A short message about the nuclear bomb. Father of the atomic bomb

The one who invented the atomic bomb could not even imagine what tragic consequences this miracle invention of the 20th century could lead to. It was a very long journey before the residents of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced this superweapon.

A start

In April 1903, the famous French physicist Paul Langevin's friends gathered in the Paris Garden. 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 turned off. Marie Curie announced to everyone that there would be a surprise.

With a solemn look, Pierre Curie brought in a small tube with radium salts, which shone with a green light, causing extraordinary delight among those present. Subsequently, the guests heatedly discussed the future of this phenomenon. Everyone agreed that radium would solve the acute problem of energy shortages. This inspired everyone for new research and further prospects.

If they had been told then that laboratory work with radioactive elements would lay the foundation for the terrible weapons of the 20th century, it is not known what their reaction would have been. It was then that the story of the atomic bomb began, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians.

Playing ahead

On December 17, 1938, the German scientist Otto Gann obtained irrefutable evidence of the decay of uranium into smaller elementary particles. Essentially, he managed to split the atom. In the scientific world, this was regarded as a new milestone in the history of mankind. Otto Gann did not share the political views of the 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 Nazi Germany will be the first to receive terrible weapons, he writes a letter to the President of America warning about this.

The news of a possible advance greatly alarmed the US government. The Americans began to act quickly and decisively.

Who created the atomic bomb? American project

Even before the outbreak of World War II, a group of American scientists, many of whom were refugees from the Nazi regime in Europe, were tasked with developing nuclear weapons. 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 sum of two and a half billion dollars was allocated to implement the project.

Outstanding physicists of the 20th century were invited to implement this secret project, among whom were more than ten Nobel laureates. In total, about 130 thousand employees were involved, among whom were not only military personnel, but also civilians. The development team was headed by Colonel Leslie Richard Groves, and Robert Oppenheimer became the scientific director. He is the man who invented the atomic bomb.

A special secret engineering building was built in the Manhattan area, which we know under the code name “Manhattan Project”. Over the next few years, scientists from the secret project worked on the problem of nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium.

The non-peaceful atom of 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 begin studying the atomic nucleus. Gathering like-minded people around him, Igor Vasilyevich created the first cyclotron in Europe in 1937. In the same year, he and his like-minded people created the first artificial nuclei.

In 1939, I.V. Kurchatov began studying a new direction - nuclear physics. After several laboratory successes in studying this phenomenon, the scientist receives at his disposal a secret research center, which was named “Laboratory No. 2”. Nowadays this classified object is called "Arzamas-16".

The target direction of this center was the serious research and creation of nuclear weapons. Now it becomes obvious who created the atomic bomb in the Soviet Union. His team then consisted of only ten people.

There will be an atomic bomb

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 an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Soviet scientists realized that this could be done with the Soviet Union. "Laboratory No. 2" receives from the country's leadership a sharp increase in funding and a large influx of qualified personnel. Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria is appointed responsible for such an important project. The enormous efforts of Soviet scientists have borne fruit.

Semipalatinsk test site

The atomic bomb in the USSR was first tested at the test site in Semipalatinsk (Kazakhstan). On August 29, 1949, a nuclear device with a yield of 22 kilotons shook the Kazakh soil. 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 No. 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 atomic explosion in human history was carried out at 5:30 am.

“We have done the devil’s work,” Robert Oppenheimer, the one who invented the atomic bomb in the United States and later called the “father of the atomic bomb,” would later say.

Japan will not capitulate

By the time of the final and successful testing of the atomic bomb, Soviet troops and allies had 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 militaristic Japanese government rejected the Allied demand for surrender under the Potsdam Declaration. It stated, in particular, that in case of disobedience, the Japanese army would face rapid and complete destruction.

The President agrees

The American government kept its word and began a targeted bombing of Japanese military positions. Air strikes did not bring the desired result, and US President Harry Truman decides to invade Japanese territory by American troops. However, the military command dissuades its president from such a decision, citing the fact that an American invasion would entail a large number of casualties.

At the suggestion of Henry Lewis Stimson and Dwight David Eisenhower, it was decided to use a more effective way to end 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 United States in a dominant position, which would have a positive impact on the further 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 thousand people, located five hundred miles from the Japanese capital Tokyo, was chosen as the first target. After the modified B-29 Enola Gay bomber arrived at the US naval base on Tinian Island, an atomic bomb was installed on board the aircraft. Hiroshima was to experience the effects of 9 thousand pounds of uranium-235.
This never-before-seen weapon was intended for civilians in a small Japanese town. The bomber's commander was Colonel Paul Warfield Tibbetts Jr. The US atomic bomb bore the cynical name “Baby”. On the morning of August 6, 1945, at approximately 8:15 a.m., the American “Little” was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. About 15 thousand tons of TNT destroyed all life within a radius of five square miles. One hundred and forty thousand city residents died in a matter of seconds. The surviving Japanese died a painful death from radiation sickness.

They were destroyed by the American atomic “Baby”. However, the devastation of Hiroshima did not cause the immediate surrender of Japan, as everyone expected. Then it was decided to carry out another bombing of Japanese territory.

Nagasaki. The sky is on fire

The American atomic bomb “Fat Man” was installed on board a B-29 aircraft on August 9, 1945, still there, 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, weather conditions did not allow the plan to be carried out; heavy clouds interfered. Charles Sweeney went into the second round. At 11:02 a.m., the American nuclear “Fat Man” engulfed Nagasaki. It was a more powerful destructive air strike, which was several times stronger than the bombing in Hiroshima. Nagasaki tested an atomic weapon weighing about 10 thousand pounds and 22 kilotons of TNT.

The geographic 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

At noon on 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. Celebrations began in the United States of America to mark the victory over Japan. The people rejoiced.
On September 2, 1945, a formal agreement to end the war was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay. Thus ended the most brutal and bloody war in human history.

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 in Poland.

Peaceful atom

In total, 124 nuclear explosions were carried out in the Soviet Union. What is characteristic is that all of them were carried out for the benefit of the national economy. Only three of them were accidents that resulted in the leakage of radioactive elements.

Programs for the use of peaceful atoms were implemented in only two countries - the USA and the Soviet Union. Nuclear peaceful energy also knows an example of a global catastrophe, when on April 26, 1986, a reactor exploded at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

American Robert Oppenheimer and Soviet scientist Igor Kurchatov are officially recognized as the fathers of the atomic bomb. But in parallel, deadly weapons were also being developed in other countries (Italy, Denmark, Hungary), so the discovery rightfully belongs to everyone.

The first to tackle this issue were German physicists Fritz Strassmann and Otto Hahn, who in December 1938 were the first to artificially split the atomic nucleus of uranium. And six months later, the first reactor was already being built at the Kummersdorf test site near Berlin and uranium ore was urgently purchased from the Congo.

