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The most "clean" bomb. Destroys exclusively the enemy's manpower. Does not destroy buildings. Ideal weapon for mass cleansing of territories from communists. This is exactly what the American developers of the "most humane" nuclear weapon, the neutron bomb, believed.

On November 17, 1978, the USSR announced the successful test of a neutron bomb, and both superpowers once again had parity in the latest weapons. Endless myths began to haunt the neutron bomb.

Myth 1: the neutron bomb only destroys humans

So at first they thought. The explosion of this thing, in theory, should not have caused damage to equipment and buildings. But only on paper.

In fact, no matter how we design a special atomic weapon, its detonation will still generate a shock wave.

The difference between a neutron bomb is that the shock wave accounts for only 10-20 percent of the released energy, while a conventional atomic bomb has 50 percent.

Explosions of neutron charges at a test site in the Nevada desert in the United States showed that within a radius of several hundred meters, the shock wave demolishes all buildings and structures.

Myth 2: the more powerful the neutron bomb, the better

Initially, it was planned to rivet a neutron bomb in several versions - from one kiloton and more. However, calculations and tests have shown that making a bomb more than one kiloton is not very promising.

So - albeit not a bomb, but the neutron weapon itself is too early to write off for scrap.

When a neutron bomb explodes, the main damaging factor is the neutron flux. It passes through most objects, but causes harm to living organisms at the level of atoms and particles. Radiation affects primarily the brain tissue, causing shock, convulsions, paralysis and coma. In addition, neutrons transform atoms inside the human body, creating radioactive isotopes that irradiate the body from the inside. In this case, death does not occur instantly, but within 2 days.

If you drop a neutron charge on the city, the bulk of the buildings within a 2 km radius from the epicenter of the explosion will remain, while people and animals will die. For example, to destroy the entire population of Paris, it has been estimated that 10-12 bombs are enough. Those residents who manage to survive will suffer from radiation sickness for years.

“The ominous prototype of such a weapon was the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by an American pilot on August 6, 1945. It has now been established that this bomb (uranium), when exploded, produced 4-5 times more neutrons than the bomb detonated in Nagasaki (plutonium). And as a result, almost 3 times more people died in Hiroshima than in Nagasaki, although the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was two times less, "wrote the author of the book" Beyond the Limits of Legality "Ivan Artsibasov in 1986.

In 1958, American physicist Samuel Cohen suggested using a bomb with a fast neutron source (an isotope of berrylium). For the first time, the US military tested such a charge after 5 years at an underground training ground in Nevada.

As soon as the public learned about the new type of weapon, opinions were divided over the admissibility of its use. Some welcomed the "rational" way of waging war, avoiding unnecessary destruction and economic losses. Cohen himself, who witnessed the destruction of Seoul during the Korean War, reasoned in a similar way. Critics of neutron weapons, on the other hand, argued that with their appearance, humanity has reached the point of "complete fanaticism." In the 1970s and 1980s, with the support of Moscow, the left-wing intelligentsia launched a movement against neutron bombs, the production of which was launched in 1981 by the Ronald Reagan administration. The fear of "neutron death" was so ingrained that US military propagandists even resorted to euphemisms, calling the neutron bomb an "enhanced radiation device."

Not so long ago, several prominent Russian atomic specialists expressed the opinion that one of the most relevant factors could be giving nuclear weapons not only the function of deterrence, but also the role of an operating military instrument, as it was in the midst of the confrontation between the USSR and the United States. At the same time, scientists cited the words of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Ivanov from his report of October 2, 2003 at a meeting in the Ministry of Defense, held under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin.

The head of the Russian military department expressed concern over the fact that in a number of countries (it is clear which one is the first) there is a desire to return nuclear weapons to the number of acceptable military means through modernization and the use of "breakthrough" technologies. Attempts to make nuclear weapons "cleaner", less powerful, more limited in terms of the scale of the destructive effect and especially the possible consequences of their use, Sergei Ivanov noted, could undermine global and regional stability.

From this point of view, one of the most probable options for replenishing the nuclear arsenal is neutron weapons, which, according to military-technical criteria of "cleanliness", limited power and the absence of "side undesirable effects", looks preferable in comparison with other types of nuclear weapons. Moreover, attention is drawn to the fact that a dense curtain of silence has formed around him in recent years. In addition, its effectiveness in the fight against international terrorism (strikes at bases and concentrations of militants, especially in sparsely populated, hard-to-reach, mountain-wooded areas) can serve as an official cover for possible plans for neutron weapons.

