Russia Modernizes Secret Facility 1335 Linked to Dead Hand Automated Missile Launch System

Russia is upgrading a secret underground facility inside Mount Kosvinsky Kamen in the Urals, reportedly linked to the Perimeter nuclear command-and-control system.

The findings come from an investigation by Danwatch, conducted in cooperation with The Sunday Times and the Dossier Center.

Known as Facility 1335, or by its codename “Grot,” the facility is located inside Mount Koscinsky Kamen in the Sverdlovsk region.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense began major modernization work on the facility in 2018.

The investigation found thousands of government defense procurement contracts related to Facility 1335 between 2018 and 2024.

These include at least 22,000 tonnes of steel, more than 56,500 tonnes of cement, around 600 kilometers of electrical cable, 21 electrical substations, 182 ventilation units, 95 pieces of heavy machinery, and hundreds of components for drilling through rock.

Separately, the Russian military procured specialized ventilation systems, filters designed to protect against radioactive dust, blast-resistant equipment, and communications systems.

The scale of the work goes far beyond routine repairs. The documents refer to at least 24 underground rooms, for which a compressed-air system was installed. The distance between the facility’s main and emergency exits is about 2.5 kilometers.

In 2019, refrigeration equipment with a total capacity of around 5 MW was purchased for Facility 1335. It removes heat generated by communications, computing, and electrical equipment that may need to operate continuously.

A separate part of the modernization effort focuses on protecting and sustaining the facility. The documents mention blast-resistant structures, engineering equipment, and other systems required to operate a hardened command post.

The researchers also identified purchases of Western-made equipment, including Rockwool insulation, Danfoss fittings, Belimo valves, and other products.

Satellite imagery also captured extensive earthworks near the facility’s entrances. According to Danwatch, the Russian military was constructing new entrances into the mountain and carrying out work inside the underground system.

The Perimeter System, or Dead Hand

The Perimeter system, often known in the West as Dead Hand, is a Soviet-era system that Russia still uses as a backup command system for its strategic nuclear forces.

It was developed during the Cold War to ensure that Russia could still launch a retaliatory nuclear strike even if its main command centers were destroyed and communication with the country’s top military and political leaders was cut off.

The system consists of hardened command centers, secure communication networks, and special command missiles. Once launched, these missiles transmit coded orders to strategic nuclear missile units, including those that may have lost their normal communication links.

The system is designed to preserve Russia’s ability to launch a retaliatory nuclear strike even after a nuclear attack has disrupted the country’s central command and communications.

Meanwhile, details about how the Perimeter system actually operates remain largely classified. Therefore, the widely circulated claim that the system can independently and automatically launch Russia’s entire nuclear arsenal without human involvement needs to be qualified.

According to the Dossier Center, a new component of the system, developed as part of its modernization, was installed at the facility as early as the 2000s. Experts believe the current work aims to maintain and upgrade the facility’s operational capabilities.

Retired Major General Viktor Khalin, who helped develop the system during the Soviet era and oversaw its modernization from 2005 to 2010, has also written about Perimeter’s modernization.

According to Khalin, after the upgrade, the system could operate not only in an automated mode but also in a fully automatic mode.