RYAN

RYAN (or RYaN) is an acronym for Raketno-Yadernoe Napadenie (Russian: Ракетно-ядерное нападение, "Nuclear Missile Attack").

Purpose

The purpose of the operation was to collect intelligence on potential contingency plans of the Reagan administration to launch a nuclear first strike against the Soviet Union."^[1] It was initiated in May 1981 by Yuri Andropov, then chairman of KGB.

RYAN took on a new significance after the announcement of plans to deploy Pershing II nuclear-capable missiles to West Germany. These missiles were designed to be launched from road-mobile vehicles, making the launch sites very hard to find. The flight time from West Germany to European Russia was only four to six minutes (approximate flying time from six to eight minutes from West Germany to Moscow), giving the Soviets little or no warning.

On 23 March 1983 Ronald Reagan publicly announced development of the SDI program. Soviet leadership felt that the use of SDI technology was to render America invulnerable to Soviet attack, thereby allowing the US to launch missiles against the USSR with no fear of retaliation. This concern about a surprise attack prompted sudden expansion of the RYAN program. The level of concern reached its peak after the Soviets shot down KAL 007 near Moneron Island on 1 September 1983, and during the NATO Exercise Able Archer 83. The Soviet Union believed that a United States first strike on the Soviet Union was imminent.^[1]

Operation RYAN was downscaled in 1984, after the deaths of its main proponents, Yuri Andropov and defense minister Dmitriy Ustinov.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin (2000). The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West. Gardners Books. ISBN 0-14-028487-7.

War Scare – Peter Vincent Pry
A Cold War Conundrum: The 1983 Soviet War Scare – Benjamin B. Fischer [1]

History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982) and the Era of Stagnation

Political events	1964–1982: Collectivity of leadership · Glassboro Summit Conference · Prague Spring · Invasion of Czechoslovakia · Brezhnev Doctrine · Brezhnev assassination attempt · Sino–Soviet border conflict · Détente · Helsinki Accords · 1977 Soviet Constitution · Soviet war in Afghanistan · 1980 Summer Olympics · Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis · Exercise Zapad · Death and funeral of Leonid Brezhnev · Legacy of Leonid Brezhnev 1982–1985: RYAN · Korean Air Lines Flight 007 · 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident · Able Archer 83 · 1984 Summer Olympics boycott and the Friendship Games

Politburo members 1960s · 1970s · 1980s	Aliyev · Andropov · Brezhnev · Chebrikov · Chernenko · Demichev · Dolgikh · Gorbachev · Grechko · Grishin · Gromyko · Kirilenko · Kiselyov · Konayev · Kosygin · Kulakov · Kuznetsov · Masherov · Mazurov · Mikoyan · Mzhavanadze · Pelše · Podgorny · Polyansky · Ponomarev · Rashidov · Romanov · Shcherbytsky · Shelepin · Shelest · Shevardnadze · Shvernik · Solomentsev · Suslov · Tikhonov · Ustinov · Voronov · Vorotnikov

Soviet leaders	Leonid Brezhnev (Troika: Brezhnev · Kosygin · Podgorny) · Yuri Andropov · Konstantin Chernenko · Collective leadership

National Economy	Era of Stagnation: 1965 reform · 1973 reform · 1979 reform · Food Programme · 1984 reform Five-Year Plans: 8th Plan · 9th Plan · 10th Plan · 11th Plan Government Cabinets: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th

Brezhnev's family	Churbanov (son-in-law) · Galina (daughter) · Lyubov (niece) · Viktoria (wife) · Yakov (brother) · Yuri (son)

Soviet Union

Cold War

Participants and notable figures ANZUS NATO Non-Aligned Movement SEATO Warsaw Pact

1940s	Yalta Conference Operation Unthinkable Potsdam Conference Gouzenko Affair War in Vietnam (1945–1946) Iran crisis of 1946 Greek Civil War Corfu Channel Incident Restatement of Policy on Germany First Indochina War Truman Doctrine Asian Relations Conference Marshall Plan Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 Tito–Stalin split Berlin Blockade Western betrayal Iron Curtain Eastern Bloc Chinese Civil War (Second round)

1950s	Korean War 1953 Iranian coup d'état Uprising of 1953 in East Germany 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état Partition of Vietnam First Taiwan Strait Crisis Geneva Summit (1955) Poznań 1956 protests Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Suez Crisis Sputnik crisis Second Taiwan Strait Crisis Cuban Revolution Kitchen Debate Asian–African Conference Bricker Amendment McCarthyism Operation Gladio Hallstein Doctrine

1960s	Congo Crisis Sino–Soviet split 1960 U-2 incident Bay of Pigs Invasion Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis Vietnam War 1964 Brazilian coup d'état United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1965–1966) South African Border War Transition to the New Order Domino theory ASEAN Declaration Laotian Civil War Greek military junta of 1967–1974 Six-Day War War of Attrition Cultural Revolution Sino-Indian War Prague Spring Goulash Communism Sino–Soviet border conflict

1970s	Détente Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Black September in Jordan Cambodian Civil War Realpolitik Ping Pong Diplomacy Four Power Agreement on Berlin 1972 Nixon visit to China 1973 Chilean coup d'état Yom Kippur War Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Rhodesian Bush War Angolan Civil War Mozambican Civil War Ogaden War Sino-Albanian split Cambodian–Vietnamese War Sino-Vietnamese War Iranian Revolution Operation Condor Bangladesh Liberation War Korean Air Lines Flight 902

1980s	Soviet war in Afghanistan 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics boycotts Solidarity Soviet reaction Contras Central American crisis RYAN Korean Air Lines Flight 007 Able Archer 83 Star Wars Invasion of Grenada People Power Revolution Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 United States invasion of Panama Fall of the Berlin Wall Revolutions of 1989 Glasnost Perestroika

1990s	Democratic Revolution in Mongolia Breakup of Yugoslavia Dissolution of the Soviet Union Dissolution of Czechoslovakia

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Races	Arms race Nuclear arms race Space Race

See also	Brinkmanship NATO–Russia relations Soviet and Russian espionage in U.S. Soviet Union–United States relations US–Soviet summits

Category Portal Timeline

RYAN

Purpose

See also

References