SO IT WAS CREATED

Back in the middle of the last century, given the possible nature of wars with the use of nuclear weapons in the vastness of densely populated Europe at that time, the Pentagon generals came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create such means of struggle that would limit the scale of destruction, contamination of the area, and infliction of losses on the civilian population. At first, they relied on tactical nuclear weapons of relatively low power, but soon sobering up came ...

During the exercise of NATO troops under the code name "Carte Blanche" (1955), along with testing one of the variants of the war against the USSR, the task was to determine the extent of destruction and the number of possible casualties among the civilian population of Western Europe in the event of the use of tactical nuclear weapons. The calculated potential losses as a result of the use of 268 warheads stunned the NATO command: they were about five times higher than the damage caused to Germany by the bombing of Allied aircraft during the Second World War.

US scientists suggested that the country's leadership create nuclear weapons with a reduced "side effect", to make them "more limited, less powerful and cleaner" in comparison with previous models. A group of American researchers led by Edward Teller in September 1957 proved to President Dwight Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Dulles the special advantages of nuclear weapons with enhanced neutron radiation output. Teller literally begged the president: "If you give Livermore Laboratory just a year and a half, you will get a 'clean' nuclear warhead."

Eisenhower could not resist the temptation to obtain an "ultimate weapon" and gave the go-ahead for an appropriate research program. In the fall of 1960, the first reports of work on the creation of a neutron bomb appeared on the pages of Time magazine. The authors of the articles did not hide the fact that neutron weapons most fully corresponded to the views of the then US leadership on the goals and methods of waging war on foreign territory.

Having taken over the baton of power from Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy did not disregard the neutron bomb program. He unconditionally increased spending on research in the field of new weapons, approved annual plans for nuclear test explosions, among which were the tests of neutron charges. The first explosion of a neutron charger (index W-63), carried out in April 1963 in the underground adit of the Nevada test site, announced the birth of the first sample of nuclear weapons of the third generation.

Work on new weapons continued under Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. One of the first official reports of the development of neutron weapons came in April 1972 from the lips of Laird, the secretary of defense in the Nixon administration.

In November 1976, the next tests of the neutron warhead were carried out at the Nevada test site. The results were so impressive that it was decided to push through Congress a decision on large-scale production of new ammunition. US President Jimmy Carter has been extremely active in pushing neutron weapons. Laudatory articles appeared in the press describing its military and technical advantages. Scientists, military men, congressmen spoke in the media. Supporting this propaganda campaign, the director of the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, Agnew, declared: "It is time to learn to love the neutron bomb."

But already in August 1981, US President Ronald Reagan announced the full-scale production of neutron weapons: 2,000 rounds for 203-mm howitzers and 800 warheads for Lance missiles, for which $ 2.5 billion was allocated. In June 1983, Congress approved an appropriation for the next fiscal year of $ 500 million for the manufacture of 155mm (W-83) neutron projectiles.

WHAT IT IS?

By the definition of specialists, thermonuclear charges of relatively low power, with a high thermonuclear coefficient, TNT equivalent in the range of 1-10 kilotons, and an increased yield of neutron radiation are called neutron weapons. When such a charge explodes, due to its special design, a decrease in the share of energy converted into a shock wave and light radiation is achieved, but the amount of energy released in the form of a high-energy neutron flux (about 14 MeV) increases.

As Professor Burop noted, the fundamental difference between the N-bomb device lies in the rate of energy release. “In a neutron bomb,” says the scientist, “the release of energy is much slower. It's kind of like a delayed-action squib. "

To heat the synthesized substances to a temperature of millions of degrees, at which the reaction of fusion of nuclei of hydrogen isotopes begins, an atomic mini-detonator made of highly enriched plutonium-239 is used. Calculations carried out by nuclear specialists have shown that when the charge is triggered, 10 to the 24th power of neutrons are released for each kiloton of power. The explosion of such a charge is also accompanied by the release of a significant amount of gamma quanta, which enhance its damaging effect. When moving in the atmosphere as a result of collisions of neutrons and gamma quanta with gas atoms, they gradually lose their energy. The degree of their weakening is characterized by the relaxation length - the distance at which their flux weakens by a factor of e (e is the base of natural logarithms). The longer the relaxation length, the slower the attenuation of radiation in the air. For neutrons and gamma radiation, the relaxation length in air at the earth's surface is about 235 and 350 m, respectively.

Due to different values ​​of the relaxation lengths of neutrons and gamma quanta, with an increase in the distance from the epicenter of the explosion, their relationship to each other in the total radiation flux gradually changes. This leads to the fact that, at relatively close distances from the explosion site, the fraction of neutrons significantly prevails over the fraction of gamma quanta, but with distance from it, this ratio gradually changes and for a 1 kt charge, their fluxes compare at a distance of about 1500 m, and then gamma rays will prevail.