“Uranium Project” - the Germans start and lose

In September 1939, the “Uranium Project” was classified. 22 reputable research centers were invited to participate in the program, and the research was supervised by Minister of Armaments Albert Speer. The construction of an installation for separating isotopes and the production of uranium to extract the isotope from it that supports the chain reaction was entrusted to the IG Farbenindustry concern.

For two years, a group of the venerable scientist Heisenberg studied the possibility of creating a reactor with heavy water. A potential explosive (uranium-235 isotope) could be isolated from uranium ore.

But an inhibitor is needed to slow down the reaction - graphite or heavy water. Choosing the latter option created an insurmountable problem.

The only plant for the production of heavy water, which was located in Norway, was disabled by local resistance fighters after the occupation, and small reserves of valuable raw materials were exported to France.

The rapid implementation of the nuclear program was also hindered by the explosion of an experimental nuclear reactor in Leipzig.

Hitler supported the uranium project as long as he hoped to obtain a super-powerful weapon that could influence the outcome of the war he started. After government funding was cut, the work programs continued for some time.

In 1944, Heisenberg managed to create cast uranium plates, and a special bunker was built for the reactor plant in Berlin.

It was planned to complete the experiment to achieve a chain reaction in January 1945, but a month later the equipment was urgently transported to the Swiss border, where it was deployed only a month later. The nuclear reactor contained 664 cubes of uranium weighing 1525 kg. It was surrounded by a graphite neutron reflector weighing 10 tons, and one and a half tons of heavy water were additionally loaded into the core.

On March 23, the reactor finally started working, but the report to Berlin was premature: the reactor did not reach a critical point, and the chain reaction did not occur. Additional calculations showed that the mass of uranium must be increased by at least 750 kg, proportionally adding the amount of heavy water.

But supplies of strategic raw materials were at their limit, as was the fate of the Third Reich. On April 23, the Americans entered the village of Haigerloch, where the tests were carried out. The military dismantled the reactor and transported it to the United States.

The first atomic bombs in the USA

A little later, the Germans began developing the atomic bomb in the USA and Great Britain. It all started with a letter from Albert Einstein and his co-authors, emigrant physicists, sent in September 1939 to US President Franklin Roosevelt.

The appeal emphasized that Nazi Germany was close to creating an atomic bomb.

Stalin first learned about work on nuclear weapons (both allied and adversary) from intelligence officers in 1943. They immediately decided to create a similar project in the USSR. Instructions were issued not only to scientists, but also to intelligence services, for which obtaining any information about nuclear secrets became a major task.

The invaluable information about the developments of American scientists that Soviet intelligence officers were able to obtain significantly advanced the domestic nuclear project. It helped our scientists avoid ineffective search paths and significantly speed up the time frame for achieving the final goal.

Serov Ivan Aleksandrovich - head of the bomb creation operation

Of course, the Soviet government could not ignore the successes of German nuclear physicists. After the war, a group of Soviet physicists, future academicians, were sent to Germany in the uniform of colonels of the Soviet army.

Ivan Serov, the first deputy people's commissar of internal affairs, was appointed head of the operation, this allowed scientists to open any doors.

In addition to their German colleagues, they found reserves of uranium metal. This, according to Kurchatov, shortened the development time of the Soviet bomb by at least a year. More than one ton of uranium and leading nuclear specialists were taken out of Germany by the American military.

Not only chemists and physicists were sent to the USSR, but also qualified labor - mechanics, electricians, glassblowers. Some of the employees were found in prison camps. In total, about 1,000 German specialists worked on the Soviet nuclear project.

German scientists and laboratories on the territory of the USSR in the post-war years

A uranium centrifuge and other equipment, as well as documents and reagents from the von Ardenne laboratory and the Kaiser Institute of Physics were transported from Berlin. As part of the program, laboratories “A”, “B”, “C”, “D” were created, headed by German scientists.

The head of Laboratory “A” was Baron Manfred von Ardenne, who developed a method for gas diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge.

For the creation of such a centrifuge (only on an industrial scale) in 1947 he received the Stalin Prize. At that time, the laboratory was located in Moscow, on the site of the famous Kurchatov Institute. Each German scientist’s team included 5-6 Soviet specialists.

Later, laboratory “A” was taken to Sukhumi, where a physical and technical institute was created on its basis. In 1953, Baron von Ardenne became a Stalin laureate for the second time.

Laboratory B, which conducted experiments in the field of radiation chemistry in the Urals, was headed by Nikolaus Riehl, a key figure in the project. There, in Snezhinsk, the talented Russian geneticist Timofeev-Resovsky, with whom he had been friends back in Germany, worked with him. The successful test of the atomic bomb brought Riehl the star of Hero of Socialist Labor and the Stalin Prize.

Research at Laboratory B in Obninsk was led by Professor Rudolf Pose, a pioneer in the field of nuclear testing. His team managed to create fast neutron reactors, the first nuclear power plant in the USSR, and projects for reactors for submarines.

On the basis of the laboratory, the Physics and Energy Institute named after A.I. was later created. Leypunsky. Until 1957, the professor worked in Sukhumi, then in Dubna, at the Joint Institute of Nuclear Technologies.

Laboratory “G”, located in the Sukhumi sanatorium “Agudzery”, was headed by Gustav Hertz. The nephew of the famous 19th century scientist gained fame after a series of experiments that confirmed the ideas of quantum mechanics and the theory of Niels Bohr.

The results of his productive work in Sukhumi were used to create an industrial installation in Novouralsk, where in 1949 the first Soviet bomb RDS-1 was filled.

The uranium bomb that the Americans dropped on Hiroshima was a cannon type. When creating the RDS-1, domestic nuclear physicists were guided by the Fat Boy - the “Nagasaki bomb”, made of plutonium according to the implosive principle.

In 1951, Hertz was awarded the Stalin Prize for his fruitful work.

German engineers and scientists lived in comfortable houses; they brought their families, furniture, paintings from Germany, they were provided with decent salaries and special food. Did they have the status of prisoners? According to Academician A.P. Aleksandrov, an active participant in the project, they were all prisoners in such conditions.

Having received permission to return to their homeland, the German specialists signed a non-disclosure agreement about their participation in the Soviet nuclear project for 25 years. In the GDR they continued to work in their specialty. Baron von Ardenne was a two-time winner of the German National Prize.

The professor headed the Physics Institute in Dresden, which was created under the auspices of the Scientific Council for the Peaceful Applications of Atomic Energy. The Scientific Council was headed by Gustav Hertz, who received the National Prize of the GDR for his three-volume textbook on atomic physics. Here, in Dresden, at the Technical University, Professor Rudolf Pose also worked.

The participation of German specialists in the Soviet atomic project, as well as the achievements of Soviet intelligence, do not diminish the merits of Soviet scientists who, with their heroic work, created domestic atomic weapons. And yet, without the contribution of each participant in the project, the creation of the nuclear industry and the nuclear bomb would have taken an indefinite period.

Third Reich Victoria Viktorovna Bulavina

Who invented the nuclear bomb?

