At the last strategic command and staff exercise “Caucasus-2016”, which took place from September 5 to 10 at the training grounds of the Southern Military District, as well as in the Black and Caspian Seas, a special information warfare group was created, which during the command and control exercise practiced its “core” questions. The chief told reporters about this, summing up the results of the past maneuvers. General Staff Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - First Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia, Army General Valery Gerasimov.

Without revealing the essence of the work done by this group, the general nevertheless emphasized that the tasks that were solved by this structure turned out to be adequate to the issues under the jurisdiction of specialists in fire destruction planning, and at some stages even prevailed over them.

It is known that during the current “Caucasus”, issues of training and using troop groups in the South-Western region were worked out in the context of protecting the territorial integrity of Russia. According to the plan of maneuvers, it was necessary to cover the state border, isolate areas of operation of illegal armed groups, and also plan the actions of troops to resolve the internal armed conflict.

Speaking about the actions of the information warfare group, Valery Gerasimov highly appreciated its effectiveness, noting that the structure included specialists from the Main Operational Directorate, information warfare centers of military districts, as well as forces and means of electronic warfare and the service for protecting state secrets.

Weapons of words

Military experts and analysts are unanimous in their opinion: modern warfare will be carried out using the widest possible range of hybrid methods. The fire contact between the warring parties, familiar from movies, does not always act as the climax of battles. “Combat” today is being waged for the minds and hearts, for the mood in society, for the information picture created with the help of data transmission and the media.

Back in the middle of the last century, experts formulated information warfare as a struggle in the information sphere, or more precisely, as the impact on information, information systems and infrastructure of one side on the other while simultaneously protecting one’s own resources.

“Information weapons” hit, first of all, the consciousness of people, shape their behavior, and ultimately regulate political processes in entire states. The consequences of the “strikes” of such weapons are well known: these are the waves of “color revolutions” that swept across the countries of the former USSR, and the wars in the Middle East, and the events in Ukraine, finally...

The same Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, speaking some time ago at one of the general meetings of the Academy of Military Sciences, was frank: “In the 21st century, there is a tendency to erase the differences between the state of war and peace. Wars are no longer declared, and once they begin, they do not follow the pattern. A completely prosperous state in a matter of months and even days can turn into an arena of fierce armed struggle, plunge into the abyss of chaos, humanitarian catastrophe and civil war.”

General Gerasimov’s speech later became the basis for the article “The Value of Science is in Foresight,” where it was emphasized that “the emphasis of the methods of confrontation used is shifting towards the widespread use of political, economic, informational, humanitarian and other non-military measures, implemented with the use of the protest potential of the population. All this is complemented by covert military measures, including the implementation of information warfare measures and the actions of special operations forces.”

War without contact

At one time, the famous military theorist, academician of the Academy of Military Sciences, Honored Scientist of Russia, Doctor of Military Sciences, professor, Major General Vladimir Slipchenko (now, unfortunately, deceased) noted that “after the completion of the transition period to non-contact wars, information the confrontation will go beyond the scope of support and become combative.”

According to the general, who served for a long time in the General Staff, “superiority over the enemy will be achieved through an advantage in obtaining various types of information, mobility, speed of reaction, and precise influence on his targets with minimal risk to one’s forces and means.” At the same time, as the theorist especially noted, unlike the shock precision weapons, hitting a specific object, “the information weapon will be system-destroying, that is, disabling entire military, economic or social systems.”

How does “information weapon” work? The facts of its “use” are known to everyone. So, replicated according to social networks calls for riots led to protests in Egypt, after which the country plunged into chaos for a long time. In Ukraine, the image of “Russian aggression”, artificially created and inflated by independent ideologists, still fuels waves of mobilization.

Generally speaking about the current situation, one cannot help but notice that it is precisely planned information attacks that lead to numerous accusations against our country. Accusations of actions to which she was not involved. However, despite the absurdity of other claims, they often act as a reason for anti-Russian sanctions and their constant prolongation. And this is the economy...

According to the candidate of military sciences, Colonel Konstantin Trotsenko, information and psychological influence (both on the population and on the personnel of the enemy’s armed forces) is one of the two main forms of information warfare and is in the field of strategy, that is, military and public administration. The tools for such influence are quite wide, and the experience of propaganda leaflets from the Second World War here, one might say, has already become history, giving way to ultra-modern technologies based on electronic systems.

The second form of confrontation, according to Konstantin Trotsenko, has an information-technical character and is implemented in the form of destruction of information, radio-electronic, computer networks, unauthorized access to the enemy’s information resources, as well as protecting one’s own information environment from him.

Information "ricochet"

Taking into account recent events in the world, it becomes obvious that massive information impact can, in a number of situations, cause deep damage to the party against which it is directed. Here it is worth turning again to the events in Ukraine, or more precisely, to the accusations against Russia of allegedly carried out “aggression” on its part. Information pulled from social networks about the names and staffing structure of formations and military units of the Russian Armed Forces (such information, without thinking about the consequences, is usually exchanged by conscripts transferred to the reserve or still serving) became the basis for the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate to compile entire reports on presence of Russian troops in their country.

From photographs taken during exercises, in garrisons and posted on social networks, “photo evidence” of the use of military forces is formed. From the correspondence of demobilized soldiers, news emerges about the “redeployment” of units and subunits. Then such information is skillfully mixed, superimposed on the general skillfully fabricated information background... What can we say if even the US Permanent Representative to NATO Douglas Lewit once admitted: the alliance leadership gets most of the information on Donbass from social networks!

However, despite the obvious absurdity of the rumors circulated on the Internet, they have become the basis not only of anti-Russian rhetoric, but also of the general policy of the West towards our country. Thus, in addition to sanctions attacks, the formed image of an “aggressor” served as a reason for the implementation of entire NATO programs to strengthen its presence in Eastern Europe. Under the guise of fighting the “Russian threat,” large-scale troop movements are being carried out, forces and means are being deployed, and gigantic budget resources. The average person in Poland or the Baltic states believes: all this is for his protection.

And to reinforce the image of the enemy, various kinds of stories are regularly churned out with distorted facts, with fake “heroes”, with false evidence. They do not disdain anything, even direct deception. Our compatriot living in Switzerland recently posted a news recording from one of the local television companies online. In the video, a Russian-speaking resident of a residential area in the Donbass destroyed as a result of an artillery raid by the Armed Forces of Ukraine showers curses on Ukrainian soldiers. However, the translation of the woman’s speech into German is completely different: it turns out that she blames... Russian authorities and personally President Putin! Such informational fakes, presented as real facts, ultimately result in a plethora of accusations against Russia and become a reason for sanctions actions - a “ricochet” from the attacks of the same “ information weapons».

By the way, such antics are not uncommon for some Western reporters. It is known that in August 2008, the Euronews TV channel presented footage of Tskhinvali destroyed by Georgian artillery fire as the city of Gori, allegedly subjected to a Russian air raid. The author of these lines personally observed the openly negative attitude of foreign journalists - while working in government information structures in the North Caucasus during both Chechen campaigns.

Correspondents of Western publications and television channels who visited the region then looked primarily for “dirty” facts, recorded on cameras those dissatisfied with the authorities, and cut off any positive information about the restoration of peaceful life. I remember how for one of the groups of foreign reporters the route of the next press tour through the regions of Chechnya was drawn up in such a way that it excluded a stop in Grozny. The situation in the city in those days unexpectedly worsened due to militant attacks, and the regional authorities and military command simply decided not to risk the lives of the guests.

However, the journalists complained: it turns out that each film crew was given the task of recording a stand-up comedy against the backdrop of the Grozny ruins. As a result, they “made” the records - in the neighboring Stavropol Territory, where they specially found the picturesque ruins of a dairy farm that was in the process of being demolished...

“Information means of warfare can already be equated to weapons of mass destruction, and information warfare is considered one of the most effective means of interstate warfare,” says Konstantin Sivkov, First Vice-President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Sciences. “American experts point out that in terms of effectiveness and cost, information technologies for influencing the enemy are significantly superior to traditional weapons systems.” The expert also notes that the leading countries of the world pay considerable attention to the development of the theory and practice of using information warfare methods. “However, successful warfare in this area is only possible if the country has a sufficiently effective system, which is controlled from one center,” believes Konstantin Sivkov.

Political scientist, professor of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Doctor of Political Sciences Igor Panarin insists on the same point of view. In his opinion, the need to adopt the Doctrine of Information Warfare is long overdue, and the priority of Russian policy in this area should be the creation of an information deterrence system. “Protecting the national interests of the state involves comprehensive counteraction to information threats on a regional and local scale,” the expert notes.

It is worth adding that in the Strategy national security Russia, approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 31, 2015, also emphasized the danger of increasing confrontation in the global information space. Such a confrontation, as stated in the Strategy, is due to the desire of some countries “to use information and communication technologies to achieve their geopolitical goals, including by manipulating public consciousness and falsifying history.”

As for the algorithm and practical methods for organizing information warfare in the Armed Forces, it is not difficult to guess that this area will remain hidden from the general public for now. But taking into account the news announced by the Chief of the General Staff that the group created during the Caucasus-2016 exercise included specialists from the service for protecting state secrets, it can be assumed that one of the areas of this work will be to prevent leaks of information about various aspects of the life of the army and the fleet.

