How an atomic bomb works. Atomic bomb: composition, combat characteristics and purpose of creation
The one who invented the atomic bomb did not even imagine what tragic consequences this miracle invention of the 20th century could lead to. Before this superweapon was experienced by the inhabitants of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a very long way had been done.
A start
In April 1903, Paul Langevin's friends gathered in the Parisian Garden of France. The reason was the defense of the dissertation of the young and talented scientist Marie Curie. Among the distinguished guests was the famous English physicist Sir Ernest Rutherford. In the midst of the fun, the lights were put out. announced to everyone that now there will be a surprise. With a solemn air, Pierre Curie brought in a small tube of radium salts, which shone with a green light, causing extraordinary delight among those present. In the future, the guests heatedly discussed the future of this phenomenon. Everyone agreed that thanks to radium, the acute problem of lack of energy would be solved. This inspired everyone to new research and further perspectives. If they were then told that laboratory works with radioactive elements will lay the foundation for a terrible weapon of the 20th century, it is not known what their reaction would be. It was then that the story of the atomic bomb began, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians.
Game ahead of the curve
On December 17, 1938, the German scientist Otto Gann obtained irrefutable evidence of the decay of uranium into smaller elementary particles. In fact, he managed to split the atom. In the scientific world, this was regarded as a new milestone in the history of mankind. Otto Gunn did not share Political Views third Reich. Therefore, in the same year, 1938, the scientist was forced to move to Stockholm, where, together with Friedrich Strassmann, he continued his scientific research. Fearing that fascist Germany will be the first to receive a terrible weapon, he writes a letter with a warning about this. The news of a possible lead greatly alarmed the US government. The Americans began to act quickly and decisively.
Who created the atomic bomb? American project
Even before the group, many of whom were refugees from the Nazi regime in Europe, was tasked with developing nuclear weapons. The initial research, it is worth noting, was carried out in Nazi Germany. In 1940, the government of the United States of America began funding its own program to develop atomic weapons. An incredible amount of two and a half billion dollars was allocated for the implementation of the project. Outstanding physicists of the 20th century were invited to carry out this secret project, including more than ten Nobel laureates. In total, about 130 thousand employees were involved, among whom were not only the military, but also civilians. The development team was led by Colonel Leslie Richard Groves, with Robert Oppenheimer as supervisor. He is the man who invented the atomic bomb. A special secret engineering building was built in the Manhattan area, which is known to us under the code name "Manhattan Project". Over the next few years, the scientists of the secret project worked on the problem of nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium.
Non-peaceful atom by Igor Kurchatov
Today, every schoolchild will be able to answer the question of who invented the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. And then, in the early 30s of the last century, no one knew this.
In 1932, Academician Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov was one of the first in the world to start studying the atomic nucleus. Gathering like-minded people around him, Igor Vasilievich in 1937 created the first cyclotron in Europe. In the same year, he and his like-minded people create the first artificial nuclei.
In 1939, I. V. Kurchatov began to study a new direction - nuclear physics. After several laboratory successes in studying this phenomenon, the scientist gets at his disposal a secret research center, which was named "Laboratory No. 2". Today, this secret object is called "Arzamas-16".
The target direction of this center was a serious research and development of nuclear weapons. Now it becomes obvious who created the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. There were only ten people on his team then.
atomic bomb to be
By the end of 1945, Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov managed to assemble a serious team of scientists numbering more than a hundred people. The best minds of various scientific specializations came to the laboratory from all over the country to create atomic weapons. After the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Soviet scientists realized that this could also be done with the Soviet Union. "Laboratory No. 2" receives a sharp increase in funding from the country's leadership and a large influx of qualified personnel. Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria is appointed responsible for such an important project. The enormous labors of Soviet scientists have borne fruit.
Semipalatinsk test site
Atomic bomb in the USSR it was first tested at the test site in Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). On August 29, 1949, a 22 kiloton nuclear device shook the Kazakh land. Nobel laureate physicist Otto Hanz said: “This is good news. If Russia has atomic weapons, then there will be no war.” It was this atomic bomb in the USSR, encrypted as product number 501, or RDS-1, that eliminated the US monopoly on nuclear weapons.
Atomic bomb. Year 1945
In the early morning of July 16, the Manhattan Project conducted its first successful test of an atomic device - a plutonium bomb - at the Alamogordo test site in New Mexico, USA.
The money invested in the project was well spent. The first in the history of mankind was produced at 5:30 in the morning.
“We have done the work of the devil,” will later say the one who invented the atomic bomb in the United States, later called the “father of the atomic bomb.”
Japan does not capitulate
By the time of the final and successful testing of the atomic bomb Soviet troops and the allies finally defeated Nazi Germany. However, there was one state that promised to fight to the end for dominance in the Pacific Ocean. From mid-April to mid-July 1945, the Japanese army repeatedly carried out air strikes against allied forces, thereby inflicting heavy losses on the US army. At the end of July 1945, the militarist government of Japan rejected the Allied demand for surrender in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration. In it, in particular, it was said that in case of disobedience, the Japanese army would face rapid and complete destruction.
President agrees
The American government kept its word and began targeted bombing of Japanese military positions. Air strikes did not bring the desired result, and US President Harry Truman decides on the invasion of American troops into Japan. However, the military command dissuades its president from such a decision, citing the fact that the American invasion will entail a large number of victims.
At the suggestion of Henry Lewis Stimson and Dwight David Eisenhower, it was decided to use more effective method end of the war. A big supporter of the atomic bomb, US Presidential Secretary James Francis Byrnes, believed that the bombing of Japanese territories would finally end the war and put the US in a dominant position, which would positively affect the future course of events in the post-war world. Thus, US President Harry Truman was convinced that this was the only correct option.
Atomic bomb. Hiroshima
The small Japanese city of Hiroshima, with a population of just over 350,000, was chosen as the first target, located five hundred miles from the capital of Japan, Tokyo. After the modified Enola Gay B-29 bomber arrived at the US naval base on Tinian Island, an atomic bomb was installed on board the aircraft. Hiroshima was supposed to experience the effects of 9,000 pounds of uranium-235.
This hitherto unseen weapon was intended for civilians in a small Japanese town. The bomber commander was Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. The US atomic bomb bore the cynical name "Baby". On the morning of August 6, 1945, at about 8:15 am, the American "Baby" was dropped on the Japanese Hiroshima. About 15 thousand tons of TNT destroyed all life within a radius of five square miles. One hundred and forty thousand inhabitants of the city died in a matter of seconds. The surviving Japanese died a painful death from radiation sickness.