The Nazi Party always recognized the great importance of technology and invested heavily in the development of missiles, aircraft and tanks. But the most outstanding and dangerous discovery was made in the field of nuclear physics. Germany was perhaps the leader in nuclear physics in the 1930s. However, with the Nazis coming to power, many German physicists who were Jews left the Third Reich. Some of them emigrated to the United States, bringing with them disturbing news: Germany may be working on an atomic bomb. This news prompted the Pentagon to take steps to develop its own atomic program, which was called the Manhattan Project...

An interesting, but more than dubious version of the “secret weapon of the Third Reich” was proposed by Hans Ulrich von Kranz. His book “The Secret Weapons of the Third Reich” puts forward the version that the atomic bomb was created in Germany and that the United States only imitated the results of the Manhattan Project. But let's talk about this in more detail.

Otto Hahn, the famous German physicist and radiochemist, together with another prominent scientist Fritz Straussmann, discovered the fission of the uranium nucleus in 1938, essentially giving rise to work on the creation of nuclear weapons. In 1938, atomic developments were not classified, but in virtually no country except Germany, they were not given due attention. They didn't see much point. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain argued: “This abstract matter has nothing to do with state needs.” Professor Hahn assessed the state of nuclear research in the United States of America as follows: “If we talk about a country in which the least attention is paid to nuclear fission processes, then we should undoubtedly name the United States. Of course, I'm not considering Brazil or the Vatican right now. However, among developed countries, even Italy and communist Russia are significantly ahead of the United States.” He also noted that little attention is paid to the problems of theoretical physics on the other side of the ocean; priority is given to applied developments that can provide immediate profit. Hahn's verdict was unequivocal: "I can say with confidence that within the next decade the North Americans will not be able to do anything significant for the development of atomic physics." This statement served as the basis for constructing the von Kranz hypothesis. Let's consider his version.

At the same time, the Alsos group was created, whose activities boiled down to “headhunting” and searching for the secrets of German atomic research. A logical question arises here: why should Americans look for other people’s secrets if their own project is in full swing? Why did they rely so much on other people's research?

In the spring of 1945, thanks to the activities of Alsos, many scientists who took part in German nuclear research fell into the hands of the Americans. By May they had Heisenberg, Hahn, Osenberg, Diebner, and many other outstanding German physicists. But the Alsos group continued active searches in already defeated Germany - until the very end of May. And only when all the major scientists were sent to America, Alsos ceased its activities. And at the end of June, the Americans test an atomic bomb, allegedly for the first time in the world. And at the beginning of August two bombs are dropped on Japanese cities. Hans Ulrich von Kranz noticed these coincidences.

The researcher also has doubts because only a month passed between the testing and combat use of the new superweapon, since manufacturing a nuclear bomb is impossible in such a short time! After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the next US bombs did not enter service until 1947, preceded by additional tests in El Paso in 1946. This suggests that we are dealing with a carefully hidden truth, since it turns out that in 1945 the Americans dropped three bombs - and all were successful. The next tests - of the same bombs - take place a year and a half later, and not very successfully (three out of four bombs did not explode). Serial production began another six months later, and it is unknown to what extent the atomic bombs that appeared in American army warehouses corresponded to their terrible purpose. This led the researcher to the idea that “the first three atomic bombs - the same ones from 1945 - were not built by the Americans on their own, but received from someone. To put it bluntly - from the Germans. This hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by the reaction of German scientists to the bombing of Japanese cities, which we know about thanks to David Irving’s book.” According to the researcher, the atomic project of the Third Reich was controlled by the Ahnenerbe, which was under the personal subordination of SS leader Heinrich Himmler. According to Hans Ulrich von Kranz, “a nuclear charge is the best instrument of post-war genocide, both Hitler and Himmler believed.” According to the researcher, on March 3, 1944, an atomic bomb (Object “Loki”) was delivered to the test site - in the swampy forests of Belarus. The tests were successful and aroused unprecedented enthusiasm among the leadership of the Third Reich. German propaganda had previously mentioned a “miracle weapon” of gigantic destructive power that the Wehrmacht would soon receive, but now these motives sounded even louder. They are usually considered a bluff, but can we definitely draw such a conclusion? As a rule, Nazi propaganda did not bluff, it only embellished reality. It has not yet been possible to convict her of a major lie on the issue of “miracle weapons”. Let us remember that propaganda promised jet fighters - the fastest in the world. And already at the end of 1944, hundreds of Messerschmitt-262s patrolled the airspace of the Reich. Propaganda promised a rain of missiles for the enemies, and since the autumn of that year, dozens of V-cruise missiles rained down on English cities every day. So why on earth should the promised super-destructive weapon be considered a bluff?

In the spring of 1944, feverish preparations began for the serial production of nuclear weapons. But why weren't these bombs used? Von Kranz gives this answer - there was no carrier, and when the Junkers-390 transport plane appeared, betrayal awaited the Reich, and besides, these bombs could no longer decide the outcome of the war...

How plausible is this version? Were the Germans really the first to develop the atomic bomb? It’s difficult to say, but this possibility should not be ruled out, because, as we know, it was German specialists who were leaders in atomic research back in the early 1940s.

Despite the fact that many historians are engaged in researching the secrets of the Third Reich, because many secret documents have become available, it seems that even today the archives with materials about German military developments reliably store many mysteries.

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Changes in US military doctrine between 1945 and 1996 and basic concepts

On the territory of the United States, in Los Alamos, in the desert expanses of New Mexico, an American nuclear center was created in 1942. At its base, work began on the creation of a nuclear bomb. The overall management of the project was entrusted to the talented nuclear physicist R. Oppenheimer. Under his leadership, the best minds of that time were gathered not only in the USA and England, but in almost all of Western Europe. A huge team worked on the creation of nuclear weapons, including 12 Nobel Prize laureates. There was no shortage of financial resources.

By the summer of 1945, the Americans managed to assemble two atomic bombs, called “Baby” and “Fat Man”. The first bomb weighed 2,722 kg and was filled with enriched Uranium-235. “Fat Man” with a charge of Plutonium-239 with a power of more than 20 kt had a mass of 3175 kg. On June 16, the first test site of a nuclear device took place, timed to coincide with a meeting of the leaders of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France.

By this time, relations between former comrades had changed. It should be noted that the United States, as soon as it had the atomic bomb, sought a monopoly on its possession in order to deprive other countries of the opportunity to use atomic energy at their discretion.

US President G. Truman became the first political leader to decide to use nuclear bombs. From a military point of view, there was no need for such bombing of densely populated Japanese cities. But political motives during this period prevailed over military ones. The leadership of the United States strove for supremacy throughout the post-war world, and nuclear bombing, in their opinion, should have been a significant reinforcement of these aspirations. To this end, they began to push for the adoption of the American “Baruch Plan,” which would have secured for the United States a monopoly on atomic weapons, in other words, “absolute military superiority.”

