- "Back in '58 the arms race was in full swing. Eisenhower was convinced that if the Reds moved on Europe, we couldn't respond quick enough. So he authorized Operation Greenlight: a top secret program that placed nuclear bombs in every major European city. The ultimate countermeasure to a Soviet invasion."
- — Jason Hudson
Operation Greenlight was a top secret CIA program that saw the insertion of nuclear devices within every major European city as an ultimate endgame to a Soviet invasion of Europe. The project was authorized by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958, and was overseen by Jason Hudson.
History[]
Creation[]
With the ongoing arms race between the United States and Soviet Union in the Soviet's favor, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower believed that the United States would be unable to respond fast enough to a Soviet invasion of Europe. To counter this, Eisenhower authorized the launch of the ultimate countermeasure, Operation Greenlight, a CIA project that inserted nuclear bombs within every major European city, which would be detonated if all hope was lost. In 1974, the Greenlight bombs were upgraded to high yield neutron bombs, which were capable of destroying life while simultaneously preserving infrastructure.
Uncovered by Perseus[]
In January 1981, one of the Greenlight nukes was acquired by rogue Soviet infiltration agent Perseus, who sought to use Operation Greenlight for his own plans of paving the way for a new era of Soviet regime foraged in his own image across the world. As part of his plan, Perseus would transport the nuke to an abandoned facility in Cuba, where he had one of Nikita Dragovich's former sleeper agents Theodore Hastings and his team of scientists reverse-engineer the bomb's detonation codes, which would enable Perseus to activate the rest of the nukes across Europe; initially however, the CIA believed that Perseus intended to detonate the nuke in America. With everything that he needed, Perseus terminated Hastings and his group before fleeing Cuba, though not before the CIA briefly interrogated the dying Hastings on Perseus’ true intentions.
Endgame[]
Depending on the player's choices in Identity Crisis, Perseus and his plans with Operation Greenlight are either thwarted or seen to fruition.
If Bell decides to tell the truth to Russell Adler and his team, they will reveal that Perseus plans on launching the order to activate the Greenlight nukes from the safety of the Solovetsky Monastery on the Solovetsky Islands. With this information, the team launches a final assault on the monastery and are able to call in an airstrike on the facility's satellite array, which results in the deactivation of Perseus' plan and forces him into hiding.
If Bell decides to lie to Adler and his team, they will reveal that Perseus is at the Duga radar complex in Ukraine. Upon arriving, the team finds the facility to be completely deserted and questions Bell on their actions:
- If Bell is able to radio in Soviet support prior to beginning the mission, Perseus and his forces will arrive to support Bell in terminating their former allies. Perseus then allows Bell to do the honors of ordering the detonation of the Greenlight nukes, which kills millions in Europe while allowing Perseus to pin the blame on the United States. With the world in chaos, President Ronald Reagan orders any and all American connections to Operation Greenlight be erased forever.
- If Bell does not radio in Soviet support prior to reaching the Duga array, they will be killed by Adler on the spot, though the detonation of the Greenlight nukes will still occur.