The damaging effect of the neutron flux and gamma quanta on living organisms is determined by the total dose of radiation that will be absorbed by them. To characterize the damaging effect on a person, the unit "rad" (radiation absorbed dose) is used. The unit "rad" is defined as the value of the absorbed dose of any ionizing radiation, corresponding to 100 erg of energy in 1 g of substance. At the same time, it was found that all types of ionizing radiation have a similar effect on living tissues, however, the magnitude of the biological effect at the same dose of absorbed energy will strongly depend on the type of radiation. Such a difference in the damaging effect is taken into account by the so-called indicator of "relative biological effectiveness" (RBE). For the reference RBE value, the biological effect of gamma radiation is taken, which is equated to unity.

Studies have shown that the relative biological efficiency of fast neutrons when exposed to living tissues is about seven times higher than that of gamma quanta, that is, their RBE is 7. This ratio means that, for example, the absorbed dose of neutron radiation is 10 rad in its biological exposure to the human body will be equivalent to a dose of 70 rad of gamma radiation. The physico-biological effect of neutrons on living tissues is explained by the fact that when they enter living cells, like shells, they knock out nuclei from atoms, break molecular bonds, form free radicals with a high ability to react chemically, and disrupt the main cycles of life processes.

During the development of the neutron bomb in the United States in the 1960s – 1970s, numerous experiments were carried out to determine the damaging effect of neutron radiation on living organisms. On the instructions of the Pentagon at the Radiobiological Center in San Antonio (Texas), together with scientists from the Livermore Nuclear Laboratory, studies were carried out to study the effects of high-energy neutron irradiation of rhesus monkeys, the body of which is closest to humans. There they were irradiated with doses ranging from several tens to several thousand rad.

Based on the results of these experiments and observations of the victims of ionizing radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, American experts have established several characteristic criterial radiation doses. At a dose of about 8000 rad, an immediate breakdown of personnel occurs. Death occurs within 1-2 days. Upon receiving a dose of 3000 rad, 4–5 minutes after irradiation, a loss of working capacity is noted, which lasts for 10–45 minutes. Then a partial improvement occurs for several hours, after which a sharp exacerbation of radiation sickness sets in, and all those affected in this category die within 4-6 days. Those who have received a dose of the order of 400-500 are glad to be in a state of latent lethality. Deterioration of the condition occurs within 1–2 days and progresses sharply within 3–5 days after irradiation. Death, as a rule, occurs within a month after the defeat. Irradiation with doses of about 100 rad causes a hematological form of radiation sickness, in which the hematopoietic organs are primarily affected. Recovery of such patients is possible, but requires long-term treatment in a hospital.

It is also necessary to take into account the side effect of the N-bomb as a result of the interaction of the neutron flux with the surface layer of the soil and various objects. This leads to the fact that induced radioactivity is created, the mechanism of which is that neutrons actively interact with atoms of various soil elements, as well as with metal atoms contained in building structures, equipment, weapons and military equipment. When neutrons are captured, some of these nuclei are converted into radioactive isotopes, which, for a certain time, characteristic of each type of isotope, emit nuclear radiation with a destructive power. All these formed radioactive substances emit beta-particles and gamma-quanta of predominantly high energies. As a result, irradiated tanks, guns, armored personnel carriers and other equipment become sources of intense radiation for some time. The height of the explosion of neutron munitions is chosen within the range of 130-200 m so that the resulting fireball does not reach the surface of the earth, thereby reducing the level of induced activity.

COMBAT CHARACTERISTICS

US military experts argued that the combat use of neutron weapons is most effective in repelling an attack by enemy tanks and, at the same time, has the highest indicators in terms of the cost-effectiveness criterion. The Pentagon, however, carefully concealed the true tactical and technical characteristics of neutron ammunition, the size of the affected areas during their combat use.

According to experts, when a 203-mm artillery shell with a capacity of 1 kiloton explodes, enemy tank crews located within a radius of 300 m will be instantly disabled and killed within two days. The crews of tanks located 300-700 m from the epicenter of the explosion will be out of action in a few minutes and will also die within 6-7 days. Tankers who find themselves at a distance of 700-1300 m from the place where the shell exploded will be incapacitated in a few hours, and most of them will die within a few weeks. Of course, an openly located living force will be subjected to a damaging effect at even greater distances.

It is known that the frontal armor of modern tanks reaches a thickness of 250 mm, which weakens the high-energy gamma quanta affecting it by about a hundred times. At the same time, the neutron flux falling on the frontal armor is only halved. In this case, as a result of the interaction of neutrons with atoms of the armor material, secondary gamma radiation occurs, which will also have a damaging effect on the tank's crew.