They were destroyed by the American atomic "Kid". However, the devastation of Hiroshima did not cause the immediate surrender of Japan, as everyone expected. Then it was decided to another bombardment of Japanese territory.
Nagasaki. Sky on fire
The American atomic bomb "Fat Man" was installed on board the B-29 aircraft on August 9, 1945, all in the same place, at the US naval base in Tinian. This time the aircraft commander was Major Charles Sweeney. Initially, the strategic target was the city of Kokura.
However, the weather conditions did not allow to carry out the plan, a lot of clouds interfered. Charles Sweeney went into the second round. At 11:02 a.m., the American nuclear-powered Fat Man swallowed up Nagasaki. It was a more powerful destructive air strike, which, in its strength, was several times higher than the bombing in Hiroshima. Nagasaki tested an atomic weapon weighing about 10,000 pounds and 22 kilotons of TNT.
The geographical location of the Japanese city reduced the expected effect. The thing is that the city is located in a narrow valley between the mountains. Therefore, the destruction of 2.6 square miles did not reveal the full potential of American weapons. The Nagasaki atomic bomb test is considered the failed "Manhattan Project".
Japan surrendered
On the afternoon of August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced his country's surrender in a radio address to the people of Japan. This news quickly spread around the world. In the United States of America, celebrations began on the occasion of the victory over Japan. The people rejoiced.
September 2, 1945 on board the American battleship "Missouri", anchored in Tokyo Bay, was signed a formal agreement to end the war. Thus ended the most brutal and bloody war in the history of mankind.
For six long years, the world community has been moving towards this significant date- since September 1, 1939, when the first shots of Nazi Germany were fired on the territory of Poland.
Peaceful atom
A total of 124 nuclear explosions were carried out in the Soviet Union. It is characteristic that all of them were carried out for the benefit of the national economy. Only three of them were accidents involving the release of radioactive elements. Programs for the use of peaceful atom were implemented only in two countries - the United States and the Soviet Union. Nuclear peaceful energy knows an example of a global catastrophe, when years at the fourth power unit Chernobyl nuclear power plant the reactor exploded.
Structurally, the first atomic bomb consisted of the following fundamental components:
- nuclear charge;
- an explosive device and an automatic charge detonation system with safety systems;
- ballistic case of an air bomb, which housed a nuclear charge and automatic detonation.
The fundamental conditions that determined the design of the RDS-1 bomb were related to:
- with the decision to keep in charge as much as possible the schematic diagram of the American atomic bomb tested in 1945;
- with the need, in the interests of safety, the final assembly of the charge installed in the ballistic body of the bomb should be carried out in the conditions of the test site, immediately before detonation;
- with the possibility of bombing RDS-1 from a heavy bomber TU-4.
The atomic charge of the RDS-1 bomb was a multilayer structure, in which the transition of the active substance - plutonium to the supercritical state was carried out due to its compression by means of a converging spherical detonation wave in the explosive.
In the center of the nuclear charge was placed plutonium, structurally consisting of two hemispherical parts. The mass of plutonium was determined in July 1949, after the completion of experiments to measure nuclear constants.
Great success was achieved not only by technologists, but also by metallurgists and radiochemists. Thanks to their efforts, even the first plutonium parts contained a small amount of impurities and highly active isotopes. The last point was especially significant, since short-lived isotopes, being the main source of neutrons, could have a negative effect on the probability of a premature explosion.
A neutron fuse (NC) was installed in the cavity of the plutonium core in a composite shell of natural uranium. During 1947-1948, about 20 different proposals were considered regarding the principles of operation, design and improvement of the NZ.
One of the most complex components of the first RDS-1 atomic bomb was the charge explosive from an alloy of TNT with RDX.
The choice of the outer radius of the explosive was determined, on the one hand, by the need to obtain a satisfactory energy release, and, on the other hand, by the permissible external dimensions of the product and the technological capabilities of production.
The first atomic bomb was developed in relation to its suspension in the TU-4 aircraft, the bomb bay of which provided the possibility of placing a product with a diameter of up to 1500 mm. Based on this dimension, the midsection of the ballistic body of the RDS-1 bomb was determined. The explosive charge was structurally a hollow ball and consisted of two layers.
The inner layer was formed from two hemispherical bases made from a domestic alloy of TNT and RDX.
The outer layer of the RDS-1 explosive charge was assembled from separate elements. This layer, designed to form a spherical converging detonation wave at the base of the explosive and called the focusing system, was one of the main functional units of the charge, which largely determined its performance characteristics.
The main purpose of the bomb automation system was to carry out a nuclear explosion in given point trajectories. Part of the bomb's electrical equipment was placed on the carrier aircraft, and its individual elements were placed on a nuclear charge.
To improve the reliability of the operation of the product, individual elements of the automatic detonation were made according to a two-channel (duplicate) scheme. In case of failure of the high-altitude fuse systems, a special device (impact sensor) was provided in the design of the bomb to carry out a nuclear explosion when the bomb hit the ground.
Already at the very initial stage of the development of nuclear weapons, it became obvious that the study of the processes occurring in the charge should follow the computational and experimental path, which made it possible to correct theoretical analysis according to the results of experiments, experimental data on the gas-dynamic characteristics of nuclear charges.
In a general aspect, the gas-dynamic testing of a nuclear charge included a number of studies related to setting up experiments and recording fast processes, including the propagation of detonation and shock waves in heterogeneous media.
The study of the properties of substances at the gas-dynamic stage of the operation of nuclear charges, when the pressure range reaches hundreds of millions of atmospheres, required the development of fundamentally new research methods, the kinetics of which required high accuracy - up to hundredths of a microsecond. Such requirements led to the development of new methods for recording high-speed processes. It was in the Research Sector of KB-11 that the foundations of domestic high-speed photochronography with a sweep speed of up to 10 km/s and a shooting speed of about a million frames per second were laid. The high-speed recorder developed by A.D. Zakharenkov, G.D. Sokolov and V.K. Bobolev (1948) became the prototype of serial SFR devices developed according to the technical specifications of KB-11 at the Institute of Chemical Physics in 1950.
Note that this photochronograph driven by an air turbine already at that time provided an image sweep speed of 7 km/s. The parameters of the serial device SFR (1950) created on its basis with a drive from an electric motor are more modest - up to 3.5 km / s.
E.K.Zavoisky |
For the calculation-theoretical substantiation of the serviceability of the first product, it was fundamentally important to know the parameters of the state of the PW behind the front of the detonation wave, as well as the dynamics of spherically symmetric compression of the central part of the product. To this end, in 1948, E.K. Zavoisky proposed and developed an electromagnetic method for recording the mass velocities of explosion products behind the front of detonation waves, both in a flat and in a spherical explosion.