The fatal hour has arrived. On August 6 and 9, the crews of the B-29 "Enola Gay" and "Bocks car" aircraft dropped their deadly payload on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The total loss of life and the scale of destruction from these bombings are characterized by the following figures: 300 thousand people died instantly from thermal radiation (temperature about 5000 degrees C) and the shock wave, another 200 thousand were injured, burned, or exposed to radiation. On an area of 12 sq. km, all buildings were completely destroyed. In Hiroshima alone, out of 90 thousand buildings, 62 thousand were destroyed. These bombings shocked the whole world. It is believed that this event marked the beginning of the nuclear arms race and the confrontation between the two political systems of that time at a new qualitative level.

The development of American strategic offensive weapons after the Second World War was carried out depending on the provisions of military doctrine. Its political side determined the main goal of the US leadership - achieving world domination. The main obstacle to these aspirations was considered to be the Soviet Union, which in their opinion should have been eliminated. Depending on the balance of power in the world, the achievements of science and technology, its basic provisions changed, which was correspondingly reflected in the adoption of certain strategic strategies (concepts). Each subsequent strategy did not completely replace the one that preceded it, but only modernized it, mainly in determining the ways of building the Armed Forces and methods of waging war.

From mid-1945 to 1953, the American military-political leadership in matters of building strategic nuclear forces (SNF) proceeded from the fact that the United States had a monopoly on nuclear weapons and could achieve world domination by eliminating the USSR during a nuclear war. Preparations for such a war began almost immediately after the defeat of Nazi Germany. This is evidenced by the directive of the Joint Military Planning Committee No. 432/d dated December 14, 1945, which set the task of preparing the atomic bombing of 20 Soviet cities - the main political and industrial centers of the Soviet Union. At the same time, it was planned to use the entire stock of atomic bombs available at that time (196 pieces), the carriers of which were modernized B-29 bombers. The method of their use was also determined - a sudden atomic “first strike”, which should confront the Soviet leadership with the fact that further resistance was futile.

The political justification for such actions is the thesis of the “Soviet threat,” one of the main authors of which can be considered the US Charge d’Affaires in the USSR, J. Kennan. It was he who sent a “long telegram” to Washington on February 22, 1946, where in eight thousand words he outlined the “vital threat” that allegedly loomed over the United States and proposed a strategy for confrontation with the Soviet Union.

President G. Truman gave instructions to develop a doctrine (later called the “Truman Doctrine”) of pursuing a policy from a position of strength in relation to the USSR. To centralize planning and increase the effectiveness of the use of strategic aviation, in the spring of 1947, the Strategic Aviation Command (SAC) was created. At the same time, the task of improving strategic aviation technology is being implemented at an accelerated pace.

By mid-1948, the Committee of Chiefs of Staff had drawn up a plan for a nuclear war with the USSR, codenamed “Chariotir”. It stipulated that the war should begin "with concentrated attacks using atomic bombs against government, political and administrative centers, industrial cities and selected oil refineries from bases in the Western Hemisphere and England." In the first 30 days alone, it was planned to drop 133 nuclear bombs on 70 Soviet cities.

However, as American military analysts calculated, this was not enough to achieve a quick victory. They believed that during this time the Soviet Army would be able to capture key areas of Europe and Asia. In early 1949, a special committee of senior Army, Air Force, and Navy officials was created under the leadership of Lieutenant General H. Harmon, which was tasked with trying to assess the political and military consequences of the planned atomic attack on the Soviet Union from the air. The committee's conclusions and calculations clearly indicated that the United States was not yet ready for a nuclear war.

The committee's conclusions stated that it was necessary to increase the quantitative composition of the SAC, increase its combat capabilities, and replenish nuclear arsenals. To ensure the delivery of a massive nuclear strike by air, the United States needs to create a network of bases along the borders of the USSR, from which bombers carrying nuclear weapons could carry out combat missions along the shortest routes to planned targets on Soviet territory. It is necessary to launch serial production of heavy strategic intercontinental bombers B-36, capable of operating from bases on American territory.

The message that the Soviet Union had mastered the secret of nuclear weapons caused the US ruling circles to want to start a preventive war as quickly as possible. The Troyan plan was developed, which envisaged the start of hostilities on January 1, 1950. At that time, SAC had 840 strategic bombers in combat units, 1,350 in reserve, and over 300 atomic bombs.

To assess its viability, the Committee of Chiefs of Staff ordered Lieutenant General D. Hull's group to test the chances of disabling the nine most important strategic areas on the territory of the Soviet Union in staff games. Having lost the air offensive against the USSR, Hull analysts summed it up: the probability of achieving these goals is 70%, which would entail the loss of 55% of the available bomber force. It turned out that US strategic aviation in this case would very quickly lose its combat effectiveness. Therefore, the question of preventive war was dropped in 1950. Soon the American leadership was able to verify in practice the correctness of such assessments. During the Korean War that began in 1950, B-29 bombers suffered heavy losses from fighter jet attacks.

But the situation in the world was changing rapidly, which was reflected in the American strategy of “massive retaliation” adopted in 1953. It was based on the superiority of the United States over the USSR in the number of nuclear weapons and the means of their delivery. It was envisaged to wage a general nuclear war against the countries of the socialist camp. Strategic aviation was considered the main means of achieving victory, for the development of which up to 50% of the financial resources allocated to the Ministry of Defense for the purchase of weapons were allocated.

In 1955, SAC had 1,565 bombers, 70% of which were B-47 jets, and 4,750 nuclear bombs with yields ranging from 50 kt to 20 mt. In the same year, the B-52 heavy strategic bomber was put into service, which gradually became the main intercontinental carrier of nuclear weapons.

At the same time, the military-political leadership of the United States is beginning to realize that in the context of the rapid increase in the capabilities of Soviet air defense systems, heavy bombers will not be able to solve the problem of achieving victory in a nuclear war alone. In 1958, medium-range ballistic missiles "Thor" and "Jupiter" entered service and were deployed in Europe. A year later, the first Atlas-D intercontinental missiles were put on combat duty, and the nuclear submarine J. Washington" with Polaris-A1 missiles.

With the advent of ballistic missiles in the strategic nuclear forces, the United States' ability to launch a nuclear strike increases significantly. However, in the USSR, by the end of the 50s, intercontinental carriers of nuclear weapons were being created, capable of delivering a retaliatory strike on the territory of the United States. The Pentagon was particularly concerned about Soviet ICBMs. Under these conditions, the leaders of the United States considered that the strategy of “massive retaliation” did not fully correspond to modern realities and should be adjusted.

By the beginning of 1960, nuclear planning in the United States was becoming centralized. Before this, each branch of the Armed Forces planned the use of nuclear weapons independently. But the increase in the number of strategic delivery vehicles required the creation of a single body for planning nuclear operations. It became the Joint Strategic Objectives Planning Staff, subordinate to the commander of the SAC and the Committee of the Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces. In December 1960, the first unified plan for waging a nuclear war was drawn up, called the “Unified Comprehensive Operational Plan” - SIOP. It envisaged, in accordance with the requirements of the “massive retaliation” strategy, waging only a general nuclear war against the USSR and China with the unlimited use of nuclear weapons (3.5 thousand nuclear warheads).

