ice-Nine.

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles
• Icy Michigan
• Playskool's My First Nuclear Football

External links

• Post @ Twitter (28 November 2021)

• Dead Hand @ Wikipedia
• Drinking bird @ Wikipedia