This includes preventing the posting of “closed” information on the same social networks where other young soldiers, showing off in front of their peers and girlfriends, post pictures from training sites, post photos of new weapons, and share other information not intended for prying eyes. Anyone who served in the military knows that you can’t go wrong with HRT specialists. We are not talking about censorship: it is simply vital to neutralize the threat in the information sphere in order to prevent defeat in this “war.”

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Weapons of mass destruction (WMD)

Types of weapons capable of causing mass casualties and destruction, including irreversible changes in the environment. The main distinctive features of weapons of mass destruction are: multifactorial destructive action; the presence of long-term damaging factors and their spread beyond the target; long-term psychotraumatic effect in people; severe genetic and environmental consequences; the complexity of protecting troops, the population, critical facilities and eliminating the consequences of its use. WMD include nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The development of science and technology can contribute to the emergence of new types of weapons that are not inferior in their effectiveness and even superior to already known types of weapons of mass destruction (see Weapons on new physical principles).

Nuclear weapons (NW), is in service with many armies and navies of the world, almost all branches of the Armed Forces and branches of the military. The main means of defeating it is nuclear weapons. In addition to various types of ammunition, nuclear weapons include means of delivering them to the target (see Carriers nuclear weapons), as well as means of combat control and support. Strategic nuclear weapons can have high-power nuclear weapons - up to several Mt (100 kt = 1 Mt) in TNT equivalent and reach any point Globe. It is capable of destroying administrative centers, industrial and military facilities in a short time, causing mass disasters - fires, floods and radioactive pollution of the environment, and destroying a significant number of troops and the population. The main means of delivering strategic nuclear weapons are strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Non-strategic nuclear weapons have nuclear warheads with a yield ranging from several units to several hundred kilotons and are designed to destroy various targets at operational-tactical depth. This type of nuclear weapons includes ground-based missile systems medium range, air-to-ground missiles, aerial bombs, anti-ship and anti-submarine missile systems, mines and torpedoes with nuclear charges, nuclear artillery, etc.

The main damaging factors of nuclear weapons (see Damaging effects of a nuclear explosion) include shock wave, light radiation, penetrating radiation, radioactive contamination (contamination) and electromagnetic pulse. The damaging factors of nuclear weapons depend on the power and type of nuclear charge, on the type of nuclear explosion (ground, underground, airborne, high-altitude, surface, underwater). The simultaneous action of damaging factors of nuclear weapons leads to combined damage to people, equipment and structures. Injuries and contusions from a shock wave can be combined with burns from light radiation and radiation sickness from penetrating radiation and radioactive contamination (contamination). Equipment and structures are damaged by a shock wave with simultaneous fire from light radiation, and radio-electronic equipment is exposed to electromagnetic pulses and ionizing radiation. In populated areas, industrial centers, and natural environment objects (forests, mountains, etc.), explosions of nuclear weapons (ammunition) lead to massive fires, rubble, flooding, and other phenomena. emergency, which, along with radioactive contamination (contamination), will become insurmountable obstacles in eliminating the consequences of the enemy’s use of weapons of mass destruction.

Chemical weapons (CW), is based on the action of toxic chemical agents (TCW) - toxic substances (CA), toxins and phytotoxicants. CW includes single-use chemical ammunition (artillery shells, aerial bombs, checkers, etc.) or reusable chemical weapons (pouring and spraying aircraft devices, thermomechanical and mechanical generators). In international law, chemical weapons include: toxic chemicals and chemical reagents involved in any stage of the production of these weapons; ammunition and devices designed to kill with toxic chemicals; any equipment specifically designed for the use of chemical munitions and other similar devices.

Chemical weapons based on chemical agents and toxins are intended for mass destruction of manpower, hampering the activities of troops, disorganizing the command and control system, disabling rear and transport facilities, and those based on phytotoxicants are intended for the destruction of agriculture. crops in order to deprive the food supply, poison water, air, etc. Aviation, missiles, artillery, engineering, chemical and other troops are used as means of delivering chemical weapons to destruction targets.

The combat properties and specific features of chemical weapons include: the high toxicity of BTXV, which allows in small doses to cause severe and lethal doses defeat of people; the biochemical mechanism of the damaging effect of BTXV on living organisms and the high moral and psychological effect of exposure on people; the ability of chemical agents and toxins to penetrate open engineering, industrial structures and facilities, residential buildings and affect people in them; the difficulty of timely detecting the fact of chemical weapons use and establishing the type of chemical agents or toxins used; duration of action due to the ability of BTXV to retain damaging properties for a time.

The listed properties and features of chemical weapons, the large scale and severe consequences of its use cause significant difficulties in protecting troops and the population, require a set of organizational and technical protective measures, as well as the use of a variety of means of detection, warning, direct individual and collective protection, elimination of the consequences of infection, and also carrying out preventive and therapeutic measures (see Elimination of the consequences of the enemy’s use of weapons of mass destruction).

Biological weapons (BW), is based on the action of biological (bacterial) (BS). Disease-causing (pathogenic) microorganisms (viruses, rickettsia, bacteria, fungi, etc.) specially selected for combat use and highly toxic products of their vital activity (toxins) that can cause mass diseases in humans and animals (typhus, cholera, smallpox, plague, glanders, etc.), as well as plants (grain rust, rice blast, potato late blight, etc.).

BO includes ammunition filled with BS (missile warheads, cassettes and containers, pouring and spraying devices, aerial bombs, barrel and rocket artillery etc.) and carriers (delivery vehicles) of ammunition (missiles of various ranges, strategic, tactical and transport aircraft, remotely piloted and autonomously controlled unmanned aerial vehicles, radio and remote-controlled balloons, submarines and surface ships, artillery guns, etc.) .

The use of biological weapons may lead to the spread infectious diseases on large numbers of people and cause epidemics. There are various ways of mass destruction of people by BS: contamination of the ground layer of air with aerosol particles; dispersion of artificially infected BS blood-sucking insects that carry infectious diseases in the target area; contamination of air, water and food, etc. The aerosol method of using BS is considered the main one, because allows you to suddenly and covertly infect large areas of air, terrain and people on it, equipment, vehicles, buildings and other objects. At the same time, people not only openly located in the area, but also those inside objects and engineering structures are exposed to infection. With this method, it is possible to contaminate the air with a combination of different types of BS, which makes it difficult to carry out their indication, protective and treatment-and-prophylactic measures. The transfer of biological formulations into an aerosol can be carried out in two main ways: due to the energy of the explosion of ammunition and using spraying devices.

The effectiveness of BO is determined by its following properties: the high lethality of BS; the ability of a number of contagious BS to create large outbreaks of epidemics; the presence of an incubation (hidden) period of action; complexity of indication; strong psychological effect and a number of other properties. The effectiveness of BO also depends on: the degree of protection of troops and the population, the availability and timely use of individual and collective protective equipment, as well as preventive and therapeutic drugs; meteorological, climatic and topographic conditions (wind speed and direction, degree of atmospheric stability, solar radiation, precipitation and air humidity, nature of the terrain, etc.), time of year and day, etc.

Advances in biology and related sciences (biochemistry, genetics and genetic engineering, microbiology and experimental aerobiology) can lead to the development of new pathogens or an increase in the effectiveness of known BS. Therefore, the problem of the development and use of biological weapons for sabotage and terrorist purposes is particularly dangerous, when the objects of its use may be places with large crowds of people, protective structures, water sources, water supply networks, food warehouses and shops, public catering establishments, etc.

The possibility of using biological weapons requires the development of effective measures for the antibiological protection of the population and territories, as well as the elimination of the consequences of the action of biological weapons (see Elimination of the consequences of the enemy’s use of weapons of mass destruction).

The use of any type of weapons of mass destruction can lead to unpredictable results for all of humanity. Therefore, a number of states political parties, public organizations and movements launched a struggle to ban the production, distribution and use of weapons of mass destruction. In this regard, a number of international treaties, conventions and agreements. The main ones are: “Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1963”, “Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 1968”, “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and Their Destruction 1972”, “Convention on prohibition of the development, production, accumulation and use of chemical weapons and their destruction 1997”, etc.

In the Russian Federation there are special troops designed to perform specific tasks of radiation, chemical and biological protection, and to eliminate the consequences of the use of weapons of mass destruction - the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops, the Civil Defense Troops. In the Strategic Missile Forces there is special service radiation chemical and biological protection of the Strategic Missile Forces and radiation, chemical and biological protection units of the Strategic Missile Forces.

The events taking place in the world show how dependent society is on the media, on how they present current events and events. An example is all the recent revolutions, military conflicts and the Asian crisis.

The main disseminator of information in the world is the United States, whose media are considered independent and the most objective. In fact, they are biased by American politics in such a way that almost all countries of the European Union note this. This suggests that no one likes the aggressive information policy pursued by the United States, even reliable allies.

An important role is that cold war The USSR lost due to propaganda through Western media.

