Red Phone - “Washington – Moscow Hotline”

Red Phone

“Washington – Moscow Hotline”

The Moscow–Washington hotline is a system that allows direct communication between the leaders of the United States and Russia. This hotline was established in 1963 and links the Pentagon with the Kremlin. Although in popular culture known as the "red telephone", the hotline was never a telephone line, and no red phones were used. The first implementation used teletype equipment, which was replaced by facsimile (fax) machines in 1988. Since 2008 the Moscow–Washington hotline is a secure computer link over which messages are exchanged by email.

A non-dial "Red Phone" which is on display in the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.

This telephone is actually a prop, erroneously representing the hotline between Washington and Moscow