Revealed: Secret Papers Show Nato Game Nearly Sparked Global Nuclear War

Newly declassified documents show how close the world came to nuclear war when a series of military manoeuvres by the US and its Nato allies was misinterpreted by the then Soviet Union as preparation for an attack.

Operation Able Archer was launched on 2 November 1983, and involved more than 40,000 troops moving across Europe using encrypted communications equipment and acting out the Nato response to an imagined Soviet invasion of Yugoslavia.

Obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Nuclear Information Service (NIS), which campaigns against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, cabinet memos and briefing papers show that UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was so disturbed to learn that Russian planes had been loaded with nuclear weapons and submarines launched in readiness for an armed response, she ordered officials to lobby the US to ensure the situation was never repeated.

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