In 1961, a “flexible response” strategy was adopted, reflecting changes in official views on the possible nature of the war with the USSR. In addition to all-out nuclear war, American strategists began to accept the possibility of limited use of nuclear weapons and waging war with conventional weapons for a short period of time (no more than two weeks). The choice of methods and means of warfare had to be made taking into account the current geostrategic situation, the balance of forces and the availability of resources.

The new installations had a very significant impact on the development of American strategic weapons. Rapid quantitative growth of ICBMs and SLBMs begins. Special attention is paid to improving the latter, since they could be used as “forward-based” weapons in Europe. At the same time, the American government no longer needed to look for possible deployment areas for them and persuade the Europeans to give their consent to the use of their territory, as was the case during the deployment of medium-range missiles.

The US military-political leadership believed that it was necessary to have such a quantitative composition of strategic nuclear forces, the use of which would ensure the “guaranteed destruction” of the Soviet Union as a viable state.

In the early years of this decade, a significant force of ICBMs was deployed. So, if at the beginning of 1960 the SAC had 20 missiles of only one type - Atlas-D, then by the end of 1962 there were already 294. By this time, Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles of the "E" modifications were put into service. and "F", "Titan-1" and "Minuteman-1A". The latest ICBMs were several orders of magnitude higher in sophistication than their predecessors. In the same year, the tenth American SSBN went on combat patrol. The total number of Polaris-A1 and Polaris-A2 SLBMs has reached 160 units. The last of the ordered B-52H heavy bombers and B-58 medium bombers entered service. The total number of bombers in the Strategic Air Command was 1,819. Thus, the American nuclear triad of strategic offensive forces (units and formations of ICBMs, nuclear missile submarines and strategic bombers) was organizationally formed, each component of which harmoniously complemented each other. It was equipped with over 6,000 nuclear warheads.

In mid-1961, the SIOP-2 plan was approved, reflecting the “flexible response” strategy. It provided for five interrelated operations to destroy the Soviet nuclear arsenal, suppress the air defense system, destroy military and government agencies and points, large groupings of troops, as well as strikes on cities. The total number of targets in the plan was 6 thousand. Among the topics, the plan's developers also took into account the possibility of the Soviet Union inflicting a retaliatory nuclear strike on US territory.

At the beginning of 1961, a commission was formed whose duties were to develop promising ways for the development of American strategic nuclear forces. Subsequently, such commissions were created regularly.

In the fall of 1962, the world again found itself on the brink of nuclear war. The outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis forced politicians around the world to look at nuclear weapons from a new perspective. For the first time, it clearly played the role of a deterrent. The sudden appearance of Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba for the United States and their lack of overwhelming superiority in the number of ICBMs and SLBMs over the Soviet Union made a military solution to the conflict impossible.

The American military leadership immediately announced the need for additional armament, effectively setting a course for unleashing a strategic offensive arms race (START). The wishes of the military found due support in the US Senate. Huge amounts of money were allocated for the development of strategic offensive weapons, which made it possible to qualitatively and quantitatively improve strategic nuclear forces. In 1965, the Thor and Jupiter missiles, Atlas of all modifications and Titan-1 were completely withdrawn from service. They were replaced by the Minuteman-1B and Minuteman-2 intercontinental missiles, as well as the Titan-2 heavy ICBM.

The marine component of the SNA has grown significantly quantitatively and qualitatively. Taking into account such factors as the almost undivided dominance of the US Navy and the combined NATO fleet in the vast oceans in the early 60s, the high survivability, stealth and mobility of SSBNs, the American leadership decided to significantly increase the number of deployed missile submarines that could successfully replace medium-sized missiles. range. Their main targets were to be large industrial and administrative centers of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries.

In 1967, the strategic nuclear forces had 41 SSBNs with 656 missiles, of which more than 80% were Polaris-A3 SLBMs, 1054 ICBMs and over 800 heavy bombers. After the obsolete B-47 aircraft were removed from service, the nuclear bombs intended for them were eliminated. In connection with a change in strategic aviation tactics, the B-52 was equipped with AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missiles with a nuclear warhead.

The rapid growth in the second half of the 60s in the number of Soviet OS-type ICBMs with improved characteristics and the creation of a missile defense system made the likelihood of America achieving a quick victory in a possible nuclear war scanty.

The strategic nuclear arms race posed more and more new challenges for the US military-industrial complex. It was necessary to find a new way to quickly increase nuclear power. The high scientific and production level of leading American rocket manufacturing companies made it possible to solve this problem. The designers have found a way to significantly increase the number of nuclear charges raised without increasing the number of their carriers. Multiple warheads (MIRVs) were developed and introduced, first with dispersible warheads and then with individual guidance.

The US leadership decided that it was time to somewhat adjust the military-technical side of its military doctrine. Using the tried-and-tested thesis of the “Soviet missile threat” and “US backwardness,” it easily secured the allocation of funds for new strategic weapons. Since 1970, the deployment of the Minuteman-3 ICBM and the Poseidon-S3 SLBM with MIRV-type MIRVs began. At the same time, the obsolete Minuteman-1B and Polaris were removed from combat duty.

In 1971, the strategy of “realistic deterrence” was officially adopted. It was based on the idea of nuclear superiority over the USSR. The authors of the strategy took into account the emerging equality in the number of strategic carriers between the USA and the USSR. By that time, without taking into account the nuclear forces of England and France, the following balance of strategic weapons had developed. In terms of ground-based ICBMs, the United States has 1,054 versus 1,300 in the Soviet Union, in terms of the number of SLBMs, 656 versus 300, and in terms of strategic bombers, 550 versus 145, respectively. The new strategy for the development of strategic offensive arms provided for a sharp increase in the number of nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles while simultaneously improving their tactical and technical characteristics, which was supposed to ensure qualitative superiority over the strategic nuclear forces of the Soviet Union.

The improvement of strategic offensive forces was reflected in the next plan - SIOP-4, adopted in 1971. It was developed taking into account the interaction of all components of the nuclear triad and provided for the destruction of 16 thousand targets.

But under pressure from the world community, the US leadership was forced to negotiate on nuclear disarmament. The methods of conducting such negotiations were regulated by the concept of “negotiating from a position of strength” - an integral part of the strategy of “realistic intimidation”. In 1972, the Treaty between the USA and the USSR on the Limitation of Missile Defense Systems and the Interim Agreement on Certain Measures in the Field of Limiting Strategic Offensive Arms (SALT-1) were concluded. However, the build-up of the strategic nuclear potential of opposing political systems continued.