The velocity distribution of the explosion products was carried out in parallel and by the method of pulsed radiography by V.A. Tsukerman and co-workers.
To register fast processes, unique multichannel recorders ETAR-1 and ETAR-2, developed by E.A. Etingof and M.S. Tarasov, with a time resolution close to nanosecond, were created. Subsequently, these recorders were replaced by the serial OK-4 device developed by A.I. Sokolik (IKhP AN).
The use of new methods and new recorders in the studies of KB-11 made it possible to obtain the necessary data on the dynamic compressibility of structural materials already at the start of work on the creation of atomic weapons.
Experimental studies constants of the working substances that are part of the physical scheme of the charge, created the foundation for the verification of physical ideas about the processes occurring in the charge at the gas-dynamic stage of its operation.
General structure of the atomic bomb
The main elements of nuclear weapons are:
- frame
- automation system
The case is designed to accommodate a nuclear charge and an automation system, and also protects them from mechanical, and in some cases, from thermal effects. The automation system ensures the explosion of a nuclear charge at a given moment of time and excludes its accidental or premature operation. It includes:
- safety and arming system
- emergency detonation system
- charge detonation system
- source of power
- undermining sensor system
Means of delivery of nuclear weapons can be ballistic missiles, cruise and anti-aircraft missiles, aviation. Nuclear munitions are used to equip air bombs, land mines, torpedoes, artillery shells (203.2 mm SG and 155 mm SG-USA).
Various systems have been invented to detonate the atomic bomb. The simplest system is an injector-type weapon in which a projectile made of fissile material crashes into the target, forming a supercritical mass. The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 had an injection-type detonator. And it had an energy equivalent of approximately 20 kilotons of TNT.
Museum of Nuclear Weapons
The Historical and Memorial Museum of Nuclear Weapons RFNC-VNIIEF (Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics) was opened in Sarov on November 13, 1992. This is the first museum in the country that tells about the main stages of the creation of the domestic nuclear shield. The first exhibits of the museum appeared before its visitors on this day in the building of the former technical school, where the museum is located now.
Its exhibits are samples of products that have become legends in the history of the country's nuclear industry. Until recently, what the largest experts worked on was a huge state secret not only for mere mortals, but also for the developers of nuclear weapons themselves.
The exposition of the museum contains exhibits from the very first test sample of 1949 to the present day.
As is known, to first-generation nuclear weapons, it is often called ATOMIC, refers to warheads based on the use of the fission energy of uranium-235 or plutonium-239 nuclei. The first ever test of such a charger with a capacity of 15 kt was carried out in the USA on July 16, 1945 at the Alamogordo test site.
The explosion in August 1949 of the first Soviet atomic bomb gave a new impetus to the development of work to create second generation nuclear weapons. It is based on the technology of using the energy of thermonuclear reactions for the fusion of nuclei of heavy hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium. Such weapons are called thermonuclear or hydrogen. The first test of the Mike thermonuclear device was carried out by the United States on November 1, 1952 on Elugelab Island (Marshall Islands), with a capacity of 5-8 million tons. The following year, a thermonuclear charge was detonated in the USSR.
The implementation of atomic and thermonuclear reactions opened up wide opportunities for their use in the creation of a series of various munitions of subsequent generations. Toward third-generation nuclear weapons include special charges (ammunition), in which, due to a special design, they achieve a redistribution of the energy of the explosion in favor of one of the damaging factors. Other options for the charges of such weapons ensure the creation of a focus of one or another damaging factor in a certain direction, which also leads to a significant increase in its destructive effect.
An analysis of the history of the creation and improvement of nuclear weapons indicates that the United States has always been a leader in the creation of new models of it. However, some time passed and the USSR eliminated these unilateral advantages of the United States. Third-generation nuclear weapons are no exception in this regard. One of the most famous third-generation nuclear weapons is the NEUTRON weapon.
What is a neutron weapon?
Neutron weapons were widely discussed at the turn of the 1960s. However, later it became known that the possibility of its creation was discussed long before that. Ex-president The World Federation of Scientists, Professor E. Burop from Great Britain, recalled that he first heard about this back in 1944, when he was working in the United States on the Manhattan Project as part of a group of British scientists. Work on the creation of neutron weapons was initiated by the need to obtain a powerful combat weapon with a selective ability to destroy, for use directly on the battlefield.
The first explosion of a neutron charger (code number W-63) took place in an underground adit in Nevada in April 1963. The neutron flux obtained during the test turned out to be significantly lower than the calculated value, which significantly reduced the combat capabilities of the new weapon. It took almost another 15 years for neutron charges to acquire all the qualities of a military weapon. According to Professor E. Burop, the fundamental difference between a neutron charge device and a thermonuclear one lies in the different rate of energy release: “ In a neutron bomb, energy is released much more slowly. It's kind of like a delayed action squib.«.
Due to this deceleration, the energy spent on the formation of a shock wave and light radiation decreases and, accordingly, its release in the form of a neutron flux increases. During further work certain successes were achieved in ensuring the focusing of neutron radiation, which made it possible not only to increase its damaging effect in a certain direction, but also to reduce the danger of its use for friendly troops.
In November 1976, another test of a neutron warhead was carried out in Nevada, during which very impressive results were obtained. As a result, at the end of 1976, a decision was made to produce components for 203-mm caliber neutron projectiles and warheads for the Lance missile. Later, in August 1981, at a meeting of the Nuclear Planning Group of the US National Security Council, a decision was made on the full-scale production of neutron weapons: 2000 shells for a 203-mm howitzer and 800 warheads for the Lance missile.
During the explosion of a neutron warhead, the main damage to living organisms is inflicted by a stream of fast neutrons. According to calculations, for each kiloton of charge power, about 10 neutrons are released, which propagate with great speed in the surrounding space. These neutrons have an extremely high damaging effect on living organisms, much stronger than even Y-radiation and shock wave. For comparison, we point out that in the explosion of a conventional nuclear charge with a capacity of 1 kiloton, an openly located manpower will be destroyed by a shock wave at a distance of 500-600 m. In the explosion of a neutron warhead of the same power, the destruction of manpower will occur at a distance approximately three times greater.
The neutrons produced during the explosion move at speeds of several tens of kilometers per second. Bursting like projectiles into the living cells of the body, they knock out nuclei from atoms, tear molecular bonds, form free radicals that are highly reactive, which leads to disruption of the main cycles of life processes.