The role of mass propaganda and the means of its implementation was recognized by all the odious rulers of the last century - Churchill, Stalin, Hitler and others. But then she did not play the main role, although she influenced the outcome of the event.

With the advent and development of technological solutions for receiving information, the information component – ​​the media – began to grow. As a result, the ability to receive information in real time, the ability to influence a situation by conveying one’s own or someone else’s point of view to society has placed the media on a par with the most dangerous of our century.

By disseminating information, society takes the side of one of the participants in the event. From this moment, each of us begins to “fight” for the chosen participant, telling others this or that information that was disseminated by the media.

From the moment when the opportunity to convey one’s point of view to a large number of people became commonplace, and this became possible with the development of the Internet, computer technology and household appliances for viewing and listening to information, we have become “warriors” of the information world. Any of us can write an article, stating the essence of what was written so that his point of view is the right decision, or shoot a video where his opinion becomes the main plot. This is essentially a battle in the information field on a tiny scale, and now imagine what media professionals or highly qualified specialists working for the State can do with information.

Therefore, today the most destructive effects are political, journalism on this topic or video reports of a political nature. Masterfully conducted reports and reviews in the press on current events can change even accomplished facts and even change the meaning of a military victory. It is not so important who achieved victory in a given situation, what is important is what newspapers and television present to us.

These effects can be seen in the recent past, when in 1993 a new president in Russia began to harshly establish an authoritarian regime, and the media talked about the successes democracy had achieved in Russia. The Belarusian president began building an authoritarian state even earlier, and the Belarusian media wrote about an ideal democratic system, or an obviously ordered coup in Ukraine, called by everyone Western media orange and people's revolution. There are many such examples, and they are still happening, the revolution in Libya - shining example dominance of the media over the consciousness of society.
All the events that have happened and are now united by one thing - reality differs in exactly the opposite direction from the “real” facts imposed by the media from reliable sources.

The effectiveness of the media is based on the fact that at this time, when the flow of information is incredibly high, it has become impossible to distinguish truth from fiction, even if you yourself took part in some events. Cleverly assembled footage, selection of the “necessary” eyewitnesses from the scene, distortion of what was happening, moreover, the same information comes from different sources information, from different media and different States - and you are a hostage to an opinion imposed by someone, or, worse, a specially selected opinion, so that the information received seems real to you. In this case, you can only believe it, as most of us do, or not believe it. At the moment, an ordinary person has neither the strength nor the means to check the accuracy of the information.

All information supplied to us from various sources is constantly monitored, and only a person who has knowledge in this particular issue can understand the truthfulness, and it is not a fact that others will believe him.

But not everything is as bad as it seems. For every weapon there is protection from it - for example, the development of the Internet has brought about associations of people based on interests and other factors, the important thing here is that people already have their own point of view, and it has become very difficult to convince them to accept any other. Due to constant pressure from the media, society began to disintegrate until separate groups according to interests, which will ultimately lead to self-awareness and self-determination of each individual person.

How a simple person can become a “god” using media

An ordinary person, having created a page or blog on them, can gather around him a lot of like-minded people, for whom his opinion will become decisive. Assuming the possibility that the number of like-minded people will constantly grow, then such a group will exceed the number of residents of a separate state, and, in fact, this person will be their “president”. And since people strive to impose their opinions on others, over time the majority of the population of our planet will listen to the opinion of one person, and here he becomes a “god” for them.

We seem to have just imagined the existence of such a possibility, but if you look closely at the resources of the Internet, you can see an analogy of what is happening. Millions of visitors and multimillion-dollar support for one resource created by one person are already a reality.

Information battlefield

Today, everyone recognizes one fact - only the state can provide constant support to the information resource, coordinate and control the action of outgoing information. And it doesn’t matter who does what, what matters is who is behind it. So far, only the United States has been able to at least demonstrate that the state machine can work openly with ordinary people - “bloggers.” The remaining States strive to completely control their own information field, and they have a reason for this - an experienced player in the information field of the United States is constantly conducting propaganda and information work to achieve the desired result in various parts of the planet. And against the backdrop of financial crises and wars for resources, no one made any demands on the United States. These are victories in the information field for the consciousness of society.

Abstract: Weapons of mass destruction

Wartime emergencies can be created by the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), i.e. weapons of great lethality. TO existing species WMD include: nuclear, chemical and bacteriological. In addition, it is possible to use new types of weapons of mass destruction: geophysical; radial; radiological; radio frequency; infrasonic, etc. To develop new types of weapons of mass destruction, previously unknown or unused technical principles and phenomena are used. In this case, the goal is often not so much to increase the scale of the defeat, but to obtain new opportunities for a sudden defeat of the enemy.

Nuclear weapon

Nuclear weapons are based on the use internal energy, released during chain reactions of fission of heavy nuclei or during thermonuclear fusion reactions. As a result, the following types of nuclear weapons are distinguished:

1) atomic bomb. Based on a chain reaction of fission of uranium or plutonium isotopes. The critical mass is formed after combining isolated parts of isotopes with a conventional explosive device. The critical mass for uranium is 24 kg, and the minimum bomb size can be less than 50 kg. The critical mass for plutonium is 8 kg, which at a density of 18.7 g/cm3 is approximately the volume of a tennis ball;

2) hydrogen bomb. The release of energy due to the transformation of light nuclei into heavier ones during a fusion reaction. To start the reaction, a temperature of 10 million degrees Celsius is required, which is achieved by the explosion of a conventional atomic bomb;

3) neutron weapons. As a type of nuclear weapon with a low-power thermonuclear charge. Increased neutron radiation is achieved due to greater energy consumption (about 5-10 times) to create penetrating radiation.

Chemical weapon

Throughout the history of warfare, there have been isolated attempts to use toxic substances for military purposes. The massive use of chemical weapons was carried out during the First World War (1914-18). Total number those affected by toxic substances amounted to about 1.3 million people.

Subsequently, despite the Protocol prohibiting the use of asphyxiating, poisonous and other similar gases and bacteriological agents in war, signed on June 17, 1925 in Geneva, the repeated use of chemical weapons was noted (by the Italian army in the war with Ethiopia in 1935, by Japan during the war against China in 1937-43, the USA during military operations in Korea in 1951-52 and in the war against Vietnam).

The basis of chemical weapons are toxic substances that infect people and animals, contaminating the air, soil, water sources, buildings and structures, means of transport, food and animal feed. Toxic substances in the form of vapor, aerosols or droplets affect the human body upon contact with the skin and eyes, through the respiratory system and the gastrointestinal tract.

According to their tactical purpose, toxic substances are divided into lethal, irritating, and temporarily incapacitating enemy personnel.

Based on the nature of their toxic effects, toxic substances are divided into 6 groups:

1) nerve agent (sarin, soman, etc.);

2) generally toxic (hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen chloride);

3) asphyxiating effect (phosgene, diphosgene);

4) blister action (mustard gas, lewisite);

5) irritating effect (chloroacetophenone, adamsite, etc.);

6) psychochemical action (Bi-Z).

Toxic chemical warfare agents also include toxins (botulinum toxin-X, staphylococcal enterotoxin-P, ricin, etc.) and phytotoxicants - for damaging various types of vegetation (“orange”, “white”, “blue” formulations, etc.).

At many economic facilities, the production, use, storage, and transportation of potent toxic substances (TTS) is carried out. In case of chemical disasters or industrial accidents, releases of toxic substances are possible, accompanied by mass casualties of people. In terms of toxic properties, SDYAVs are mainly substances with a generally toxic and asphyxiating effect. The most common signs of poisoning are headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, increasing weakness, etc. The most common ADAS are chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen fluoride, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides. The main protection against SDYAV are special or insulating gas masks.

Bacteriological weapons

The idea of ​​using pathogenic microorganisms as means of destruction was suggested by life itself. Infectious diseases constantly claimed many human lives, and the epidemics that accompanied wars caused large losses among troops, sometimes predetermining the outcome of entire military campaigns. Thus, of the 27 thousand English soldiers who participated in the conquest campaigns in Mexico and Peru in 1741, 20 thousand died from yellow fever. Or, for example, in the period from 1733 to 1865, 8 million people died in wars in Europe, of which 6.5 million people died from infectious diseases and not on the battlefield. In Europe in 1918-19. The influenza epidemic affected 500 million people, of which 20 million people died, i.e. 2 times more number killed throughout the First World War.

Bacteriological (biological) weapons are weapons whose destructive effect is based on the use of microbes - pathogens of infectious diseases in humans, animals or plants.

Depending on the size of microbial cells and their biological characteristics, they are divided into:

· bacteria (unicellular microorganisms of plant nature);

· viruses (microorganisms living in living cells);

Rickettsia (microorganisms that occupy an intermediate position between bacteria and viruses);

· fungi (single- or multicellular microorganisms of plant origin).

Due to their bacteriological characteristics, some types of microbes cause diseases only in humans (cholera, typhoid fever, smallpox), others only in animals (cattle plague, swine cholera), others in humans and animals (brucellosis, anthrax), and others - only in plants (stem rust of rye, wheat). Severe poisoning in humans can also occur as a result of the action of microbial toxins, that is, waste products of certain types of bacteria.