Consequently, a simple increase in the thickness of the armor will not lead to an increase in the protection of tankers. It is possible to enhance the security of the crew by creating multilayer, combined coatings based on the peculiarities of the interaction of neutrons with atoms of various substances. This idea has found its practical embodiment in the creation of protection against neutrons in the American M2 Bradley armored combat vehicle. For this purpose, the gap between the outer steel armor and the inner aluminum structure was filled with a layer of hydrogen-containing plastic material - polyurethane foam, with the atoms of the components of which neutrons actively interact until they are absorbed.

In this regard, the question involuntarily arises as to whether Russian tank builders take into account those changes in the nuclear policy of some countries, which were mentioned at the beginning of the article? Will our tank crews not be defenseless against neutron weapons in the near future? One can hardly ignore the high probability of its appearance on future battlefields.

There is no doubt that in the event that neutron weapons are produced and supplied to the troops of foreign states by Russia, an adequate response will follow. Although Moscow did not make official confessions about the possession of neutron weapons, it is known from the history of nuclear rivalry between the two superpowers: the United States, as a rule, was in the lead in the nuclear race, created new types of weapons, but some time passed and the USSR restored parity. In the opinion of the author of the article, the situation with neutron weapons is no exception and Russia, if necessary, will also possess them.

APPLICATION SCENARIOS

The appearance of a large-scale war in the European theater of operations, if it breaks out in the future (although it seems very unlikely), can be judged by the publication of the American military theorist Rogers in the pages of the magazine "Army".

“Retreating with heavy fighting, the US 14th Mechanized Division repels enemy attacks, suffering heavy casualties. There are 7-8 tanks left in the battalions, the losses in the infantry companies reach more than 30 percent. The main means of fighting tanks - ATGM "TOU" and laser-guided shells - are running out. There is no one to expect help. All army and corps reserves have already entered the battle. According to aerial reconnaissance, two enemy tank and two motorized rifle divisions are taking up initial positions for the offensive 15 kilometers from the front line. And now hundreds of armored vehicles, echeloned in depth, are advancing on an eight-kilometer front. The enemy's artillery and air strikes are being strengthened. The crisis situation is growing┘

The headquarters of the division receives an encrypted order: a permit for the use of neutron weapons has been received. NATO aircraft received a warning to withdraw from the battle. At firing positions, the barrels of 203-mm howitzers are confidently raised. Fire! In dozens of the most important points, at an altitude of about 150 meters above the battle formations of the advancing enemy, bright flashes appeared. However, in the first moments, their effect on the enemy seems insignificant: the shock wave destroyed a small number of machines located a hundred yards from the epicenters of the explosions. But the battlefield is already permeated with streams of invisible deadly radiation. The enemy's attack soon loses its focus. Tanks and armored personnel carriers move randomly, bump into each other, and fire indirectly. In a short time, the enemy loses up to 30 thousand personnel. His massive offensive is finally thwarted. The 14th division launched a decisive counteroffensive, pushing back the enemy. "

Of course, only one of the many possible (idealized) episodes of the combat use of neutron weapons is given here, but it also allows one to get a certain idea of ​​the views of American military specialists on their use.

In the near future, attention to neutron weapons may also increase in connection with their possible use in the interests of increasing the effectiveness of the anti-missile defense system being created in the United States. It is known that in the summer of 2002, the head of the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, instructed the Defense Ministry's scientific and technical committee to investigate the feasibility of equipping interceptor missiles with nuclear (possibly neutron. - VB) warheads. This is primarily due to the fact that the tests carried out in recent years to destroy attacking warheads with kinetic interceptors, which require a direct hit on the target, have shown that the necessary reliability of destruction of the object is absent.

It should be noted here that in the early 1970s, several dozen neutron warheads were installed on Sprint anti-missile missiles of the Safeguard missile defense system deployed around the largest USShS airbase, Grand Forks (North Dakota). According to the calculations of specialists, which was confirmed during the tests, fast neutrons, having a high penetrating ability, will pass through the sheathing of warheads, disable the electronic system for detonating the warhead. In addition, neutrons, interacting with uranium or plutonium nuclei of an atomic detonator of a warhead, will cause some of its fission. Such a reaction will occur with a significant release of energy, which can lead to heating and destruction of the detonator. In addition, secondary gamma radiation is generated when neutrons interact with the nuclear warhead material. It will allow identifying a real warhead against the background of false targets, which will have practically no such radiation.

In conclusion, the following should be said. The presence of a proven technology for the production of neutron munitions, the preservation of their individual samples and components in arsenals, the refusal of the United States to ratify the CTBT and the preparation of the Nevada test site for the resumption of nuclear tests - all this means a real possibility of re-entering the world arena of neutron weapons. And although Washington prefers not to draw attention to it, it doesn't make it any less dangerous. One gets the impression that the "neutron lion" is hiding, but at the right time it will be ready to enter the world arena.