When neutrons move in air as a result of collisions with the nuclei of gas atoms, they gradually lose energy. This leads to at a distance of about 2 km, their damaging effect practically stops. In order to reduce the destructive effect of the accompanying shock wave, the power of the neutron charge is chosen in the range from 1 to 10 kt, and the height of the explosion above the ground is about 150-200 meters.
According to some American scientists, in the Los Alamos and Sandia laboratories of the USA and in All-Russian Institute of experimental physics in Sarov (Arzamas-16), thermonuclear experiments are carried out, in which, along with research on the production of electrical energy, the possibility of obtaining a purely thermonuclear explosive is being studied. The most likely by-product of ongoing research, in their opinion, could be an improvement in the energy-mass characteristics of nuclear warheads and the creation of a neutron mini-bomb. According to experts, such a neutron warhead with a TNT equivalent of only one ton can create a lethal dose of radiation at distances of 200-400 m.
Neutron weapons are a powerful defensive tool and their most effective use is possible when repulsing aggression, especially when the enemy has invaded the protected territory. Neutron munitions are tactical weapons and their use is most likely in so-called "limited" wars, primarily in Europe. These weapons may become of particular importance for Russia, since, in the face of the weakening of its armed forces and the growing threat of regional conflicts, it will be forced to place greater emphasis on nuclear weapons in ensuring its security.
The use of neutron weapons can be especially effective in repulsing a massive tank attack.. It is known that tank armor at certain distances from the epicenter of the explosion (more than 300-400 m in the explosion of a nuclear charge with a power of 1 kt) provides protection for crews from shock waves and Y-radiation. At the same time, fast neutrons penetrate steel armor without significant attenuation.
The calculations show that in the event of an explosion of a neutron charge with a power of 1 kiloton, tank crews will be instantly put out of action within a radius of 300 m from the epicenter and will die within two days. Crews located at a distance of 300-700 m will fail in a few minutes and will also die within 6-7 days; at distances of 700-1300 m, they will be incapable of combat in a few hours, and the death of most of them will drag on for several weeks. At distances of 1300-1500 m, a certain part of the crews will get serious illnesses and gradually fail.
Neutron warheads can also be used in missile defense systems to deal with the warheads of attacking missiles on the trajectory. According to experts, fast neutrons, having a high penetrating power, will pass through the skin of enemy warheads and cause damage to their electronic equipment. In addition, neutrons, interacting with the uranium or plutonium nuclei of the atomic detonator of the warhead, will cause their fission.
Such a reaction will occur with a large release of energy, which, ultimately, can lead to heating and destruction of the detonator. This, in turn, will lead to the failure of the entire charge of the warhead. This property of neutron weapons has been used in US missile defense systems. Back in the mid-1970s, neutron warheads were installed on the Sprint interceptor missiles of the Safeguard system deployed around the Grand Forks airbase (North Dakota). It is possible that neutron warheads will also be used in the future US national missile defense system.
As is known, in accordance with the obligations announced by the presidents of the United States and Russia in September-October 1991, all nuclear artillery shells and warheads of land-based tactical missiles must be eliminated. However, there is no doubt that in the event of a change in the military-political situation and a political decision is made, the proven technology of neutron warheads will allow them to be mass-produced in a short time.
"Super EMP"
Shortly after the end of World War II, under the conditions of a monopoly on nuclear weapons, the United States resumed testing to improve them and determine the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. At the end of June 1946, in the area of \u200b\u200bBikini Atoll (Marshall Islands), under the code "Operation Crossroads", nuclear explosions were carried out, during which the destructive effect of atomic weapons was studied.
These test explosions revealed new physical phenomenon — generation of a powerful impulse electromagnetic radiation(AMY) in which there was immediate interest. Especially significant was the EMP in high explosions. In the summer of 1958, nuclear explosions were carried out at high altitudes. The first series under the code "Hardtack" was held over Pacific Ocean near Johnston Island. During the tests, two megaton-class charges were detonated: "Tek" - at an altitude of 77 kilometers and "Orange" - at an altitude of 43 kilometers.
In 1962, high-altitude explosions were continued: at an altitude of 450 km, under the code "Starfish", a warhead with a capacity of 1.4 megatons was detonated. Soviet Union also during 1961-1962. conducted a series of tests during which the impact of high-altitude explosions (180-300 km) on the functioning of the equipment of missile defense systems was studied.
During these tests, powerful electromagnetic pulses were recorded, which had a great damaging effect on electronic equipment, communication and power lines, radio and radar stations over long distances. Since then, military experts have continued to pay great attention to the study of the nature of this phenomenon, its destructive effect, and ways to protect their combat and support systems from it.
The physical nature of EMP is determined by the interaction of Y-quanta of instantaneous radiation of a nuclear explosion with atoms of air gases: Y-quanta knock out electrons from atoms (the so-called Compton electrons), which move at great speed in the direction from the center of the explosion. The flow of these electrons, interacting with the Earth's magnetic field, creates a pulse of electromagnetic radiation. When a charge of a megaton class explodes at altitudes of several tens of kilometers, the electric field strength on the earth's surface can reach tens of kilovolts per meter.
On the basis of the results obtained during the tests, US military experts launched research in the early 80s aimed at creating another type of third-generation nuclear weapon - Super-EMP with enhanced electromagnetic radiation output.
To increase the yield of Y-quanta, it was supposed to create a shell around the charge of a substance whose nuclei, actively interacting with the neutrons of a nuclear explosion, emit high-energy Y-radiation. Experts believe that with the help of Super-EMP it is possible to create a field strength near the Earth's surface of the order of hundreds and even thousands of kilovolts per meter.
According to the calculations of American theorists, an explosion of such a charge with a capacity of 10 megatons at an altitude of 300-400 km above the geographical center of the United States - the state of Nebraska will disrupt the operation of electronic equipment almost throughout the country for a time sufficient to disrupt a retaliatory nuclear missile strike.
The further direction of work on the creation of Super-EMP was associated with an increase in its damaging effect due to the focusing of Y-radiation, which should have led to an increase in the amplitude of the pulse. These properties of Super-EMP make it a first strike weapon designed to disable government and military control systems, ICBMs, especially mobile-based missiles, trajectory missiles, radar stations, spacecraft, power supply systems, etc. In this way, Super-EMP is clearly offensive in nature and is a destabilizing first strike weapon.
Penetrating warheads - penetrators
The search for reliable means of destroying highly protected targets led US military experts to the idea of using the energy of underground nuclear explosions for this. With the deepening of nuclear charges into the ground, the share of energy spent on the formation of a funnel, a destruction zone and seismic shock waves increases significantly. In this case, with the existing accuracy of ICBMs and SLBMs, the reliability of destroying "pinpoint", especially strong targets on enemy territory is significantly increased.