In addition to bacterial agents and toxins, insects (Colorado beetle, locust, Hessian fly) can also be used, causing great material damage, destroying crops over a large area.

The effectiveness of bacteriological weapons depends on the choice of methods of its use. The following methods exist:

1) aerosol - contamination of the ground layer of air by spraying biological formulations using spray agents or an explosion;

2) transmission - dispersal of artificially infected blood-sucking vectors that transmit pathogens through bites;

3) sabotage - contamination of air and water with biological agents in confined spaces using sabotage equipment.

The most likely types of bacterial agents to infect people are the causative agents of plague, tularemia, anthrax, cholera, typhus, smallpox, yellow fever, etc.

Geophysical weapons

Geophysical weapons is a widely used term abroad, denoting a set of various means that make it possible to use the destructive forces of nature for military purposes through artificially induced changes in the physical properties and processes occurring in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere of the Earth.

The ability to use many natural processes for destructive purposes is based on their enormous energy content. The methods of actively influencing them are quite varied. For example:

· initiation of artificial earthquakes in earthquake-prone areas, powerful tidal waves such as tsunamis, hurricanes, mountain collapses, snow avalanches, landslides, mudflows, etc.;

· the formation of drought, heavy rain, hail, fog, congestion on rivers, destruction of hydraulic structures, etc.

In some countries, the possibilities of influencing the ionosphere are being studied with the aim of creating artificial magnetic storms and auroras to disrupt radio communications and complicate radar observations over large areas.

To influence natural processes, means such as chemicals, powerful generators of electromagnetic radiation, thermal generators, etc. can be used. However, most effective means impact on geophysical processes is considered to be the use of nuclear weapons. The damaging factors of geophysical weapons are the catastrophic consequences of provoked dangerous natural phenomena.

Radiological weapons

Radiological weapons are one of the possible types of weapons of mass destruction. Its action is based on the use of radioactive warfare substances (RAS), used in the form of specially prepared powders or solutions of substances containing radioactive elements that cause an ionization effect. Ionizing radiation destroys body tissue, causing local damage or radiation sickness. The effect of BRV is comparable to the effect of radioactive substances that are formed during a nuclear explosion and contaminate the surrounding area.

The main source of FFS is waste generated during the operation of nuclear reactors or specially obtained in nuclear reactors substances with different half-lives. The use of ballistic missiles can be carried out using aerial bombs, unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles, etc.

Beam weapon

Beam weapons are a set of devices (generators), the destructive effect of which is based on the use of highly directed beams of electromagnetic energy (lasers, beam accelerators).

Combat lasers are powerful emitters of electromagnetic energy in the optical range. The damaging effect of a laser beam is achieved as a result of heating material objects to high temperatures, melting or damaging sensitive elements of equipment, etc. The impact on humans manifests itself in the form of damage to vision and thermal burns of the skin. The action of the laser beam is characterized by stealth, high accuracy, straightness of propagation and instantaneous action.

Environmental factors such as fog, rain, snow and dust significantly reduce the damaging effect of a laser beam. Therefore, the most effective use of a laser beam can be achieved in outer space to destroy ballistic missiles and artificial earth satellites.

Acceleration weapon

Accelerator weapons are a type of beam weapon. The damaging factor of such a weapon is a sharply directed beam of charged or neutral particles (electrons, protons, neutral hydrogen atoms) accelerated to high speeds. A powerful flow of energy creates mechanical shock loads on the target, intense thermal effects and causes short-wave electromagnetic (X-ray) radiation.

The targets of such weapons can be not only spacecraft or missiles, but also various types of ground weapons. There is a possibility of irradiation of large areas of the earth's surface by accelerator weapons from space with massive damage to people and animals.

Radio frequency weapons

Radio frequency weapons are weapons whose destructive effect is based on the use of electromagnetic radiation of ultra-high frequency (in the range up to 30 GHz) or very low frequency (less than 100 Hz). The targets of these weapons are manpower. This refers to the ability of electromagnetic radiation in the range of ultra-high and very low frequencies to cause damage to vital human organs (brain, heart, blood vessels). It can affect the psyche, disrupting the perception of the surrounding reality, causing auditory hallucinations, etc.

Infrasonic weapons

Infrasonic weapons are a means of mass destruction based on the use of directed radiation of powerful infrasonic vibrations with a frequency below 16 Hz.

According to foreign sources, such fluctuations can affect the central nervous system and digestive organs a person, causing headaches and pain in internal organs, disrupting the breathing rhythm. Infrasound also has a psychotropic effect on humans, causing loss of self-control, feelings of fear and panic.

They are used as infrasound generators rocket engines, equipped with resonators and sound reflectors. It is possible to use two sound generators with a difference frequency perceived as infrasound.

The main mistake people make is that they
They fear today's people more than tomorrow's.
Carl von Clausewitz

General information about new types of weapons of mass destruction

CONSIDERING centuries-old history humanity from a certain point of view, it should be recognized that this is a kind of history of wars and weapons. Each era of world civilization is characterized by corresponding types of weapons. This was determined primarily by the fact that their participants, as a rule, tried to resolve political, economic, ethnic, and religious contradictions by military force. The acceleration of the process of improving weapons has become especially noticeable in the last two centuries, when the combat properties of weapons and their destructive effect began to be determined by the achieved level of science, the results of scientific research, and the emergence of new technologies and materials. This, in turn, naturally determined the corresponding changes in the forms and methods of armed struggle that arose and developed during the conduct of hostilities. In the 20th century, fundamentally new types of weapons appeared on the world stage - chemical, biological, nuclear, capable of causing mass destruction.

The entry of humanity into the third millennium is marked by the exacerbation of an increasingly pressing problem: what is the future fate of world civilization? How to avoid the occurrence of severe cataclysms that could put humanity in danger of losing its immortality? Understanding the reality of the threat of severe consequences of the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) initiated a wide movement in the world for the prohibition and complete destruction of all existing types. Real steps have been taken on this difficult path. In 1975, the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons and the Destruction of All Their Stockpiles came into force. In 1977 global community adopted a similar convention regarding chemical weapons. A number of Russian (Soviet)-American agreements on the limitation and reduction of nuclear weapons were signed, and an entire class of nuclear weapons - medium-range missiles - was completely eliminated. The world community, concerned about the threat of natural disasters, in 1977 adopted the Convention on the Prohibition of Military and Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modifications.

At the same time, the concern of the world community is the continuing deep contradictions caused by the different levels of economic development of countries, the intensifying struggle for sources of raw materials and energy resources, and in the near future, for drinking water supplies, and ensuring environmental safety. Therefore, the question of what paths the further development of means of armed struggle will take is very relevant. What types of weapons can fill the vacuum that will inevitably form after the elimination of currently existing types of weapons of mass destruction? Scientists and military experts point out that in the near future we should expect the emergence of qualitatively new types and systems of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction. According to them, it is already possible to predict the creation of some new types of weapons, which may be based on already known scientific and technical ideas. This is largely facilitated by the fact that to this day there are no international treaties and agreements prohibiting the development and production of new types of weapons of mass destruction, while the need to put a reliable barrier to their creation and proliferation is becoming increasingly obvious.

Understanding of the emerging danger initiated the speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR at the 30th session of the UN General Assembly in September 1975 with a proposal that the states of the world community enter into an agreement, the basis of which would be the obligation not to develop or produce new types and new systems of weapons of mass destruction and do not encourage any activity aimed at this. The USSR presented to the UN General Assembly a draft agreement banning the development and production of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons.

In this regard, the need for a unified understanding of the essence and legal definition new terminology. In development of these provisions, the USSR in the spring of 1976 presented a preliminary draft definition of the concept of new types of weapons of mass destruction: “New types of weapons of mass destruction include those types of weapons that are based on qualitatively new principles of operation and the effectiveness of which can be comparable with traditional types of weapons of mass destruction or exceed their". However, during this period, the attention of the world community was focused on the threat posed by the nuclear and chemical arms race, huge reserves of which weakened peace stability and international security, and new problem did not receive the necessary response from the world community, although its discussion continued in the UN Disarmament Committee.

Since almost all hypothetical types of weapons of mass destruction will be based on dual-use technologies, this situation significantly complicates the problem of their identification, control over their development and production, and makes it difficult to reach an agreement on their ban. Apparently, in each specific case it is necessary to develop a formulation characterizing this weapon, and correlate it with the general definition of weapons of mass destruction. This relationship should not contain internal contradictions. The concept of “scale of destruction” underlying the definition of WMD is very closely related to the concept of “scale of use.” It is known that the Anglo-American air raid on Dresden during World War II killed tens of thousands of people, which is comparable to the results of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this case, the scale of the use of conventional weapons determined the scale of destruction characteristic of WMD. This classification makes it possible to estimate the approximate extent of damage when using one or another type of weapon and, therefore, the achievement of certain objectives in the conduct of combat operations - strategic, operational-tactical or tactical. The higher the level of tasks being solved, the more grounds there are for classifying this type of weapon as WMD.