By the mid-70s, the deployment of the Minuteman 3 and Poseidon missile systems was completed. All Lafayette-class SSBNs equipped with new missiles have been modernized. Heavy bombers were armed with SRAM nuclear guided missiles. All this led to a sharp increase in the nuclear arsenal assigned to strategic delivery vehicles. So, in five years from 1970 to 1975, the number of warheads increased from 5102 to 8500 units. The improvement of the combat control system for strategic weapons was in full swing, which made it possible to implement the principle of quickly retargeting warheads to new targets. To completely recalculate and replace the flight mission for one missile now required only a few tens of minutes, and the entire group of SNS ICBMs could be retargeted in 10 hours. By the end of 1979, this system was implemented at all intercontinental missile launchers and launch control posts. At the same time, the security of silo launchers of Minuteman ICBMs was increased.

The qualitative improvement of the US strategic offensive forces made it possible to move from the concept of “assured destruction” to the concept of “target selection,” which provided for multi-variant actions - from a limited nuclear strike with a few missiles to a massive strike against the entire complex of targeted targets. The SIOP-5 plan was drawn up and approved in 1975, which provided for attacks on military, administrative and economic targets of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries with a total number of up to 25 thousand.

The main form of use of American strategic offensive weapons was considered to be a sudden massive nuclear strike by all combat-ready ICBMs and SLBMs, as well as a certain number of heavy bombers. By this time, SLBMs had become the leading ones in the US nuclear triad. If before 1970 most of the nuclear warheads were assigned to strategic aviation, then in 1975 4,536 warheads were installed on 656 sea-based missiles (2,154 warheads on 1,054 ICBMs, and 1,800 on heavy bombers). Views on their use have also changed. In addition to striking cities, given the short flight time (12 - 18 minutes), submarine missiles could be used to destroy launching Soviet ICBMs on the active part of the trajectory or directly in launchers, preventing their launch before the approach of American ICBMs. The latter were entrusted with the task of destroying highly protected targets and, above all, silos and command posts of missile units of the Strategic Missile Forces. In this way, a Soviet retaliatory nuclear strike on US territory could have been thwarted or significantly weakened. Heavy bombers were planned to be used to destroy surviving or newly identified targets.

Since the second half of the 70s, a transformation of the views of the American political leadership on the prospects of nuclear war began. Considering the opinion of most scientists that even a retaliatory Soviet nuclear strike would be disastrous for the United States, it decided to accept the theory of limited nuclear war for one theater of war, specifically the European one. To implement it, new nuclear weapons were needed.

The administration of President J. Carter allocated funds for the development and production of the highly effective strategic sea-based Trident system. The implementation of this project was planned to be carried out in two stages. At the first it was planned to re-equip 12 SSBNs of the J. type. Madison" with Trident-C4 missiles, as well as to build and commission 8 new-generation Ohio-class SSBNs with 24 of the same missiles. At the second stage, it was planned to build 14 more SSBNs and arm all boats of this project with the new Trident-D5 SLBM with higher tactical and technical characteristics.

In 1979, President J. Carter decides on the full-scale production of the Peacekeeper (MX) intercontinental ballistic missile, which in its characteristics was supposed to surpass all existing Soviet ICBMs. Its development has been carried out since the mid-70s, along with the Pershing-2 MRBM and a new type of strategic weapons - long-range ground- and air-launched cruise missiles.

With the coming to power of the administration of President R. Reagan, the “doctrine of neo-globalism” was born, reflecting the new views of the US military-political leadership on the path to achieving world domination. It provided for a wide range of measures (political, economic, ideological, military) to “throw back communism” and the direct use of military force against those countries where the United States perceived a threat to its “vital interests.” Naturally, the military-technical side of the doctrine was also adjusted. Its basis for the 80s was the strategy of “direct confrontation” with the USSR on a global and regional scale, aimed at achieving “complete and undeniable military superiority of the United States.”

Soon, the Pentagon developed “Guidelines for the construction of the US armed forces” for the coming years. They, in particular, determined that in a nuclear war “the United States must prevail and be able to force the USSR to quickly cease hostilities on US terms.” Military plans provided for the conduct of both general and limited nuclear war within the framework of one theater of operations. In addition, the task was to be ready to wage an effective war from space.

Based on these provisions, concepts for the development of the SNA were developed. The concept of “strategic sufficiency” required having such a combat composition of strategic delivery vehicles and nuclear warheads for them in order to ensure the “deterrence” of the Soviet Union.” The concept of “active counteraction” provided for ways to ensure flexibility in the use of strategic offensive forces in any situation - from a single use of nuclear weapons to the use of the entire nuclear arsenal.

In March 1980, the president approved the SIOP-5D plan. The plan provided for three options for nuclear strikes: preventive, retaliatory, and retaliatory. The number of targets was 40 thousand, which included 900 cities with a population of over 250 thousand each, 15 thousand industrial and economic facilities, 3,500 military targets on the territory of the USSR, Warsaw Pact countries, China, Vietnam and Cuba.

In early October 1981, President Reagan announced his “strategic program” for the 1980s, which contained guidelines for further building up strategic nuclear capabilities. The last hearings on this program took place at six meetings of the US Congress Committee on Military Affairs. Representatives of the President, the Ministry of Defense, and leading scientists in the field of weapons were invited to them. As a result of comprehensive discussions of all structural elements, the program for building up strategic weapons was approved. In accordance with it, starting in 1983, 108 Pershing-2 MRBM launchers and 464 BGM-109G ground-based cruise missiles were deployed in Europe as forward-based nuclear weapons.

In the second half of the 80s, another concept was developed - “substantial equivalence”. It determined how, in the context of the reduction and elimination of some types of strategic offensive arms, by improving the combat characteristics of others, to ensure qualitative superiority over the strategic nuclear forces of the USSR.

Since 1985, the deployment of 50 silo-based MX ICBMs began (another 50 missiles of this type in a mobile version were planned to be put on combat duty in the early 90s) and 100 B-1B heavy bombers. Production of the BGM-86 air-launched cruise missiles to equip 180 B-52 bombers was in full swing. A new MIRV with more powerful warheads was installed on the 350 Minuteman-3 ICBMs, while the control system was modernized.

An interesting situation arose after the deployment of Pershing-2 missiles on the territory of West Germany. Formally, this group was not part of the US National Security Council and was the nuclear weapon of the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in Europe (this position has always been occupied by US representatives). The official version for the world community was that its deployment in Europe was a reaction to the appearance of RSD-10 (SS-20) missiles in the Soviet Union and the need to rearm NATO in the face of a missile threat from the East. In fact, the reason was, of course, different, which was confirmed by the Supreme Commander of NATO Allied Armed Forces in Europe, General B. Rogers. He said in one of his speeches in 1983: “Most people believe that we are modernizing our weapons because of the SS-20 missiles. We would have carried out modernization even if there were no SS-20 missiles.”

