Russia's doomsday device still ready for action.

Wonderful. From ABC News:

It's supposed to be the stuff of science fiction: A device that triggers a nuclear holocaust in the event of a U.S. strike against Russia.

But the "Dr. Strangelove"-esque technology isn't just fantasy. The Cold War-era Soviet "doomsday machine" was -- and might still be -- very much a reality.

From interviews with former Soviet arms officials and Defense Department documents, Nicholas Thompson, a senior editor for Wired magazine and author of "The Hawk and The Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War," learned that the system was built 25 years ago to ensure a nuclear retaliation if Russia were attacked by the U.S.

When triggered by an elaborate system of sensors placed around Russia, the program was designed to launch a fleet of missiles at major targets across the U.S. Some experts estimate that a Russian counter-strike could have killed more than one hundred million Americans.

And though the Iron Curtain was lifted more than a decade ago, it's believed that the "doomsday" system was never retired, according to Thompson.

"The Soviets really did fear that the U.S. was going to launch a nuclear strike," he said. "It's still in place, but it's not as though they're sitting around waiting for America to strike. It's on lower alert."

The top-secret Russian program, he continued, virtually guaranteed the ability to strike back, even if the entire chain of command had been wiped out.