Decades will pass, and, speaking in the fall of 2006 at MGIMO, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted with alarm: “The arms race is reaching a new level, there is a threat of the emergence of new types of weapons.” It must be assumed that this statement was initiated by the emergence of information about the development of new weapons capable of destroying strategic stability in the world and undermining the system international security. The use of new types of weapons of mass destruction and even the threat of their use will be aimed primarily at achieving the most important political and economic goals, possibly even without direct contact between the troops of the opposing sides and without conducting combat operations in their traditional sense. This could lead to the abandonment of armed clashes between large armies and the physical destruction of people directly on the battlefield. They may be replaced by slow-acting agents that will have a secretive (latent) damaging effect on the human body, gradually destroy its vitality, undermine the life support system, protection from meteorological and infectious factors, thus leading to its gradual death or long-term failure .

As already mentioned, fundamentally new types of modern weapons appear based on the results of fundamental scientific research and the emergence of new technologies. This is the objective nature of the potential possibility of the emergence of new types of weapons, since it is impossible to stop the progressive development of science, and its consequences can be tragic. Winston Churchill once warned about this: " Stone Age may return on the shining wings of science." It is relatively easy to predict the possibility of the emergence of new types of weapons based on already known scientific principles, but which have not yet received their practical implementation, but it is almost impossible to foresee in advance the appearance of weapons the idea of ​​which does not exist today or is extremely At the same time, experts warn that the emergence of new weapons will naturally have a profound impact on the methods and methods of waging war, on the definition of its ultimate goals, on the very content of the concept of “victory.” During his time as Minister of Defense, Marshal of Russia Igor Sergeev pointed out: “The appearance of weapons.” on new physical principles, especially at the strategic and operational level, means another qualitative leap in changing the content and development of forms and methods of armed struggle."

One of the main goals of conflict resolution in the future may be to influence the enemy’s psychology with the help of certain types of weapons: individual, collective, mass, destruction of public and state institutions, provoking mass unrest, collapse of the state, degradation of society. To achieve victory under these conditions, it will be necessary to know not only the enemy’s armed forces, but also the features of his state-political system, the mechanism for making military-political decisions, the peculiarities of thinking, culture, reaction to possible development events of state and military leaders, their impact on the mentality of the population. This creates the fundamental possibility of moving from direct confrontation between armies and attempts to quickly destroy enemy manpower and population to methods of covert warfare. A certain selectivity of the impact of some types of such weapons can allow the attacking side to practically eliminate the losses of its troops and at the same time ensure the targeted incapacitation of enemy manpower while preserving material assets, structures, and engineering facilities. The results of the use of some types of weapons of the future may take quite some time to manifest themselves. long time after exposure, calculated in months and even years, when cause-and-effect relationships are lost.

Historical experience shows that serious efforts to ban a particular type of weapon that causes massive casualties or great suffering to people were made only after it had been used for military purposes and the world community had seen first-hand the dire consequences this led to. Thus came the insight regarding the need to ban chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. However, the use of such a “trial and error” method in relation to new types of weapons of mass destruction at the present time, and even more so in the future, is fraught with far-reaching, serious consequences, possibly irreversible. Therefore, the world community now faces a very difficult, but also extremely urgent task of preventing the development and production of new systems of weapons of mass destruction. The relevance of solving this problem is also explained by the fact that international legal legislation, both in the past and at present, lags behind the pace of improvement of weapons. But even in cases where international legal restrictions and prohibitions on certain types of weapons and their use had already been developed, as a rule, there was no reliable mechanism for monitoring the implementation of these prohibitions.

In the coming decades, we can expect the emergence of new types of weapons of mass destruction, the scientific and technical ideas of which are already known today, and some of them are already being developed. These include the following types of weapons:

• geophysical;
• laser;
• genetic;
• ethnic;
• beam;
• radiofrequency;
• acoustic;
• based on the annihilation of particles and antiparticles;
• dropping an asteroid from orbit;
• informational;
• psychotronic.

There is no doubt that as the natural sciences develop and fundamental discoveries emerge, fundamentally new ideas will appear on the basis of which new types of weapons can be created. Numerous evidence of the appearance of “unidentified flying objects” (UFOs) show that in this case we are dealing with types of energy that cannot be scientifically explained from the standpoint of modern science. At the same time, it is possible that as scientific and technological progress accelerates, humanity can gradually master these types of energy, which, in turn, can be used for military purposes5.

Brief description of possible types of weapons of mass destruction, the scientific and technical basis of which is currently known

Geophysical weapons

SCIENTISTS Draw attention to the danger associated with the possibility of creating “geophysical weapons”, the basis of which is the use of means that cause natural disasters(earthquakes, rainstorms, tsunamis, etc.), destruction of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, which protects flora and fauna from the harmful radiation of the Sun. Geophysical weapons are based on the use of means for military purposes to influence processes occurring in the solid, liquid and gaseous shells of the Earth. In this case, states of unstable equilibrium are of particular interest, when a relatively small “push” can cause catastrophic consequences and the impact on the enemy of enormous destructive forces of nature (“trigger effect”). Special meaning To use such funds, it acquires an atmospheric layer with a height of 10 to 60 kilometers. Based on the nature of their impact, geophysical weapons are divided into meteorological, ozone and climate.

Weather weapons

IN THE NORTH OF ALASKA, 320 km from Anchorage, at the foot of the mountains there is a whole forest of 24-meter antennas, which involuntarily attract the attention of ecologists and meteorological specialists. Official name project "High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program" (HAARP) - Program for active high-frequency research of the auroral region. According to official statements, this project is intended to study ways to improve radio communications. At the same time, a number of prominent scientists believe that work is being carried out there for military purposes under the leadership of the Pentagon. In particular, scientists believe that with the help of directional antennas, directed beams of high-frequency radio waves are “shot” into the ionosphere, which heat the ionosphere at high altitudes, up to the formation of plasma. This causes energy instability in the ionosphere, which changes the wind pattern and creates difficult to predict cataclysms: tsunamis, thunderstorms, floods, snowfalls.

The most studied effect of such weapons is to provoke rainstorms in certain areas. For this purpose, in particular, the dispersion of silver iodide or lead iodide in rain clouds was used. The purpose of these actions may be to impede the movement of troops, especially heavy equipment and weapons, create floods and flood large areas. Meteorological aids can also be used to disperse clouds in the area of ​​the intended bombing to facilitate targeting, especially against point targets. A cloud several thousand cubic kilometers in size, containing energy reserves of about a million kilowatt-hours, can be in such an unstable state that about 1 kilogram of silver iodide is enough to dramatically change it. Several aircraft, using hundreds of kilograms of this substance, are capable of dispersing clouds over an area of ​​​​several thousand square kilometers, causing heavy precipitation. For this purpose, already during the Vietnam War, the United States used the dispersion of silver iodide in rain clouds to create floods, flood vast areas, and break through protective dams.

Work on the creation of meteorological weapons has a long history. Soon after the end of World War II, research began to be intensively conducted in the United States to study the processes occurring in the atmosphere under the influence of external influences: “Skyfire” (the possibility of lightning formation), “Prime Argus” (methods of causing earthquakes), “Stormfury” (controlling hurricanes) . The results of this work were not widely reported, but it is known that in 1961, American scientists conducted an experiment to throw more than 350 thousand two-centimeter copper needles into the atmosphere, which changed the thermal balance of the ionosphere.

It is believed that it was as a result of this that an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.5 occurred in Alaska, and part of the coast of Chile slid into the ocean. A sharp change in thermal processes occurring in the atmosphere can cause the formation of powerful tsunamis. The danger that tsunamis can pose to coastal areas is illustrated by the tragedy that occurred in the states of New Orleans and Louisiana, which were affected by the Katrina tsunami in September 2005. It was a natural disaster, but scientists do not exclude the possibility of creating an equally destructive tsunami near enemy territory by exploding a powerful thermonuclear charge in the ocean at a depth of hundreds of meters. A group of State Duma deputies, alarmed by the growing threat of the emergence of new types of weapons of mass destruction, appealed to Russian President V.V. Putin in August 2002 with a statement about potential danger for humanity, the continuation by the United States of large-scale experiments on targeted and powerful effects on the near-Earth environment with high-frequency radio waves. In their opinion, “one of the fundamental international legal acts should be the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Means of Influence on the Natural Environment of May 18, 1977, which should be applied to conducted and planned experiments as having a military orientation.”

Climate weapons

CLIMATE WEAPONS is considered as a type of geophysical weapon, since climate change occurs as a result of interference in the global weather formation processes occurring in the Earth's atmosphere. The purpose of using such weapons may be to reduce agricultural production in the territory probable enemy, deterioration in the food supply of its population, disruption of the implementation of socio-economic programs, which ultimately should lead to the destruction of political and economic structures. As a result external influence in this country the desired political and economic changes can be achieved without starting a war in the traditional sense. Some experts believe that a drop of just one degree could have catastrophic consequences. average annual temperature in the mid-latitude region, where the bulk of grain is produced. When carrying out large-scale extermination wars for fertile territories with the help of climate weapons, massive losses of the population of large regions can be caused. However, given the deep interconnection of climate processes occurring in different parts of the world, the use of climate weapons will be poorly controlled, which can cause significant damage to neighboring countries, including the country that uses it.

