The first creator of the nuclear bomb. Father of the atomic bomb

The American Robert Oppenheimer and the Soviet scientist Igor Kurchatov are usually called the fathers of the atomic bomb. But considering that work on the deadly was carried out in parallel in four countries and, in addition to scientists from these countries, people from Italy, Hungary, Denmark, etc., took part in it, the resulting bomb can rightly be called the brainchild of different peoples.

The Germans were the first to get down to business. In December 1938, their physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann were the first in the world to artificially split the nucleus of a uranium atom. In April 1939, the German military leadership received a letter from Hamburg University professors P. Harteck and W. Groth, which indicated the fundamental possibility of creating a new type of highly effective explosive. Scientists wrote: “The country that is the first to practically master the achievements of nuclear physics will acquire absolute superiority over others.” And now the Imperial Ministry of Science and Education is holding a meeting on the topic “On a self-propagating (that is, chain) nuclear reaction.” Among the participants is Professor E. Schumann, head of the research department of the Armament Directorate of the Third Reich. Without delay, we moved from words to deeds. Already in June 1939, construction of Germany's first reactor plant began at the Kummersdorf test site near Berlin. A law was passed banning the export of uranium outside Germany, and a large amount of uranium ore was urgently purchased from the Belgian Congo.

Germany starts and... loses

On September 26, 1939, when war was already raging in Europe, it was decided to classify all work related to the uranium problem and the implementation of the program, called the “Uranium Project”. The scientists involved in the project were initially very optimistic: they believed it was possible to create nuclear weapons within a year. They were wrong, as life has shown.

22 organizations were involved in the project, including such well-known scientific centers, as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society Physics Institute, Institute physical chemistry University of Hamburg, Physics Institute of the Higher Technical School in Berlin, Physico-Chemical Institute of the University of Leipzig and many others. The project was personally supervised by the Reich Minister of Armaments Albert Speer. The IG Farbenindustry concern was entrusted with the production of uranium hexafluoride, from which it is possible to extract the uranium-235 isotope, capable of maintaining a chain reaction. The same company was also entrusted with the construction of an isotope separation plant. Such venerable scientists as Heisenberg, Weizsäcker, von Ardenne, Riehl, Pose, Nobel laureate Gustav Hertz and others directly participated in the work.

Over the course of two years, Heisenberg's group carried out the research necessary to create a nuclear reactor using uranium and heavy water. It was confirmed that only one of the isotopes can serve as an explosive, namely uranium-235, contained in a very small concentration in ordinary uranium ore. The first problem was how to isolate it from there. The starting point of the bomb program was a nuclear reactor, which required graphite or heavy water as a reaction moderator. German physicists chose water, thereby creating for themselves serious problem. After the occupation of Norway, the world's only heavy water production plant at that time passed into the hands of the Nazis. But there, at the beginning of the war, the supply of the product needed by physicists was only tens of kilograms, and even they did not go to the Germans - the French stole valuable products literally from under the noses of the Nazis. And in February 1943, British commandos sent to Norway, with the help of local resistance fighters, put the plant out of commission. The implementation of Germany's nuclear program was under threat. The misadventures of the Germans did not end there: an experienced nuclear reactor. The uranium project was supported by Hitler only as long as there was hope of obtaining super-powerful weapons before the end of the war he started. Heisenberg was invited by Speer and asked directly: “When can we expect the creation of a bomb capable of being suspended from a bomber?” The scientist was honest: “I believe it will take several years of hard work, in any case, the bomb will not be able to influence the outcome of the current war.” The German leadership rationally considered that there was no point in forcing events. Let the scientists work quietly - you'll see they'll be in time for the next war. As a result, Hitler decided to concentrate scientific, production and financial resources only on projects that would provide the fastest return in the creation of new types of weapons. Government funding for the uranium project was curtailed. Nevertheless, the scientists’ work continued.

In 1944, Heisenberg received cast uranium plates for a large reactor plant, for which a special bunker was already being built in Berlin. The last experiment to achieve a chain reaction was scheduled for January 1945, but on January 31 all the equipment was hastily dismantled and sent from Berlin to the village of Haigerloch near the Swiss border, where it was deployed only at the end of February. The reactor contained 664 cubes of uranium with a total weight of 1525 kg, surrounded by a graphite moderator-neutron reflector weighing 10 tons. In March 1945, an additional 1.5 tons of heavy water was poured into the core. On March 23, Berlin was reported that the reactor was operational. But the joy was premature - the reactor did not reach the critical point, the chain reaction did not start. After recalculations, it turned out that the amount of uranium must be increased by at least 750 kg, proportionally increasing the mass of heavy water. But there were no more reserves of either one or the other. The end of the Third Reich was inexorably approaching. On April 23, American troops entered Haigerloch. The reactor was dismantled and transported to the USA.

Meanwhile overseas

In parallel with the Germans (with only a slight lag), the development of atomic weapons began in England and the USA. They began with a letter sent in September 1939 by Albert Einstein to US President Franklin Roosevelt. The initiators of the letter and the authors of most of the text were physicists-emigrants from Hungary Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner and Edward Teller. The letter drew the president's attention to the fact that Nazi Germany was conducting active research, as a result of which it might soon acquire an atomic bomb.

In the USSR, the first information about the work carried out by both the allies and the enemy was reported to Stalin by intelligence back in 1943. A decision was immediately made to launch similar work in the Union. Thus began the Soviet atomic project. Not only scientists received assignments, but also intelligence officers, for whom the extraction of nuclear secrets became a top priority.