Work on the creation of penetrators was started by order of the Pentagon back in the mid-70s, when the concept of a "counterforce" strike was given priority. The first example of a penetrating warhead was developed in the early 80s for the Pershing-2 medium-range missile. After the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the efforts of US specialists were redirected to the creation of such munitions for ICBMs.
The developers of the new warhead encountered significant difficulties, primarily related to the need to ensure its integrity and performance when moving in the ground. Huge overloads acting on the warhead (5000-8000 g, g-acceleration of gravity) impose extremely stringent requirements on the design of the ammunition.
The damaging effect of such a warhead on buried, especially strong targets is determined by two factors - the power of the nuclear charge and the magnitude of its penetration into the ground. At the same time, for each value of the charge power, there is an optimal depth value, which ensures the highest efficiency of the penetrator.
So, for example, the destructive effect of a 200 kiloton nuclear charge on especially strong targets will be quite effective when it is buried to a depth of 15-20 meters and it will be equivalent to the effect of a ground explosion of a 600 kt MX missile warhead. Military experts have determined that with the accuracy of delivering a penetrator warhead, which is typical for MX and Trident-2 missiles, the probability of destroying an enemy missile silo or command post with a single warhead is very high. This means that in this case the probability of destruction of targets will be determined only by the technical reliability of the delivery of warheads.
Obviously, penetrating warheads are designed to destroy the enemy's state and military control centers, ICBMs located in mines, command posts, etc. Consequently, penetrators are offensive, "counterforce" weapons designed to deliver a first strike and, therefore, have a destabilizing character.
The value of penetrating warheads, if put into service, can increase significantly in the face of a reduction in strategic offensive weapons, when a decrease in first-strike combat capabilities (a decrease in the number of carriers and warheads) will require an increase in the probability of hitting targets with each ammunition. At the same time, for such warheads, it is necessary to ensure a sufficiently high accuracy of hitting the target. Therefore, the possibility of creating penetrator warheads equipped with a homing system in the final section of the trajectory, like a precision weapon, was considered.
X-ray laser with nuclear pumping
In the second half of the 70s, research was begun at the Livermore Radiation Laboratory to create " anti-missile weapons of the 21st century" - X-ray laser with nuclear excitation. This weapon was conceived from the very beginning as the main means of destroying Soviet missiles in the active part of the trajectory, before the separation of the warheads. The new weapon was given the name - "volley fire weapon".
In schematic form, the new weapon can be represented as a warhead, on the surface of which up to 50 laser rods are fixed. Each rod has two degrees of freedom and, like a gun barrel, can be autonomously directed to any point in space. Along the axis of each rod, several meters long, is placed a thin wire made of a dense active material, "such as gold." A powerful nuclear charge is placed inside the warhead, the explosion of which should serve as an energy source for pumping lasers.
According to some experts, to ensure the destruction of attacking missiles at a range of more than 1000 km, a charge with a yield of several hundred kilotons will be required. The warhead also houses an aiming system with a high-speed real-time computer.
To combat Soviet missiles, US military experts developed a special tactic for its combat use. To this end, nuclear laser warheads were proposed to be placed on ballistic missiles submarines (SLBM). In a “crisis situation” or during the period of preparation for a first strike, submarines equipped with these SLBMs should covertly advance into patrol areas and take combat positions as close as possible to the position areas of Soviet ICBMs: in the northern part indian ocean, in the Arabian, Norwegian, Okhotsk Seas.
When a signal about the launch of Soviet missiles is received, submarine missiles are launched. If Soviet missiles climbed to an altitude of 200 km, then in order to reach the line-of-sight range, missiles with laser warheads need to climb to an altitude of about 950 km. After that, the control system, together with the computer, aims the laser rods at the Soviet missiles. As soon as each rod takes a position in which the radiation will hit exactly the target, the computer will give a command to detonate the nuclear charge.
The huge energy released during the explosion in the form of radiation will instantly transfer the active substance of the rods (wire) to the plasma state. In a moment, this plasma, cooling, will create radiation in the X-ray range, propagating in airless space for thousands of kilometers in the direction of the axis of the rod. The laser warhead itself will be destroyed in a few microseconds, but before that it will have time to send powerful radiation pulses towards the targets.
Absorbed in a thin surface layer of the rocket material, X-rays can create an extremely high concentration of thermal energy in it, which will cause its explosive evaporation, leading to the formation of a shock wave and, ultimately, to the destruction of the body.
However, the creation of the X-ray laser, which was considered the cornerstone of the Reagan SDI program, met with great difficulties that have not yet been overcome. Among them, in the first places are the difficulties of focusing laser radiation, as well as the creation of an effective system for pointing laser rods.
The first underground tests of an X-ray laser were carried out in Nevada adits in November 1980 under the code name Dauphine. The results obtained confirmed the theoretical calculations of scientists, however, the X-ray output turned out to be very weak and clearly insufficient to destroy missiles. This was followed by a series of test explosions "Excalibur", "Super-Excalibur", "Cottage", "Romano", during which specialists pursued main goal- increase the intensity of X-ray radiation due to focusing.
At the end of December 1985, the Goldstone underground explosion with a capacity of about 150 kt was carried out, and in April of the following year, the Mighty Oak test was carried out with similar goals. Under the ban on nuclear tests, serious obstacles arose in the way of developing these weapons.
It must be emphasized that an X-ray laser is, first of all, a nuclear weapon and, if it is blown up near the Earth's surface, it will have approximately the same damaging effect as a conventional thermonuclear charge of the same power.
"Hypersonic Shrapnel"
In the course of work on the SDI program, theoretical calculations and the results of modeling the process of intercepting enemy warheads showed that the first echelon of missile defense, designed to destroy missiles in the active part of the trajectory, will not be able to completely solve this problem. Therefore, it is necessary to create combat means capable of effectively destroying warheads in the phase of their free flight.
To this end, US experts proposed the use of small metal particles accelerated to high speeds using the energy of a nuclear explosion. The main idea of such a weapon is that at high speeds even a small dense particle (weighing no more than a gram) will have a large kinetic energy. Therefore, upon impact with the target, the particle can damage or even pierce the warhead shell. Even if the shell is only damaged, it will be destroyed upon entry into the dense layers of the atmosphere as a result of intense mechanical impact and aerodynamic heating.
Naturally, when such a particle hits a thin-walled inflatable decoy, its shell will be pierced and it will immediately lose its shape in a vacuum. The destruction of light decoys will greatly facilitate the selection of nuclear warheads and, thus, will contribute to the successful fight against them.