Ozone weapon

AS IS KNOWN, the ozone layer of the atmosphere is in dynamic equilibrium with the environment, which involves the formation of ozone from molecular oxygen under the influence of solar radiation and its decomposition under the influence of various factors associated with human activity: the release of industrial gases into the atmosphere, exhausts Vehicle, nuclear testing in the atmosphere, the release of nitrogen oxides from mineral fertilizers and chlorofluorocarbons (freons) from various refrigeration and air conditioning systems. This shows that the ozone layer is quite sensitive to external influences.

Accordingly, ozone weapons can be a set of means (for example, missiles equipped with chemicals such as freons) for artificially destroying the ozone layer over selected areas of enemy territory. The formation of such “windows” will create conditions for the penetration of hard ultraviolet radiation from the Sun with a wavelength of about 0.3 microns to the Earth’s surface. It has a detrimental effect on the cells of living organisms, cellular structures and the hereditary apparatus, causes skin burns, and contributes to a sharp increase in the number of cancers in humans and animals.

It is believed that the most tangible result of the impact will be an increase in population mortality, a decrease in the productivity of animals and agricultural plants in areas over which the ozone layer has been destroyed. Disruption of processes occurring in the ozonosphere may also affect the heat balance of these areas and the weather. A decrease in ozone should lead to a decrease in average temperature and an increase in humidity, which is especially dangerous for areas of unsustainable, critical agriculture. In this area, the ozone weapon merges with the climate weapon.

RF EMP weapons

AMONG NON-NUCLEAR WEAPONS in Lately Radio frequency weapons are often mentioned, affecting humans and various technical objects using a powerful electromagnetic pulse (EMP). This was greatly facilitated by the wide distribution in the world of electronic equipment for military and civilian purposes, which solves extremely important tasks, including in the field of security. For the first time, an electromagnetic pulse capable of damaging various technical devices became widely known during the first tests of nuclear weapons in the USA and the USSR, when a new physical phenomenon was discovered - the formation of a powerful pulse of electromagnetic radiation, to which great interest was immediately shown. However, as it soon turned out, EMP was created not only during the process of a nuclear explosion. Already in the 1950s, one of the “fathers” of Soviet nuclear weapons, academician Andrei Sakharov, first proposed the principle of constructing a non-nuclear “electromagnetic bomb”. In this design, the magnetic field of the solenoid is compressed by the explosion of a chemical explosive, resulting in a powerful pulse of electromagnetic radiation.

Soviet experts could not ignore the possibility of the emergence and military use of EMP weapons against the USSR (Russia). An important place in the work on the study of EMP weapons and methods of protection against them belongs to the Institute of Thermophysics of Extreme States of the Russian Academy of Sciences, headed by Academician Vladimir Fortov. V. Fortov emphasized that at the present time, when the troops and infrastructure of many states are saturated with electronics to the limit, and in the future this trend will only increase, attention to the means of destroying them is very relevant. At the same time, he pointed out that although EMP weapons are characterized as “non-lethal”, experts classify them as “strategic” weapons that can be used to disable key objects of the state and military control system, various types of weapons, thus deciding strategic objectives.

In recent years, Russia has made significant progress in the development of stationary research generators that create high values ​​of magnetic field strength and maximum current. Such generators can serve as a prototype of an “electromagnetic gun”, the range of which can reach hundreds of meters or more, depending on what equipment needs to be affected. The current level of technology allows a number of countries to supply their armed forces with various modifications of ammunition with powerful EMP radiation, which can be used during combat operations. During the 1991 Gulf War, to suppress enemy electronic weapons, especially air defense systems, the United States used Tomahawk cruise missiles, which created EMP radiation with a power of up to 5 MW when their warheads were fired. At the very beginning of the war with Iraq, in 2003, an EMP bomb was dropped on the television center in Baghdad, which instantly disabled all the electronic equipment of the television center. Before this, the same bomb was tested in 1999 in Yugoslavia, where it also demonstrated its high effectiveness against electronic systems.

Much attention is also paid to work on creating combat models of such weapons in Russia. The projects "Ranets-E" and "Rosa-E" were successfully carried out at the Moscow Radio Engineering Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. With the help of the Mobile Microwave Defense System (MMDS) Project, it is planned to ensure the creation of defense of the most important facilities from high-precision weapons. It should include an antenna system, a high-power generator, control and measuring equipment. The entire system must be mounted on a mobile base and ensure the prompt transfer of the Ranets-E system to the desired area. It became known that this weapon will have an output power of over 500 MW, operate in the centimeter range, and emit pulses lasting 10-20 nanoseconds. The Ranza-E microwave gun is designed to hit targets at a range of up to 10 kilometers, providing a circular firing sector. The mass of such a system will exceed 5 tons. The first information about the new weapon was received by visitors to the Russian pavilion of the exhibition in 2001 in Singapore and Lima.

Studies of the effects of electromagnetic radiation on the human body have shown that, even with fairly low intensity EMR irradiation, various functional disorders and changes occur in it. In particular, the detrimental effect of electromagnetic radiation on the disturbance of the rhythm of the heart has been established, according to some scientists, even to the point of cardiac arrest. In this case, two types of effects were noted: thermal and non-thermal. Thermal exposure causes overheating of tissues and organs and, with sufficiently long radiation, causes irreversible pathological changes in them. Non-thermal exposure mainly leads to functional disorders in various organs of the human body, especially in the cardiovascular and nervous systems. The results of tests of microwave weapons on humans, conducted in October 2001 in the United States at Kirtland Air Force Base, turned out to be very characteristic. Rays with a wavelength of 3 mm penetrated the human body only 0.3-0.4 mm, but at the same time, water and blood molecules in the subcutaneous layer began to boil almost instantly. In this case, the person experiences acute pain that exceeds the pain threshold, which forces him to leave the area of ​​microwave radiation as soon as possible.

Laser weapons

Experts from a number of countries have been working on the CREATION of laser weapons for many years, and the results obtained to date give reason to believe that they will soon gain practical significance. As is known, lasers are powerful emitters of electromagnetic energy in the optical range - quantum generators. The damaging effect of a laser beam is achieved as a result of heating the materials of an object to high temperatures, causing them to melt or even evaporate, damage sensitive elements of weapons, blind a person’s organs of vision, up to irreversible consequences, and cause severe damage in the form of thermal burns to the skin. For the enemy, the effect of laser radiation is characterized by suddenness, secrecy, the absence of external signs in the form of fire, smoke, sound, high accuracy, straightness of propagation, and almost instantaneous action. It is possible to create land-, sea-, air- and space-based laser combat systems for various purposes with varying power, range, rate of fire, and ammunition. Low- and medium-power laser systems are planned to be used to disable control points, weapon guidance equipment, and to blind tank crews, car drivers, helicopter pilots, and gun crews. High-power laser weapons are being tested for use in systems to combat enemy aircraft and missiles.

In support of the above, it should be noted that for many years the United States has been developing laser rifles that emit a thin, low-energy beam. This rifle can hit targets at a distance of up to 1.5 km. A shot from such a gun is practically invisible and inaudible. If the beam enters the eyes, it causes damage to the visual organs of varying degrees of severity, up to complete blindness. The different types of safety glasses used provide protection only from certain wavelengths. To comprehensively study the damaging effects of laser radiation and methods of protection against it, more than a thousand tests were carried out in the United States back in the mid-1950s.

Experts, not without reason, believe that the greatest use of laser weapons will be associated with the creation of large-scale missile defense of US territory. In 1996, the United States began creating airborne laser weapons ABL (Airborne Laser), designed to destroy missiles in the flight path, especially in the acceleration area, where they are most vulnerable. A powerful laser system with a fuel supply of tens of tons will be placed on board a Boeing 747. If a crisis situation arises, the Boeing will take off and will patrol at an altitude of 10-12 km, having the ability to detect an enemy missile within a few seconds and defeat it at a range of up to 300-500 kilometers. The full test program is planned to be completed in the near future with the goal of creating a squadron of seven such aircraft by 2009. In February 2000, one of the leading military-industrial consortiums, Martin-Boeing-TRW, signed a contract with the Pentagon providing for the development of the main elements of a space laser station with the expectation of carrying out full-scale tests in 2012. Completion of the full cycle of work on creating a space-based combat laser is planned for 2020. In conclusion, it should be pointed out that the range of possible uses of laser weapons is very wide and diverse, and specialists, apparently, will more than once have the opportunity to encounter various methods of their use and objects of destruction.

Acoustic weapons

WHEN CONSIDERING THE PROBLEMS OF creating and damaging effects of acoustic weapons, it should be taken into account that in general, they cover three characteristic frequency ranges: infrasonic - the frequency range below 20 hertz (Hz), audible - from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. For frequencies above 20 kHz the term "ultrasound" is used. This gradation is determined by the characteristics of the impact of sound on the human body, and above all on his hearing aid. It has been established that hearing thresholds, levels of pain and other negative effects on the human body decrease with increasing sound frequency from several hertz to 250 Hz.