The charge is structurally a conventional low-power nuclear charge, to which is added a block containing a small amount of thermonuclear fuel (a mixture of deuterium and tritium). When detonated, the main nuclear charge explodes, the energy of which is used to start a thermonuclear reaction. Most of the energy of the explosion when using neutron weapons is released as a result of a fusion reaction that is started. The design of the charge is such that up to 80 of the explosion energy is the energy of the flux of fast neutrons, and only 20% is accounted for by other damaging factors (shock wave, EMP, light radiation).

Action, application features

A powerful flux of neutrons is not delayed by conventional steel armor and penetrates much stronger obstacles than X-ray or gamma radiation, not to mention alpha and beta particles. Thanks to this, neutron weapons are capable of striking enemy personnel at a considerable distance from the epicenter of the explosion and in shelters, even where reliable protection against a conventional nuclear explosion is provided.

The damaging effect of neutron weapons on equipment is due to the interaction of neutrons with structural materials and radio-electronic equipment, which leads to the appearance of induced radioactivity and, as a consequence, functional disruption. In biological objects, under the influence of radiation, ionization of living tissue occurs, leading to disruption of the vital activity of individual systems and the organism as a whole, the development of radiation sickness. People are affected by both the neutron radiation itself and the induced radiation. In equipment and objects, under the influence of a neutron flux, powerful and long-acting sources of radioactivity can be formed, leading to the injury of people for a long time after the explosion. So, for example, the crew of a T-72 tank, located 700 from the epicenter of a 1 kt neutron explosion, will instantly receive an unconditionally lethal dose of radiation (8,000 rad), instantly fail and die within a few minutes. But if this tank is used again after the explosion (physically it will hardly suffer), then the induced radioactivity will lead to the new crew receiving a lethal dose of radiation within 24 hours.

Due to the strong absorption and scattering of neutrons in the atmosphere, the range of destruction by neutron radiation, in comparison with the range of destruction of unprotected targets by a shock wave from an explosion of a conventional nuclear charge of the same power, is small. Therefore, the manufacture of high-power neutron charges is impractical - the radiation will still not reach further, and other damaging factors will be reduced. Really produced neutron ammunition has a capacity of no more than 1 kt. The detonation of such an ammunition gives a zone of destruction by neutron radiation with a radius of about 1.5 km (an unprotected person will receive a life-threatening dose of radiation at a distance of 1350 m). Contrary to popular belief, a neutron explosion does not leave material values ​​intact at all: the zone of strong destruction by a shock wave for the same kiloton charge has a radius of about 1 km.

Protection

Neutron weapons and politics

The danger of neutron weapons, as well as nuclear weapons of low and ultra-low power in general, lies not so much in the possibility of mass destruction of people (this can be done by many other types of weapons of mass destruction, including those that have existed for a long time and are more effective for this purpose), but rather in blurring the line between nuclear and conventional war when using it. Therefore, a number of UN General Assembly resolutions note the dangerous consequences of the emergence of a new type of weapon of mass destruction - neutron, and call for its prohibition. In 1978, when the question of the production of neutron weapons had not yet been resolved in the United States, the USSR proposed an agreement on the abandonment of their use and submitted a draft international convention on their prohibition to the Committee on Disarmament. The project did not find support from the United States and other Western countries. In 1981, the United States began the production of neutron charges, currently they are in service.

Links

See what a "Neutron bomb" is in other dictionaries:

    NEUTRON BOMB, see ATOMIC WEAPON ... Scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary

    This article is about ammunition. For information on other meanings of the term, see Bomb (disambiguation) AN602 Air Bomb or "Tsar Bomba" (USSR) ... Wikipedia

    Noun, f., Uptr. cf. often Morphology: (no) what? bombs, what? bomb, (see) what? bomb than? bomb, about what? about the bomb; pl. what? bombs, (no) what? bombs, what? bombs, (see) what? bombs what? bombs, about what? about bombs 1. A bomb is a shell, ... ... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary

    NS; f. [French. bombe] 1. An explosive projectile dropped from an aircraft. Drop the bomb. Incendiary, high-explosive, fragmentation b. Atomic, hydrogen, neutron b. B. delayed action (also: about what is fraught with big troubles in the future, ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    bomb- NS; f. (French bombe) see also. bomb, bomb 1) An explosive shell dropped from an aircraft. Drop the bomb. Incendiary, high-explosive, fragmentation bo / mba. Atomic, hydrogen, neutron bo / mba ... Dictionary of many expressions