It is assumed that structurally such a warhead will contain a relatively low-yield nuclear charge with an automatic detonation system, around which a shell is created, consisting of many small metal submunitions. With a shell mass of 100 kg, more than 100 thousand fragmentation elements can be obtained, which will create a relatively large and dense field of destruction. During the explosion of a nuclear charge, an incandescent gas is formed - plasma, which, expanding at a tremendous speed, entrains and accelerates these dense particles. In this case, a difficult technical problem is to maintain a sufficient mass of fragments, since when they are flowed around by a high-speed gas flow, mass will be carried away from the surface of the elements.
In the United States, a series of tests were conducted to create "nuclear shrapnel" under the Prometheus program. The power of the nuclear charge during these tests was only a few tens of tons. Assessing the damaging capabilities of this weapon, it should be borne in mind that in dense layers of the atmosphere, particles moving at speeds of more than 4-5 kilometers per second will burn out. Therefore, "nuclear shrapnel" can only be used in space, at altitudes of more than 80-100 km, in vacuum conditions.
Accordingly, shrapnel warheads can be successfully used, in addition to combating warheads and decoys, also as an anti-space weapon to destroy military satellites, in particular, those included in the missile attack warning system (EWS). Therefore, it is possible to use it in combat in the first strike to "blind" the enemy.
The various types of nuclear weapons discussed above by no means exhaust all the possibilities in creating their modifications. This, in particular, concerns nuclear weapons projects with enhanced action of an air nuclear wave, increased output of Y-radiation, increased radioactive contamination of the area (such as the notorious "cobalt" bomb), etc.
AT recent times in the United States, projects are being considered for ultra-low-yield nuclear charges:
– mini-newx (capacity hundreds of tons),
- micro-newx (tens of tons),
- secret newks (units of tons), which, in addition to low power, should be much cleaner than their predecessors.
The process of improving nuclear weapons continues and it is impossible to exclude the appearance in the future of subminiature nuclear charges created on the basis of the use of superheavy transplutonium elements with a critical mass of 25 to 500 grams. The transplutonium element kurchatov has a critical mass of about 150 grams.
A nuclear device using one of the California isotopes will be so small that, having a capacity of several tons of TNT, it can be adapted for firing from grenade launchers and small arms.
All of the above indicates that the use of nuclear energy for military purposes has significant potential and continued development towards the creation of new types of weapons can lead to a "technological breakthrough" that will lower the "nuclear threshold", will have bad influence for strategic stability.
The ban on all nuclear tests, if it does not completely block the development and improvement of nuclear weapons, then significantly slows them down. Under these conditions, mutual openness, trust, the elimination of acute contradictions between states and the creation, in the final analysis, of an effective international system of collective security acquire particular importance.
/Vladimir Belous, major general, professor at the Academy of Military Sciences, nasledie.ru/
After the end of World War II, the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition rapidly tried to get ahead of each other in the development of a more powerful nuclear bomb.
The first test, conducted by the Americans on real objects in Japan, heated up the situation between the USSR and the USA to the limit. The powerful explosions that thundered in Japanese cities and practically destroyed all life in them forced Stalin to abandon many claims on the world stage. Most of the Soviet physicists were urgently "thrown" to the development of nuclear weapons.
When and how did nuclear weapons appear
1896 can be considered the year of birth of the atomic bomb. It was then that French chemist A. Becquerel discovered that uranium is radioactive. The chain reaction of uranium forms a powerful energy that serves as the basis for a terrible explosion. It is unlikely that Becquerel imagined that his discovery would lead to the creation of nuclear weapons - the most terrible weapon in the whole world.
Late 19th - early 20th century turning point in the history of the invention of nuclear weapons. It was in this time period that scientists from various countries of the world were able to discover the following laws, rays and elements:
- Alpha, gamma and beta rays;
- Many isotopes of chemical elements with radioactive properties have been discovered;
- The law of radioactive decay was discovered, which determines the time and quantitative dependence of the intensity of radioactive decay, depending on the number of radioactive atoms in the test sample;
- Nuclear isometry was born.
In the 1930s, for the first time, they were able to split atomic nucleus uranium with neutron absorption. At the same time, positrons and neurons were discovered. All this gave a powerful impetus to the development of weapons that used atomic energy. In 1939, the world's first atomic bomb design was patented. This was done by French physicist Frederic Joliot-Curie.
As a result of further research and development in this area, a nuclear bomb was born. The power and range of destruction of modern atomic bombs is so great that a country that has nuclear potential practically does not need a powerful army, since one atomic bomb is capable of destroying an entire state.
How an atomic bomb works
An atomic bomb consists of many elements, the main of which are:
- Atomic Bomb Corps;
- Automation system that controls the explosion process;
- Nuclear charge or warhead.
The automation system is located in the body of the atomic bomb, along with nuclear charge. The design of the hull must be sufficiently reliable to protect the warhead from various external factors and impacts. For example, various mechanical, thermal or similar influences, which can lead to an unplanned explosion of great power, capable of destroying everything around.
The task of automation includes complete control over the explosion at the right time, so the system consists of the following elements:
- Device responsible for emergency detonation;
- Power supply of the automation system;
- Undermining sensor system;
- cocking device;
- Safety device.
When the first tests were carried out, nuclear bombs were delivered by planes that had time to leave the affected area. Modern atomic bombs are so powerful that they can only be delivered by cruise, ballistic, or even anti-aircraft missiles.
Atomic bombs use a variety of detonation systems. The simplest of these is a simple device that is triggered when a projectile hits a target.
One of the main characteristics of nuclear bombs and missiles is their division into calibers, which are of three types:
- Small, the power of atomic bombs of this caliber is equivalent to several thousand tons of TNT;
- Medium (explosion power - several tens of thousands of tons of TNT);
- Large, the charge power of which is measured in millions of tons of TNT.
Interestingly, most often the power of all nuclear bombs is measured precisely in TNT equivalent, since there is no scale for measuring the power of an explosion for atomic weapons.
Algorithms for the operation of nuclear bombs
Any atomic bomb operates on the principle of using nuclear energy, which is released during a nuclear reaction. This procedure is based on either the fission of heavy nuclei or the synthesis of lungs. Since this reaction releases a huge amount of energy, and in shortest time, the radius of destruction of a nuclear bomb is very impressive. Because of this feature, nuclear weapons are classified as weapons of mass destruction.
There are two main points in the process that starts with the explosion of an atomic bomb:
- This is the immediate center of the explosion, where the nuclear reaction takes place;
- The epicenter of the explosion, which is located at the site where the bomb exploded.