In recent years, a wide range of work has been carried out in the United States in the field of non-lethal weapons (NLW), including acoustic weapons, which is carried out at the Army Research, Development and Maintenance Center (ARDEC) at the Pakatinny Arsenal (New Jersey). A number of projects to create devices that generate acoustic "bullets" emitted by large-diameter antennas have been carried out by the Scientific Research and Application Association (SARA) in Huntington Beach, California. According to the creators of the new weapon, it should expand the possible range of use of military force not only on the battlefield, but also in a number of situations that may arise during police or peacekeeping operations. Research is underway to create infrasound systems using large loudspeakers and powerful amplifiers. Collaborations SARA and ARDEC aim to create high-power, low-frequency acoustic weapons designed to protect American institutions abroad.

To destroy troop personnel located in bunkers, shelters and combat vehicles, acoustic “bullets” of very low frequencies were tested, formed by the superposition of ultrasonic vibrations emitted by large antennas. According to American experts in the field of “non-lethal weapons”, Russia is also carrying out a complex of work in the field of acoustic weapons and quite impressive results have been obtained. They, in particular, stated that Russia had created an operating device that generated an infrasonic pulse with a frequency of 10 Hz, “the size of a baseball,” the power of which was supposedly sufficient to inflict severe damage on a person at a distance of hundreds of meters.

The use of infrasound waves with a frequency of several hertz can have a strong effect on the human body. The insidiousness of this weapon also lies in the fact that infrasonic vibrations, which are below the level of perception of the human ear, can cause an unconscious state of anxiety, despair and even horror. According to some experts, exposure to infrasound radiation in people leads to epilepsy, and with significant radiation power, death can be achieved. Death can occur as a result of a sharp disruption of the functions of individual human organs, especially when they resonate with sound vibrations. This leads to his defeat of cardio-vascular system, destruction of blood vessels and internal organs. According to experts, by selecting a certain frequency of radiation, it is possible, for example, to provoke massive manifestations of myocardial infarction among military personnel and the enemy population. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the ability of infrasonic vibrations to penetrate concrete and metal barriers, which undoubtedly increases the interest of military specialists in these weapons.

At the same time, it should be pointed out that there is no consensus among scientists in assessing the damaging effect of acoustic weapons on humans. Such disagreements are confirmed by the results of examining the destructive effects of various types of non-lethal weapons, in particular, obtained by the very reputable German company Daimler-Benz Aerospace. The diverse, often contradictory results of the damaging effects of acoustic weapons they obtained determine the need to conduct a wide range of further scientific and experimental studies.

Information weapon

CONSIDERING THE PROBLEM of information weapons, one should immediately pay attention to the very broad content of this concept, which covers a fairly wide range of methods, means and methods of struggle. At the heart of this confrontation are the actions and reactions of the parties in the information sphere, which together have a defensive and offensive nature. During military operations, the warring parties strive to destroy the enemy’s information sphere and protect their own as much as possible. According to the definition of Russian experts, it is advisable to call this component of military counteraction “information warfare.” Information warfare will begin immediately with the start of hostilities or even precede them, going simultaneously in several directions at once: electronic warfare, active reconnaissance, disorganization of command and control systems for troops and weapons, disinformation of the enemy, conducting psychological operations against enemy troops and populations, the use of software and hardware influence, the use of highly qualified hackers to open and disrupt the automated system of state and military control, etc.

When planning and conducting information warfare, psychological operations (PsyOps) are carried out, which can have different scales. The main objectives when carrying out operations of a strategic scale are: discrediting the foreign and domestic policies of the state, the socio-economic situation of the population, exacerbation of ethnic contradictions, distortion of historical heritage, inciting religious hatred among representatives of various faiths, creating defeatist sentiments in the minds of the population, all kinds of encouragement of antisocial acts and etc. In information operations at the operational-tactical level, the main focus is to undermine the morale of military personnel and the moral fortitude of the population, especially in areas adjacent to the combat zone, reducing the combat potential of troops, supporting opposition elements in the enemy’s ranks, encouraging the population to carry out acts of civil disobedience, encouraging desertion among military personnel.

Outstanding military leaders of the past already long ago realized that a clear and well-understood explanation to the enemy soldiery masses of convincing arguments about the futility and destructiveness of further resistance could give a positive result. During the Italian campaign of Alexander Suvorov, his appeal to the enemy troops with an explanation of the difficult situation in which they found themselves led to the fact that the opposing troops of the Piedmontese army went over to the side of the Russians in entire units and units. Napoleon also attached great importance to conveying the necessary (often false) information to the enemy. Already at that time he had a mobile printing press with a capacity of 10 thousand leaflets per day. It was his catchphrase: “Four newspapers can cause more harm than an army of one hundred thousand.” The possible scale of the psychological offensive can be judged from the experience of World War II, when the Western allies used a huge amount of propaganda material against the armies of the Hitlerite coalition: Great Britain dropped 6.5 billion leaflets, and the United States - 8 billion.

The rapid development of the media, especially television and the Internet, creates objective preconditions for increasing their use for military purposes. It is known that recently the global Internet has covered about 1 billion users in more than 150 countries. It can be predicted that in the future the battlefield will increasingly move into the intellectual realm, affecting the minds and feelings of millions of people. By placing space relays in near-Earth orbits, using the great potential capabilities of television and the Internet, an aggressor country can develop and, under certain conditions, carry out a scenario of a round-the-clock information war against a particular state, trying to blow it up from the inside. Provocative programs will be designed not for the mind, but primarily for the emotions of people, for their least protected sensory sphere, which is much more effective, especially when the political culture of the population is low, poorly informed and unprepared for such a war.

Dosed delivery of ideologically and psychologically processed provocative material, skillful alternation of the truthful (“credit of trust”) and false information, skillful editing of the details of various real and fictitious explosive situations can turn into a powerful means of psychological attack. It can be especially effective against a country in which there is social tension, interethnic, religious or class conflicts. Carefully selected information, falling on such favorable soil, can in a short time cause panic, riots, pogroms, and destabilize the political situation in the country. In this way, you can force the enemy to capitulate without the use of traditional weapons.

As an example of the use of the Internet in the field of information and psychological influence, one should recall Operation Support for Democracy in Haiti in 1994-1996. The widespread use of telephone calls to military personnel urging them not to resist American troops was accompanied by the transmission of threats to members of the government of this country who had personal computers. During the 1999 fighting against Yugoslavia, NATO troops attacked the system of television and radio transmitters, putting them out of action. At the same time, at the direction of Washington, the Internet system was preserved in order to transmit the “necessary” information to the population of the country.

Back in the mid-1990s, reports appeared about virus No. 666, which has the ability to have a profound negative impact on the psychophysiological state of computer operators, up to their failure. This virus displays a specially selected image on the screen that puts a person into a hypnotic trance. In this case, the calculation is made that the subconscious perception of the image will cause a sharp change in the activity of the cardiovascular system, up to blocking the blood vessels of the brain. The results of such exposure can be extremely dangerous when affecting operators of the state and combat control systems.

Genetic weapon

THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT of molecular genetics in the 60-70s of the twentieth century made it possible to carry out the recombination of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) - the carrier of genetic information. Using genetic engineering methods, it has become possible to separate genes and recombine them to form recombinant DNA molecules. Based on these methods, it is also possible to carry out gene transfer using microorganisms, to ensure the production of potent toxins of human, animal or plant origin. By combining various bacteriological and toxic agents, it is possible to create biological weapons with an altered genetic apparatus that has a high lethality. Based on implementation genetic material With pronounced toxic properties, virulent bacteria or human viruses can be converted into bacteriological weapons that can cause mass deaths in the affected regions.

Scientists assume that by 2010-2015 genetic engineering will achieve very significant results in the field of molecular biology, which will, among other things, reveal the mechanism of action of toxins and ensure the production of toxic products that can be used as weapons. This could create a fundamentally new strategic situation, when the main goal of a “genetic” war on the part of some countries is not the destruction of the enemy’s armed forces, but the elimination of its population, which is declared “surplus.” According to experts, this could radically change the global geopolitical and geostrategic situation, which, in their opinion, will be similar to the beginning of the atomic era of the 40-50s of the last century.

Scientists believe that a new strategic feature in the development of the international security system, which will become increasingly stronger over time, is the gradual transition of the world community from traditional armed conflicts using the most modern technology and weapons to unique “genocidal” wars. Statements about such wars began to be heard among individual representatives of the leadership of some countries. For the military-political leadership of the United States, taking into account the birth rate of various population groups and the emergence of various types of inevitable natural disasters (the example of New Orleans), it is envisaged to ensure, first of all, the preservation of the white English-speaking population, although they try not to openly focus on this.

American writer Tom Hartman, in his discussions, refers to the report "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for the New Century." The report addresses the challenge of fundamental changes in the forms and methods of warfare in the future. A further revolution in military affairs will determine a diverse approach to warfare in specific conflict situations, ensuring victory is achieved through unconventional means, in the conduct of which any potential enemy will inevitably lag behind the United States. At the same time, information has already appeared that in the US national laboratories - Oak Ridge, Livermore and some others - the genetic consequences of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were carefully studied, a significant contribution was made to the refinement of the well-known international project "Human Genome", and the beginning of an even more large-scale research under the "Genome for Life" program. It should be noted that the development of modern science has already crossed a critical line in ensuring the security of the world community. This means that, in the extreme case, a compact group of researchers can create " scientific product", capable of causing enormous damage to humanity. This is the particular danger of the creation and use of genetic weapons, including from international terrorism.