The main purpose of the Pershings (taken into account in the SIOP plan) was to deliver a “decapitation strike” on the command posts of strategic formations of the USSR Armed Forces and Strategic Missile Forces in Eastern Europe, which was supposed to disrupt the Soviet retaliatory strike. To achieve this, they had all the necessary tactical and technical characteristics: short approach time (8-10 minutes), high shooting accuracy and a nuclear charge capable of hitting highly protected targets. Thus, it became clear that they were intended to solve strategic offensive tasks.

Ground-launched cruise missiles, also considered NATO nuclear weapons, became dangerous weapons. But their use was envisaged in accordance with the SIOP plan. Their main advantage was high shooting accuracy (up to 30 m) and stealth flight, which took place at an altitude of several tens of meters, which, combined with a small effective dispersion area, made interception of such missiles by an air defense system extremely difficult. The targets of destruction for the Kyrgyz Republic could be any highly protected pinpoint targets such as command posts, silos, etc.

However, by the end of the 80s, the USA and the USSR had accumulated such a huge nuclear potential that it had long outgrown reasonable limits. A situation arose where it was necessary to make a decision on what to do next. The situation was aggravated by the fact that half of the ICBMs (Minuteman-2 and part of Minuteman-3) had been in operation for 20 years or more. Keeping them in combat-ready condition became more and more expensive every year. Under these conditions, the country's leadership decided on the possibility of a 50% reduction in strategic offensive arms, subject to a reciprocal step on the part of the Soviet Union. Such an agreement was concluded at the end of July 1991. Its provisions largely determined the path of development of strategic weapons in the 90s. An instruction was given for the development of such strategic offensive weapons, so that in order to fend off the threat from them, the USSR would need to spend large financial and material resources.

The situation changed radically after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result, the United States achieved world dominance and remained the only “superpower” in the world. Finally, the political part of the American military doctrine was fulfilled. But with the end of the Cold War, according to the Clinton administration, threats to US interests remained. In 1995, the report “National Military Strategy” appeared, presented by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces, and sent to Congress. It became the last of the official documents outlining the provisions of the new military doctrine. It is based on a “strategy of flexible and selective engagement.” Certain adjustments in the new strategy have been made to the content of the main strategic concepts.

The military-political leadership continues to rely on force, and the Armed Forces are preparing to wage war and achieve “victory in any wars, wherever and whenever they arise.” Naturally, the military structure is being improved, including strategic nuclear forces. They are entrusted with the task of deterring and intimidating a possible enemy, both in a period of peace and during a general or limited war using conventional weapons.

A significant place in theoretical developments is devoted to the place and methods of action of the SNS in a nuclear war. Taking into account the existing balance of forces between the United States and Russia in the field of strategic weapons, the American military-political leadership believes that goals in a nuclear war can be achieved as a result of multiple and spaced-out nuclear strikes against military and economic potential, administrative and political control. In time, these can be either proactive or reactive actions.

The following types of nuclear strikes are envisaged: selective - to hit various command and control organs, limited or regional (for example, against groupings of enemy troops during a conventional war if the situation develops unsuccessfully) and massive. In this regard, a certain reorganization of the US strategic offensive forces was carried out. Further changes in American views on the possible development and use of strategic nuclear weapons can be expected at the beginning of the next millennium.

The emergence of atomic (nuclear) weapons was due to a mass of objective and subjective factors. Objectively, the creation of atomic weapons came thanks to the rapid development of science, which began with fundamental discoveries in the field of physics in the first half of the twentieth century. The main subjective factor was the military-political situation, when the states of the anti-Hitler coalition began a secret race to develop such powerful weapons. Today we will find out who invented the atomic bomb, how it developed in the world and the Soviet Union, and also get acquainted with its structure and the consequences of its use.

Creation of the atomic bomb

From a scientific point of view, the year of creation of the atomic bomb was the distant 1896. It was then that the French physicist A. Becquerel discovered the radioactivity of uranium. Subsequently, the chain reaction of uranium began to be seen as a source of enormous energy, and became the basis for the development of the most dangerous weapons in the world. However, Becquerel is rarely remembered when talking about who invented the atomic bomb.

Over the next few decades, alpha, beta and gamma rays were discovered by scientists from different parts of the Earth. At the same time, a large number of radioactive isotopes were discovered, the law of radioactive decay was formulated, and the beginnings of the study of nuclear isomerism were laid.

In the 1940s, scientists discovered the neuron and the positron and for the first time carried out the fission of the nucleus of a uranium atom, accompanied by the absorption of neurons. It was this discovery that became a turning point in history. In 1939, French physicist Frederic Joliot-Curie patented the world's first nuclear bomb, which he developed with his wife out of purely scientific interest. It was Joliot-Curie who is considered the creator of the atomic bomb, despite the fact that he was a staunch defender of world peace. In 1955, he, along with Einstein, Born and a number of other famous scientists, organized the Pugwash movement, whose members advocated peace and disarmament.

Rapidly developing, atomic weapons have become an unprecedented military-political phenomenon, which makes it possible to ensure the safety of its owner and reduce to a minimum the capabilities of other weapons systems.

How does a nuclear bomb work?

Structurally, an atomic bomb consists of a large number of components, the main ones being the body and automation. The housing is designed to protect automation and nuclear charge from mechanical, thermal, and other influences. Automation controls the timing of the explosion.

It includes:

Emergency explosion.
Cocking and safety devices.
Power supply.
Various sensors.

Transportation of atomic bombs to the site of attack is carried out using missiles (anti-aircraft, ballistic or cruise). Nuclear ammunition can be part of a landmine, torpedo, aircraft bomb and other elements. Various detonation systems are used for atomic bombs. The simplest is a device in which the impact of a projectile on a target, causing the formation of a supercritical mass, stimulates an explosion.

Nuclear weapons can be of large, medium and small caliber. The power of the explosion is usually expressed in TNT equivalent. Small-caliber atomic shells have a yield of several thousand tons of TNT. Medium-caliber ones already correspond to tens of thousands of tons, and the capacity of large-caliber ones reaches millions of tons.

Principle of operation

The principle of operation of a nuclear bomb is based on the use of energy released during a nuclear chain reaction. During this process, heavy particles are divided and light particles are synthesized. When an atomic bomb explodes, a huge amount of energy is released over a small area in the shortest period of time. That is why such bombs are classified as weapons of mass destruction.

There are two key areas in the area of a nuclear explosion: the center and the epicenter. At the center of the explosion, the process of energy release directly occurs. The epicenter is the projection of this process onto the earth or water surface. The energy of a nuclear explosion, projected onto the ground, can lead to seismic tremors that spread over a considerable distance. These tremors cause harm to the environment only within a radius of several hundred meters from the point of explosion.

Damaging factors

Atomic weapons have the following destruction factors:

Radioactive contamination.
Light radiation.
Shock wave.
Electromagnetic pulse.
Penetrating radiation.