The nuclear energy released during the explosion of an atomic bomb is so strong that seismic tremors begin on the earth. At the same time, these shocks bring direct destruction only at a distance of several hundred meters (although, given the force of the explosion of the bomb itself, these shocks no longer affect anything).
Damage factors in a nuclear explosion
The explosion of a nuclear bomb brings not only terrible instantaneous destruction. The consequences of this explosion will be felt not only by people who fell into the affected area, but also by their children, who were born after the atomic explosion. Types of destruction by atomic weapons are divided into the following groups:
- Light radiation that occurs directly during the explosion;
- The shock wave propagated by a bomb immediately after the explosion;
- Electromagnetic impulse;
- penetrating radiation;
- A radioactive contamination that can last for decades.
Although at first glance, a flash of light poses the least threat, in fact, it is formed as a result of the release of a huge amount of thermal and light energy. Its power and strength far exceeds the power of the rays of the sun, so the defeat of light and heat can be fatal at a distance of several kilometers.
The radiation that is released during the explosion is also very dangerous. Although it does not last long, it manages to infect everything around, since its penetrating ability is incredibly high.
The shock wave in an atomic explosion acts like the same wave in conventional explosions, only its power and radius of destruction are much larger. In a few seconds, it causes irreparable damage not only to people, but also to equipment, buildings and the surrounding nature.
Penetrating radiation provokes the development of radiation sickness, and an electromagnetic pulse is dangerous only for equipment. The combination of all these factors, plus the power of the explosion, makes the atomic bomb the most dangerous weapon in the world.
The world's first nuclear weapons test
The first country to develop and test nuclear weapons was the United States of America. It was the US government that allocated huge cash subsidies for the development of promising new weapons. By the end of 1941, many prominent scientists in the field of atomic development were invited to the United States, who by 1945 were able to present a prototype atomic bomb suitable for testing.
The world's first test of an atomic bomb equipped with an explosive device was carried out in the desert in the state of New Mexico. A bomb called "Gadget" was detonated on July 16, 1945. The test result was positive, although the military demanded to test a nuclear bomb in real combat conditions.
Seeing that there was only one step left before victory in the Nazi coalition, and there might not be more such an opportunity, the Pentagon decided to launch a nuclear strike on the last ally of Nazi Germany - Japan. In addition, the use of a nuclear bomb was supposed to solve several problems at once:
- To avoid the unnecessary bloodshed that would inevitably occur if US troops set foot on Imperial Japanese territory;
- To bring the uncompromising Japanese to their knees in one blow, forcing them to agree to conditions favorable to the United States;
- Show the USSR (as a possible rival in the future) that the US Army has a unique weapon that can wipe out any city from the face of the earth;
- And, of course, to see in practice what nuclear weapons are capable of in real combat conditions.
On August 6, 1945, the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which was used in military operations. This bomb was called "Baby", as its weight was 4 tons. The bomb drop was carefully planned, and it hit exactly where it was planned. Those houses that were not destroyed by the blast burned down, as the stoves that fell in the houses provoked fires, and the whole city was engulfed in flames.
After a bright flash, a heat wave followed, which burned all life within a radius of 4 kilometers, and the shock wave that followed it destroyed most of the buildings.
Those who were hit by heatstroke within a radius of 800 meters were burned alive. The blast wave tore off the burnt skin of many. A couple of minutes later, a strange black rain fell, which consisted of steam and ash. Those who fell under the black rain, the skin received incurable burns.
Those few who were lucky enough to survive fell ill with radiation sickness, which at that time was not only not studied, but also completely unknown. People began to develop fever, vomiting, nausea and bouts of weakness.
On August 9, 1945, the second American bomb, called "Fat Man", was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. This bomb had about the same power as the first, and the consequences of its explosion were just as devastating, although people died half as many.
Two atomic bombs dropped on Japanese cities turned out to be the first and only case in the world of the use of atomic weapons. More than 300,000 people died in the first days after the bombing. About 150 thousand more died from radiation sickness.
After the nuclear bombing of Japanese cities, Stalin received a real shock. It became clear to him that the question of developing nuclear weapons in Soviet Russia This is a matter of national security. Already on August 20, 1945, a special committee on atomic energy began to work, which was urgently created by I. Stalin.
Although research in nuclear physics was carried out by a group of enthusiasts back in tsarist Russia, in Soviet times, it was not given due attention. In 1938, all research in this area was completely stopped, and many nuclear scientists were repressed as enemies of the people. After the nuclear explosions in Japan Soviet authority sharply began to restore the nuclear industry in the country.
There is evidence that the development of nuclear weapons was carried out in Nazi Germany, and it was German scientists who finalized the “raw” American atomic bomb, so the US government removed all nuclear specialists and all documents related to the development of nuclear weapons from Germany.
The Soviet intelligence school, which during the war was able to bypass all foreign intelligence services, back in 1943 transferred secret documents related to the development of nuclear weapons to the USSR. At the same time, Soviet agents were introduced into all major American nuclear research centers.
As a result of all these measures, already in 1946, the terms of reference for the manufacture of two Soviet-made nuclear bombs were ready:
- RDS-1 (with plutonium charge);
- RDS-2 (with two parts of the uranium charge).
The abbreviation "RDS" was deciphered as "Russia does itself", which almost completely corresponded to reality.
The news that the USSR was ready to release its nuclear weapons forced the US government to take drastic measures. In 1949, the Troyan plan was developed, according to which 70 largest cities The USSR planned to drop atomic bombs. Only the fear of a retaliatory strike prevented this plan from being realized.
This alarming information comes from Soviet intelligence officers, forced scientists to work in emergency mode. Already in August 1949, the first atomic bomb produced in the USSR was tested. When the US found out about these tests, the Trojan plan was postponed indefinitely. The era of confrontation between the two superpowers, known in history as the Cold War, began.
The most powerful nuclear bomb in the world, known as the "Tsar bomb" belongs precisely to the period " cold war". USSR scientists created the most powerful bomb in the history of mankind. Its capacity was 60 megatons, although it was planned to create a bomb with a capacity of 100 kilotons. This bomb was tested in October 1961. The diameter of the fireball during the explosion was 10 kilometers, and the blast wave circled the globe three times. It was this test that forced most countries of the world to sign an agreement to end nuclear tests not only in the earth's atmosphere, but even in space.
Although atomic weapons are an excellent means of intimidating aggressive countries, on the other hand, they are capable of extinguishing any military conflicts in the bud, since all parties to the conflict can be destroyed in an atomic explosion.