Ethnic weapons

STUDYING the natural and genetic differences between people, blood composition, and the fine biochemical structure of the body of representatives of various ethnic groups has given some scientists the idea of ​​using these features to create so-called ethnic weapons. According to scientists, such weapons will be able to target certain ethnic groups of the population with special agents and be indifferent to others. Such selectivity will be based on differences between people in blood groups, skin pigmentation, and genetic structure. Research in the field of ethnic weapons can be aimed at identifying the genetic vulnerabilities of certain ethnic groups and at developing special agents designed to effectively exploit these characteristics. This means, for example, that the use of specially created biological agents that act selectively in relation to carriers of different DNA for infection in a city with a mixed multinational population may not be felt by people at first. However, over time, the effects of exposure will affect representatives of certain categories of the population. They may develop severe chronic diseases, experience a shortened life span, and lose the ability to have offspring. This will actually lead to the gradual extinction of a certain ethnic group in an area exposed to special bioagents.

According to the calculations of one of the famous American doctors, R. Hammerschlag, ethnic weapons can defeat 25-30% of the population of a country attacked with these weapons. Let us recall that such population losses in a nuclear war are considered “unacceptable”, in which the country suffers defeat. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in order to wage an ethnic war, a scrupulous analysis of the DNA of ethnic groups and determination of the differences between them is necessary.

Information has emerged that some time ago a group of Israeli scientists was considering the possibility of waging an ethnic war against their neighbors, the Palestinians. If successful, they hoped to thus rid Israel of its “restless” neighbors. However, the studies they conducted were disappointing. They showed that both peoples descend from the same ancestors and therefore have an identical genetic apparatus. Consequently, by unleashing an ethnic war against the Palestinians, Israel would simultaneously strike at the Jewish population.

Assessing the international situation in the world, one cannot exclude the emergence of the secret production of ethnic weapons by some terrorist groups possessing nanotechnology (for example, Aum-Shinrikyo) and their use in the name of certain economic and political goals.

Beam weapon

The damaging factor of a beam weapon is a highly directed beam of charged or neutral particles of high energy - electrons, protons, neutral hydrogen atoms. A powerful flow of energy carried by particles can create intense thermal effects, mechanical shock loads, and initiate X-ray radiation in the target material. The use of beam weapons is distinguished by the instantaneousness and suddenness of the damaging effect. The limiting factor in the range of this weapon is the gas particles in the atmosphere, with the atoms of which accelerated particles interact, gradually losing their energy. The use of beams of charged particles is also complicated by the fact that when they move between charged particles, repulsive forces act.

The most likely targets of destruction may be manpower, electronic equipment, various military equipment systems, ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, spacecraft, etc. According to American scientists, the use of particle beams to destroy launch vehicles will require an increase in the accelerating voltage, pulse duration and average power by one to two orders of magnitude compared to the values ​​already achieved, which creates serious difficulties in the use of such weapons.

Work on the creation of beam weapons gained the greatest scope after the proclamation of the SDI program by President Reagan. The Los Alamos National Laboratory became the center for scientific research in this area. Experiments at that time were carried out on the ATS accelerator, then on more powerful devices.

Experts believe that such neutral particle accelerators can become a reliable means of selecting enemy attack warheads against the background of a “cloud” of false targets. Research on the creation of beam weapons based on charged particles is also being conducted at the Livermore National Laboratory. According to scientists, successful attempts were made there to obtain a flow of high-energy electrons, the power hundreds of times greater than that obtained in research accelerators. In the same laboratory, as part of the Antigone program, it was experimentally established that the electron beam propagates almost perfectly, without scattering, along an ionized channel previously created by a laser beam in the atmosphere, which makes it possible to significantly increase the destructive range of these weapons. Beam weapon installations have large mass-dimensional characteristics and therefore can be created either as stationary ones or on special mobile equipment with heavy lifting capacity. This creates certain restrictions on their combat use.

Removing asteroids from orbit

HOW FAR the search for new means of mass destruction can go is evidenced by theoretical studies conducted by some US scientists back in the 1960s, which considered a literally fantastic project to shift one of the asteroids moving between Earth and Mars from its orbit. It was assumed that the removal of an asteroid from its orbit could be carried out using explosions of powerful nuclear charges in a charging chamber specially created on the surface of the asteroid. When the charge explodes, the asteroid will receive a powerful reactive impulse, which will transfer it into an orbit that intersects the trajectory of the Earth. In this case, based on modeling, an asteroid can fall onto enemy territory. During the collision of an asteroid with the Earth, energy will be released equivalent to the explosion of many thousands of nuclear charges, capable of destroying an entire continent.

Of course, the practical use of such a means of destruction is hardly possible and it is of purely theoretical interest, demonstrating the possible limits of the search for weapons, as well as the potential consequences of a collision of planet Earth with one of celestial bodies. In recent decades, scientists have paid attention to the potential for a meteorite to collide with the Earth. If such a threat is detected, the probability of which is extremely low, but its cost for world civilization is unacceptably high, the inverse problem will be solved - preventing a collision using nuclear explosions on the surface of an asteroid, although the success of such an operation is highly controversial. However, to date no one has been able to propose a more effective way to combat this threat.

Weapons based on the annihilation of particles and antiparticles

THEORETICAL RESEARCH in the field of nuclear physics, carried out in the first half of the twentieth century, showed the fundamental possibility of the existence of antimatter. Subsequently, the existence of antiparticles (for example, positrons) was proven experimentally. It turned out that the interaction of particles and antiparticles releases a significant amount of energy in the form of photons. According to scientists' calculations, the interaction of 1 milligram of antiparticles with matter releases energy equivalent to the explosion of several tens of tons of trinitrotoluene. This makes it very tempting to create weapons of enormous size. destructive force based on antimatter. However, despite the enormous efforts of scientists, nature diligently guards its secrets, which stand in the way of creating a fundamentally new type of weapon. Currently, the process of obtaining and preserving antiparticles is very complex. It is known that attempts are being made at the European Nuclear Research Center to contain antiparticles at low temperatures in bubbles of liquid helium. These difficulties make it very problematic to create weapons of mass destruction based on antimatter in the foreseeable future.

Psychotronic weapon

IN RECENT YEARS there has been widespread interest in research in the field of bioenergetics related to the so-called paranormal capabilities of humans. In a number of countries, work is underway to create various technical devices based on the energy of the biofield, that is, the specific field that exists around a living organism. Research into the possibility of creating such a weapon is being conducted in several directions: extrasensory perception - perception of the properties of objects, their condition, sounds, smells, thoughts of people without contact with them and without the use of ordinary senses; telepathy - transmission of thoughts at a distance; clairvoyance (far vision) - observation of an object (target) located outside the limits of visual communication; psychokinesis - influencing physical objects with the help of mental influence, causing their movement; telekinesis is the mental movement of a person whose body remains at rest. Scientists identify four main areas of military applied research in the field of bioenergy.

1. Development of methods of deliberate influence on human mental activity in order to create an “army of a new era.” For this purpose, the issues of training soldiers in meditation methods, developing their ability for extrasensory perception and magic, and hypnotic techniques were studied.

2. In-depth study of paranormal phenomena that are of greatest interest from the point of view of military use - clairvoyance and telekinesis. Experiments have been conducted to study a person’s ability to observe objects that are outside the limits of visual communication. The scope of application of this phenomenon is very wide: on a strategic scale, it is possible to penetrate into the main command and control organs of the enemy troops to become familiar with his plans.

Using psychokinesis to destroy military command and control systems. A person’s ability to emit a certain type of energy is confirmed by a photograph of a person’s radiation field (Kirlian effect).

3. Study of the influence of bio-radiations on control and communication systems, electronic equipment, as well as the development of artificial energy generators to influence enemy personnel and population in order to create abnormal mental states in them. Some research in this direction has been carried out to determine the ability of people with paranormal abilities to interfere with the operation of computers.

4. Development of systems for detecting and monitoring artificial and natural hazardous radiation, as well as methods of active and passive protection against them. The creation of technical devices for detecting bio-radiations and research into issues of bio-energetic interaction between people continues. There are statements in the Western press that psychotronic weapons already exist, although their potential capabilities have not yet been determined and many scientists express serious doubts about the effectiveness of such weapons.

Even a brief analysis of the possible prospects for the emergence of new types of weapons of mass destruction shows their deep danger to the world community. According to some scientists, the development of modern science has already crossed a critical line in ensuring the security of the world community. Therefore, it is necessary to closely monitor work in this area (especially in the field of dual technologies) in order to take appropriate preventive measures through the UN to prevent the emergence of a new threat. The leading countries of the world need to come up with broad international initiatives to create a legal mechanism that reliably prevents the creation of new types of weapons of mass destruction.