    A weapon of great destructive power (of the order of megatons in TNT equivalent), the principle of operation of which is based on the reaction of thermonuclear fusion of light nuclei. The source of the explosion energy are processes similar to the processes taking place on ... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

    Evgeny Evtushenko Birth name: Evgeny Alexandrovich Gangnus Date of birth ... Wikipedia

    Unlike conventional weapons, it has a destructive effect due to nuclear, rather than mechanical or chemical energy. In terms of the destructive power of the blast wave alone, one unit of nuclear weapons can surpass thousands of conventional bombs and ... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

As you know, the nuclear of the first generation, it is often called atomic, includes warheads based on the use of nuclear fission energy of uranium-235 or plutonium-239. The first test of such a 15 kt charger 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 deployment of work on the creation of second-generation nuclear weapons. It is based on the technology of using the energy of thermonuclear reactions of fusion of nuclei of heavy hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium. Such weapons are called thermonuclear or hydrogen weapons. The first test of the Mike thermonuclear device was conducted by the United States on November 1, 1952, on the island of Elugelab (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 ammunition for subsequent generations. The third generation nuclear weapons include special charges (ammunition), in which, due to a special design, the energy of the explosion is redistributed in favor of one of the damaging factors. Other variants of charges of such weapons provide the creation of focusing of one or another damaging factor in a certain direction, which also leads to a significant increase in its damaging effect. An analysis of the history of the creation and improvement of nuclear weapons indicates that the United States has invariably led the way in the creation of new models. 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 examples of third-generation nuclear weapons is the neutron weapon.

What are neutron weapons? Neutron weapons were widely discussed at the turn of the 1960s. However, it later became known that the possibility of its creation had been discussed long before that. Former President of the World Federation of Scientists Professor from Great Britain E. Burop recalled that he first heard about it back in 1944, when, as part of a group of British scientists, he worked in the United States on the "Manhattan Project". Work on the creation of neutron weapons was initiated by the need to obtain a powerful combat weapon with selective destruction capability 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 15 more years for the neutron charges to acquire all the qualities of a military weapon. According to Professor E. Burop, the fundamental difference between a neutron charge and a thermonuclear one lies in the different rate of energy release: "In a neutron bomb, the release of energy is much slower. This is something 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. In the course of further work, certain successes were achieved in ensuring the focusing of neutron radiation, which made it possible not only to ensure an increase in its damaging effect in a certain direction, but also to reduce the danger when it was used for its troops.

In November 1976, the next tests of a neutron warhead were carried out in Nevada, during which very impressive results were obtained. As a result, at the end of 1976, it was decided to produce components for 203-mm neutron projectiles and warheads for the Lance rocket. 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 rounds for a 203-mm howitzer and 800 warheads for the Lance missile.

When a neutron warhead explodes, 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 at a tremendous speed in the surrounding space. These neutrons have an extremely high damaging effect on living organisms, much stronger than even Y-radiation and a shock wave. For comparison, let us point out that in the explosion of a conventional nuclear charge with a capacity of 1 kiloton, an openly located living force will be destroyed by a shock wave at a distance of 500-600 m.When a neutron warhead of the same power detonates, the destruction of manpower will occur at a distance of about three times greater.

The neutrons generated during the explosion move at speeds of several tens of kilometers per second. Bursting like shells into living cells of the body, they knock out nuclei from atoms, break molecular bonds, form free radicals with high reactivity, 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 the fact that at a distance of about 2 km their damaging effect practically ceases. 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 the testimony of some American scientists, thermonuclear experiments are being carried out at the Los Alamos and Sandia laboratories in the United States and at the All-Russian Institute of Experimental Physics in Sarov (Arzamas-16), in which, along with research on obtaining electrical energy, the possibility of obtaining purely thermonuclear explosives is being studied. In their opinion, the most likely by-product of the ongoing research may 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 weapon and their most effective use is possible when repelling aggression, especially when the enemy has invaded the defended territory. Neutron ammunition is a tactical weapon and is most likely to be used in so-called "limited" wars, primarily in Europe. These weapons may acquire special significance for Russia, since in the context of a weakening of its armed forces and an increase in the 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 repelling a massive tank attack. It is known that tank armor at certain distances from the epicenter of the explosion (more than 300-400 m with an explosion of a nuclear charge with a power of 1 kt) protects crews from a shock wave and Y-radiation. At the same time, fast neutrons penetrate the steel armor without significant attenuation.

The calculations show that in the explosion of a neutron charge with a capacity of 1 kiloton, tank crews will be instantly incapacitated within a radius of 300 m from the epicenter and perish within two days. Crews located at a distance of 300-700 m will fail in a few minutes and also die within 6-7 days; at distances of 700-1300 m, they will be incapacitated in a few hours, and the death of most of them will stretch over several weeks. At distances of 1300-1500 m, a certain part of the crews will receive serious illnesses and gradually fail.