The consequences of an atomic bomb explosion are disastrous for all living things. Due to the release of a huge amount of light and heat energy, the explosion of a nuclear projectile is accompanied by a bright flash. The power of this flash is several times stronger than the sun's rays, so there is a danger of damage from light and thermal radiation within a radius of several kilometers from the point of the explosion.

Another dangerous damaging factor of atomic weapons is the radiation generated during the explosion. It lasts only a minute after the explosion, but has maximum penetrating power.

The shock wave has a very strong destructive effect. She literally wipes out everything that stands in her way. Penetrating radiation poses a danger to all living beings. In humans, it causes the development of radiation sickness. Well, an electromagnetic pulse only harms technology. Taken together, the damaging factors of an atomic explosion pose a huge danger.

First tests

Throughout the history of the atomic bomb, America showed the greatest interest in its creation. At the end of 1941, the country's leadership allocated a huge amount of money and resources to this area. Robert Oppenheimer, who is considered by many to be the creator of the atomic bomb, was appointed project manager. In fact, he was the first who was able to bring the scientists' idea to life. As a result, on July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb test took place in the desert of New Mexico. Then America decided that in order to completely end the war it needed to defeat Japan, an ally of Nazi Germany. The Pentagon quickly selected targets for the first nuclear attacks, which were supposed to become a vivid illustration of the power of American weapons.

On August 6, 1945, the US atomic bomb, cynically called "Little Boy", was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The shot turned out to be simply perfect - the bomb exploded at an altitude of 200 meters from the ground, due to which its blast wave caused horrific damage to the city. In areas far from the center, coal stoves were overturned, leading to severe fires.

The bright flash was followed by a heat wave, which in 4 seconds managed to melt the tiles on the roofs of houses and incinerate telegraph poles. The heat wave was followed by a shock wave. The wind, which swept through the city at a speed of about 800 km/h, demolished everything in its path. Of the 76,000 buildings located in the city before the explosion, about 70,000 were completely destroyed. A few minutes after the explosion, rain began to fall from the sky, large drops of which were black. The rain fell due to the formation of a huge amount of condensation, consisting of steam and ash, in the cold layers of the atmosphere.

People who were affected by the fireball within a radius of 800 meters from the point of the explosion turned to dust. Those who were a little further from the explosion had burned skin, the remains of which were torn off by the shock wave. Black radioactive rain left incurable burns on the skin of survivors. Those who miraculously managed to escape soon began to show signs of radiation sickness: nausea, fever and attacks of weakness.

Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, America attacked another Japanese city - Nagasaki. The second explosion had the same disastrous consequences as the first.

In a matter of seconds, two atomic bombs destroyed hundreds of thousands of people. The shock wave practically wiped Hiroshima off the face of the earth. More than half of the local residents (about 240 thousand people) died immediately from their injuries. In the city of Nagasaki, about 73 thousand people died from the explosion. Many of those who survived were subjected to severe radiation, which caused infertility, radiation sickness and cancer. As a result, some of the survivors died in terrible agony. The use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki illustrated the terrible power of these weapons.

You and I already know who invented the atomic bomb, how it works and what consequences it can lead to. Now we will find out how things were with nuclear weapons in the USSR.

After the bombing of Japanese cities, J.V. Stalin realized that the creation of a Soviet atomic bomb was a matter of national security. On August 20, 1945, a committee on nuclear energy was created in the USSR, and L. Beria was appointed head of it.

It is worth noting that work in this direction has been carried out in the Soviet Union since 1918, and in 1938, a special commission on the atomic nucleus was created at the Academy of Sciences. With the outbreak of World War II, all work in this direction was frozen.

In 1943, USSR intelligence officers transferred from England materials from closed scientific works in the field of nuclear energy. These materials illustrated that the work of foreign scientists on the creation of an atomic bomb had made serious progress. At the same time, American residents contributed to the introduction of reliable Soviet agents into the main US nuclear research centers. The agents passed on information about new developments to Soviet scientists and engineers.

Technical task

When in 1945 the issue of creating a Soviet nuclear bomb became almost a priority, one of the project leaders, Yu. Khariton, drew up a plan for the development of two versions of the projectile. On June 1, 1946, the plan was signed by senior management.

According to the assignment, the designers needed to build an RDS (special jet engine) of two models:

RDS-1. A bomb with a plutonium charge that is detonated by spherical compression. The device was borrowed from the Americans.
RDS-2. A cannon bomb with two uranium charges converging in the gun barrel before reaching a critical mass.

In the history of the notorious RDS, the most common, albeit humorous, formulation was the phrase “Russia does it itself.” It was invented by Yu. Khariton’s deputy, K. Shchelkin. This phrase very accurately conveys the essence of the work, at least for RDS-2.

When America learned that the Soviet Union possessed the secrets of creating nuclear weapons, it began to desire a rapid escalation of preventive war. In the summer of 1949, the “Troyan” plan appeared, according to which on January 1, 1950 it was planned to begin military operations against the USSR. Then the date of the attack was moved to the beginning of 1957, but with the condition that all NATO countries join it.

Tests

When information about America's plans arrived through intelligence channels in the USSR, the work of Soviet scientists accelerated significantly. Western experts believed that atomic weapons would be created in the USSR no earlier than 1954-1955. In fact, the tests of the first atomic bomb in the USSR took place already in August 1949. On August 29, an RDS-1 device was blown up at a test site in Semipalatinsk. A large team of scientists took part in its creation, headed by Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov. The design of the charge belonged to the Americans, and the electronic equipment was created from scratch. The first atomic bomb in the USSR exploded with a power of 22 kt.

Due to the likelihood of a retaliatory strike, the Trojan plan, which involved a nuclear attack on 70 Soviet cities, was thwarted. The tests at Semipalatinsk marked the end of the American monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons. The invention of Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov completely destroyed the military plans of America and NATO and prevented the development of another world war. Thus began an era of peace on Earth, which exists under the threat of absolute destruction.

"Nuclear Club" of the world

Today, not only America and Russia have nuclear weapons, but also a number of other states. The collection of countries that own such weapons is conventionally called the “nuclear club.”

It includes:

America (since 1945).
USSR, and now Russia (since 1949).
England (since 1952).
France (since 1960).
China (since 1964).
India (since 1974).
Pakistan (since 1998).
Korea (since 2006).

Israel also has nuclear weapons, although the country's leadership refuses to comment on their presence. In addition, there are American nuclear weapons on the territory of NATO countries (Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada) and allies (Japan, South Korea, despite the official refusal).

Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, which owned part of the USSR's nuclear weapons, transferred their bombs to Russia after the collapse of the Union. She became the sole heir to the USSR's nuclear arsenal.

Conclusion

Today we learned who invented the atomic bomb and what it is. Summarizing the above, we can conclude that nuclear weapons today are the most powerful instrument of global politics, firmly entrenched in relations between countries. On the one hand, it is an effective means of deterrence, and on the other, a convincing argument for preventing military confrontation and strengthening peaceful relations between states. Atomic weapons are a symbol of an entire era that require especially careful handling.