1. ATOMIC BOMB: COMPOSITION, BATTLE CHARACTERISTICS AND PURPOSE OF CREATION
Before starting to study the structure of the atomic bomb, it is necessary to understand the terminology on this issue. So, in scientific circles, there are special terms that reflect the characteristics of atomic weapons. Among them, we highlight the following:
Atomic bomb - the original name of an aviation nuclear bomb, the action of which is based on an explosive nuclear fission chain reaction. With the advent of the so-called hydrogen bomb, based on a thermonuclear fusion reaction, a common term for them was established - a nuclear bomb.
A nuclear bomb is an aerial bomb with a nuclear charge that has great destructive power. The first two nuclear bombs with a TNT equivalent of about 20 kt each were dropped by American aircraft on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, on August 6 and 9, 1945, and caused enormous casualties and destruction. Modern nuclear bombs have a TNT equivalent of tens to millions of tons.
Nuclear or atomic weapons are explosive weapons based on the use of nuclear energy released during a chain nuclear fission reaction of heavy nuclei or a thermonuclear fusion reaction of light nuclei.
Refers to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) along with biological and chemical weapons.
Nuclear weapons - a set of nuclear weapons, means of their delivery to the target and controls. Refers to weapons of mass destruction; has tremendous destructive power. For the above reason, the US and the USSR invested heavily in the development of nuclear weapons. According to the power of the charges and the range of action, nuclear weapons are divided into tactical, operational-tactical and strategic. The use of nuclear weapons in war is disastrous for all mankind.
A nuclear explosion is the process of instantaneous release of a large amount of intranuclear energy in a limited volume.
The action of atomic weapons is based on the fission reaction of heavy nuclei (uranium-235, plutonium-239 and, in some cases, uranium-233).
Uranium-235 is used in nuclear weapons because, unlike the more common isotope uranium-238, it can carry out a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
Plutonium-239 is also referred to as "weapon-grade plutonium" because it is intended to create nuclear weapons and the content of the 239Pu isotope must be at least 93.5%.
To reflect the structure and composition of the atomic bomb, as a prototype, we analyze the plutonium bomb "Fat Man" (Fig. 1) dropped on August 9, 1945 on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
atomic nuclear bomb explosion
Figure 1 - Atomic bomb "Fat Man"
The layout of this bomb (typical for plutonium single-phase munitions) is approximately the following:
Neutron initiator - a beryllium ball with a diameter of about 2 cm, covered with a thin layer of yttrium-polonium alloy or polonium-210 metal - the primary source of neutrons for a sharp decrease in the critical mass and acceleration of the onset of the reaction. It fires at the moment of transferring the combat core to a supercritical state (during compression, a mixture of polonium and beryllium occurs with the release of a large number of neutrons). Currently, in addition to of this type initiation, thermonuclear initiation (TI) is more common. Thermonuclear initiator (TI). It is located in the center of the charge (similar to NI) where a small amount of thermonuclear material is located, the center of which is heated by a converging shock wave, and in the process of a thermonuclear reaction against the background of the temperatures that have arisen, a significant amount of neutrons is produced, sufficient for the neutron initiation of a chain reaction (Fig. 2).
Plutonium. Use the purest plutonium-239 isotope, although to increase stability physical properties(density) and improve the compressibility of the charge plutonium is doped with a small amount of gallium.
A shell (usually made of uranium) that serves as a neutron reflector.
Compression sheath made of aluminium. Provides greater uniformity of compression by a shock wave, while at the same time protecting the internal parts of the charge from direct contact with explosives and hot products of its decomposition.
Explosive with a complex detonation system that ensures the simultaneous detonation of the entire explosive. Synchronicity is necessary to create a strictly spherical compressive (directed inside the ball) shock wave. A non-spherical wave leads to the ejection of the material of the ball through inhomogeneity and the impossibility of creating a critical mass. The creation of such a system for the location of explosives and detonation was at one time one of the most difficult tasks. A combined scheme (lens system) of "fast" and "slow" explosives is used.
Body made of duralumin stamped elements - two spherical covers and a belt connected by bolts.
Figure 2 - The principle of operation of the plutonium bomb
The center of a nuclear explosion is the point at which a flash occurs or the center of the fireball is located, and the epicenter is the projection of the explosion center onto the earth or water surface.
Nuclear weapons are the most powerful and dangerous type of weapons of mass destruction, threatening all mankind with unprecedented destruction and destruction of millions of people.
If an explosion occurs on the ground or fairly close to its surface, then part of the energy of the explosion is transferred to the Earth's surface in the form of seismic vibrations. A phenomenon occurs, which in its features resembles an earthquake. As a result of such an explosion, seismic waves are formed, which propagate through the thickness of the earth over very long distances. The destructive effect of the wave is limited to a radius of several hundred meters.
As a result, extremely high temperature explosion, a bright flash of light occurs, the intensity of which is hundreds of times greater than the intensity of the sun's rays falling on the Earth. A flash releases a huge amount of heat and light. Light radiation causes spontaneous combustion of flammable materials and burns the skin of people within a radius of many kilometers.
A nuclear explosion produces radiation. It lasts about a minute and has such a high penetrating power that powerful and reliable shelters are required to protect against it at close distances.
A nuclear explosion is capable of instantly destroying or incapacitating unprotected people, openly standing equipment, structures and various materiel. The main damaging factors of a nuclear explosion (PFYAV) are:
shock wave;
light radiation;
penetrating radiation;
radioactive contamination of the area;
electromagnetic pulse (EMP).
During a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere, the distribution of the released energy between the PNFs is approximately the following: about 50% for the shock wave, 35% for the share of light radiation, 10% for radioactive contamination, and 5% for penetrating radiation and EMP.
Radioactive contamination of people, military equipment, terrain and various objects during a nuclear explosion is caused by fission fragments of the charge substance (Pu-239, U-235) and the unreacted part of the charge falling out of the explosion cloud, as well as radioactive isotopes formed in the soil and other materials under the influence of neutrons - induced activity. Over time, the activity of fission fragments decreases rapidly, especially in the first hours after the explosion. So, for example, the total activity of fission fragments in the explosion of a 20 kT nuclear weapon will be several thousand times less in one day than in one minute after the explosion.
Analysis of the effectiveness of the integrated application of anti-jamming measures to improve the stability of the functioning of communication facilities in the conditions of enemy radio countermeasures
Given the level technical equipment, the analysis of the forces and means of electronic warfare will be carried out for the reconnaissance and electronic warfare battalion (R and EW) of the mechanized division (md) SV. Reconnaissance and electronic warfare battalion of the US Ministry of Defense includes)