Neutron warheads can also be used in missile defense systems to combat the warheads of attacking missiles on the trajectory. According to the calculations of specialists, fast neutrons, possessing a high penetrating power, will pass through the skin of the enemy's warheads and cause damage to their electronic equipment. In addition, neutrons interacting with the uranium or plutonium nuclei of the nuclear 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 warhead charge. This property of neutron weapons has been used in US missile defense systems. Back in the mid-1970s, neutron warheads were installed on 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 you know, in accordance with the commitments announced by the presidents of the United States and Russia in September-October 1991, all nuclear artillery shells and warheads of ground-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 makes it possible to establish their mass production in a short time.

"Super-EMP" Soon after the end of World War II, under the monopoly on nuclear weapons, the United States resumed testing with the aim of improving them and determining the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. At the end of June 1946, nuclear explosions were carried out in the area of ​​Bikini Atoll (Marshall Islands) under the code "Operation Crossroads", during which the damaging effect of atomic weapons was investigated. In the course of these test explosions, a new physical phenomenon was discovered - the formation of a powerful pulse of electromagnetic radiation (EMP), in which great interest was immediately shown. EMP was especially significant at high explosions. In the summer of 1958, nuclear explosions were carried out at high altitudes. The first series under the code "Hardteck" was carried out over the 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 continued: at an altitude of 450 km, a 1.4 megaton warhead exploded under the Starfish code. The Soviet Union also during 1961-1962. conducted a series of tests, during which the effect of high-altitude explosions (180-300 km) on the functioning of the equipment of missile defense systems was investigated.

During these tests, powerful electromagnetic pulses were recorded, which had a large damaging effect on electronic equipment, communication and power supply lines, radio and radar stations at long distances. Since then, military experts have continued to pay great attention to the study of the nature of this phenomenon, its destructive effect, methods of protecting their combat and support systems from it.

The physical nature of EMP is determined by the interaction of Y-quanta of instantaneous radiation from a nuclear explosion with atoms of air gases: Y-quanta knock out electrons from atoms (the so-called Compton electrons), which move at a tremendous speed in the direction from the center of the explosion. The stream of these electrons, interacting with the earth's magnetic field, creates a pulse of electromagnetic radiation. When a megaton-class charge explodes at altitudes of several tens of kilometers, the electric field strength on the earth's surface can reach tens of kilovolts per meter.

Based on the results obtained during the tests, US military specialists launched research in the early 1980s aimed at creating another type of third-generation nuclear weapon - Super-EMP with an enhanced output of electromagnetic radiation.

To increase the yield of Y-quanta, it was supposed to create a shell of matter around the charge, the nuclei of which, 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, the explosion of such a charge with a capacity of 10 megatons at an altitude of 300-400 km above the geographic center of the United States - the state of Nebraska, will disrupt the operation of radio electronic means 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 the enhancement of its damaging effect due to the focusing of Y-radiation, which should have led to an increase in the pulse amplitude. These properties of Super-EMP make it a first-strike weapon designed to disable state and military control systems, ICBMs, especially mobile-based missiles, trajectory missiles, radar stations, spacecraft, power supply systems, etc. Thus, 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 specialists to the idea of ​​using the energy of underground nuclear explosions for this. When nuclear charges are buried in the ground, the share of energy spent on the formation of a crater, a zone of destruction and seismic shock waves increases significantly. In this case, with the existing accuracy of ICBMs and SLBMs, the reliability of destruction of "point", 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 prototype of a penetrating warhead was developed in the early 1980s for the Pershing-2 medium-range missile. After the signing of the Treaty on Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF), the efforts of US specialists were redirected to create such ammunition for ICBMs. The developers of the new warhead met with significant difficulties associated, first of all, with the need to ensure its integrity and operability 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 destructive 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 burial into the ground. At the same time, for each value of the charge power, there is an optimal depth of penetration, at which the maximum efficiency of the penetrator is ensured. 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 delivery of the penetrator warhead, characteristic of MX and Trident-2 missiles, the probability of destroying an enemy missile silo or command post with one 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 command centers, ICBMs located in mines, command posts, etc. Consequently, penetrators are offensive, "counterforce" weapons designed to deliver a first strike and are therefore destabilizing in nature. The importance of penetrating warheads, if adopted, can significantly increase in the context of a reduction in strategic offensive arms, when a decrease in the combat capabilities for delivering a first strike (a decrease in the number of carriers and warheads) will require an increase in the likelihood 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 at the final section of the trajectory, like a high-precision weapon, was considered.

Nuclear-pumped X-ray laser. In the second half of the 70s, research was begun at the Livermore Radiation Laboratory to create a "21st century anti-missile weapon," a nuclear-excited X-ray laser. From the very beginning, this weapon was conceived as the main means of destroying Soviet missiles in the active phase of the trajectory, before the separation of warheads. The new weapon was given the name - "multiple launch rocket weapon".

In schematic form, the new weapon can be represented in the form of 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 act as a source of energy for pumping lasers. According to some experts, to ensure the destruction of attacking missiles at a distance of more than 1000 km, a charge with a capacity 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 specialists have developed a special tactics for its combat use. To this end, it was proposed to place nuclear laser warheads on submarine ballistic missiles (SLBMs). In a "crisis situation" or in preparation for a first strike, submarines equipped with these SLBMs must covertly move into patrol areas and take combat positions as close as possible to the positioning areas of Soviet ICBMs: in the northern Indian Ocean, in the Arabian, Norwegian, Okhotsk seas. When a signal is received about the launch of Soviet missiles, submarine missiles are launched. If Soviet missiles rose 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, guides the laser rods at the Soviet missiles. As soon as each rod takes a position in which the radiation hits exactly the target, the computer will issue a command to detonate the nuclear charge.

The enormous energy released during the explosion in the form of radiation will instantly transfer the active substance of the rods (wire) into a 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. Being absorbed in a thin surface layer of a 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 hull.

However, the creation of the X-ray laser, which was considered the cornerstone of the SDI Reagan program, met with great difficulties, which have not yet been overcome. Among them, in the first place are the difficulties of focusing laser radiation, as well as the creation of an effective guidance system for laser rods. The first underground tests of the X-ray laser were carried out in the adits of Nevada in November 1980, codenamed "Dauphin". The results obtained confirmed the theoretical calculations of scientists, however, the output of X-ray radiation turned out to be very weak and clearly insufficient for the destruction of missiles. This was followed by a series of test explosions "Excalibur", "Super-Excalibur", "Cottage", "Romano", during which the specialists pursued the main goal - to increase the intensity of X-ray radiation by focusing. At the end of December 1985, an underground explosion "Goldstone" with a capacity of about 150 kt was made, and in April of the following year - the test of "Mighty Oak" with similar goals. In the context of the ban on nuclear tests, serious obstacles have arisen in the way of developing these weapons.

It should be emphasized that an X-ray laser is, first of all, a nuclear weapon, and if it is detonated 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 under 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 segment of the trajectory, will not be able to completely solve this problem. Therefore, it is necessary to create combat assets capable of effectively destroying warheads in the phase of their free flight. To this end, US specialists have proposed using 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 high kinetic energy. Therefore, upon collision with a target, the particle can damage or even penetrate the warhead shell. Even if the shell is only damaged, then upon entering the dense layers of the atmosphere it will be destroyed as a result of intense mechanical impact and aerodynamic heating. Naturally, when such a particle hits a thin-walled inflatable decoy target, its shell will be broken 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 nuclear charge of relatively low power with an automatic detonation system, around which a shell is created, consisting of many small metal striking elements. 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. In the course of the explosion of a nuclear charge, an incandescent gas is formed - plasma, which, scattering with great speed, carries along and accelerates these dense particles. At the same time, a complex technical task is to maintain a sufficient mass of fragments, since when they are flowed around by a high-speed gas flow, the mass will be carried away from the surface of the elements.

In the United States, a series of tests was carried out 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 the dense layers of the atmosphere, particles moving at speeds of more than 4-5 kilometers per second will burn. Therefore, "nuclear shrapnel" can only be used in space, at altitudes over 80-100 km, in airless conditions. Accordingly, shrapnel warheads can be successfully used, in addition to fighting 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 projects of nuclear weapons with an enhanced effect of an air nuclear wave, an increased yield of Y-radiation, an increase in radioactive contamination of the area (such as the notorious "cobalt" bomb), etc.

Recently, in the United States, projects of ultra-low-power nuclear charges are being considered: mini-nux (capacity of hundreds of tons), micro-nux (tens of tons), tiny-nux (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 of the curchatovium has a critical mass of about 150 grams. The charger, when using one of the isotopes of California, will be so small that, with a capacity of several tons of TNT, it can be adapted for firing grenade launchers and small arms.

All of the above indicates that the use of nuclear energy for military purposes has significant potential and the continuation of development towards the creation of new types of weapons can lead to a "technological breakthrough" that will lower the "nuclear threshold" and have a negative impact on strategic stability. The prohibition of all nuclear tests, if it does not completely block the paths of 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, ultimately, of an effective international system of collective security, acquire special importance.