The most valuable information about the work on the atomic bomb in the United States, obtained by intelligence, greatly helped the advancement of the Soviet nuclear project. The scientists participating in it were able to avoid dead-end search paths, thereby significantly accelerating the achievement of the final goal.

Experience of recent enemies and allies

Naturally, the Soviet leadership could not remain indifferent to the German nuclear development. At the end of the war, a group of Soviet physicists was sent to Germany, among whom were future academicians Artsimovich, Kikoin, Khariton, Shchelkin. Everyone was camouflaged in the uniform of Red Army colonels. The operation was led by First Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Ivan Serov, which opened any doors. In addition to the necessary German scientists, the “colonels” found tons of uranium metal, which, according to Kurchatov, shortened the work on the Soviet bomb by at least a year. The Americans also removed a lot of uranium from Germany, taking along the specialists who worked on the project. And in the USSR, in addition to physicists and chemists, they sent mechanics, electrical engineers, and glassblowers. Some were found in prisoner-of-war camps. For example, Max Steinbeck, the future Soviet academician and vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, was taken away when, at the whim of the camp commander, he was making a sundial. In total, at least 1,000 German specialists worked on the nuclear project in the USSR. The von Ardenne laboratory with a uranium centrifuge, equipment from the Kaiser Institute of Physics, documentation, and reagents were completely removed from Berlin. As part of the atomic project, laboratories “A”, “B”, “C” and “D” were created, the scientific directors of which were scientists who arrived from Germany.

Laboratory “A” was led by Baron Manfred von Ardenne, a talented physicist who developed a method of gas diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge. At first, his laboratory was located on Oktyabrsky Pole in Moscow. Each German specialist was assigned five or six Soviet engineers. Later the laboratory moved to Sukhumi, and over time the famous Kurchatov Institute grew up on Oktyabrsky Field. In Sukhumi, on the basis of the von Ardenne laboratory, the Sukhumi Institute of Physics and Technology was formed. In 1947, Ardenne was awarded the Stalin Prize for creating a centrifuge for purifying uranium isotopes on an industrial scale. Six years later, Ardenne became a two-time Stalinist laureate. He lived with his wife in a comfortable mansion, his wife played music on a piano brought from Germany. Other German specialists were not offended either: they came with their families, brought with them furniture, books, paintings, and were provided with good salaries and food. Were they prisoners? Academician A.P. Aleksandrov, himself an active participant in the atomic project, noted: “Of course, the German specialists were prisoners, but we ourselves were prisoners.”

Nikolaus Riehl, a native of St. Petersburg who moved to Germany in the 1920s, became the head of Laboratory B, which conducted research in the field of radiation chemistry and biology in the Urals (now the city of Snezhinsk). Here, Riehl worked with his old friend from Germany, the outstanding Russian biologist-geneticist Timofeev-Resovsky (“Bison” based on the novel by D. Granin).

Having received recognition in the USSR as a researcher and talented organizer who knows how to find effective solutions complex problems, Dr. Riehl became one of the key figures in the Soviet atomic project. After successfully testing a Soviet bomb, he became a Hero of Socialist Labor and a Stalin Prize laureate.

The work of Laboratory “B”, organized in Obninsk, was headed by Professor Rudolf Pose, one of the pioneers in the field of nuclear research. Under his leadership, fast neutron reactors were created, the first nuclear power plant in the Union, and the design of reactors for submarines began. The facility in Obninsk became the basis for the organization of the Physics and Energy Institute named after A.I. Leypunsky. Pose worked until 1957 in Sukhumi, then at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna.

The head of Laboratory "G", located in the Sukhumi sanatorium "Agudzery", was Gustav Hertz, the nephew of the famous physicist of the 19th century, himself a famous scientist. He was recognized for a series of experiments that confirmed Niels Bohr's theory of the atom and quantum mechanics. The results of his very successful activities in Sukhumi were later used at an industrial installation built in Novouralsk, where in 1949 the filling for the first Soviet atomic bomb RDS-1 was developed. For his achievements within the framework of the atomic project, Gustav Hertz was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1951.

German specialists who received permission to return to their homeland (naturally, to the GDR) signed a non-disclosure agreement for 25 years about their participation in the Soviet atomic project. In Germany they continued to work in their specialty. Thus, Manfred von Ardenne, twice awarded the National Prize of the GDR, served as director of the Institute of Physics in Dresden, created under the auspices of the Scientific Council for the Peaceful Applications of Atomic Energy, headed by Gustav Hertz. Hertz also received a national prize as the author of a three-volume textbook on nuclear physics. Rudolf Pose also worked there, in Dresden, at the Technical University.

The participation of German scientists in the atomic project, as well as the successes of intelligence officers, in no way detract from the merits of Soviet scientists, whose selfless work ensured the creation of domestic atomic weapons. However, it must be admitted that without the contribution of both of them, the creation of the nuclear industry and atomic weapons in the USSR would have dragged on for many years.

Little Boy
The American uranium bomb that destroyed Hiroshima had a cannon design. Soviet nuclear scientists, when creating the RDS-1, were guided by the “Nagasaki bomb” - Fat Boy, made of plutonium using an implosion design.

Manfred von Ardenne, who developed a method for gas diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge.

Operation Crossroads was a series of atomic bomb tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in the summer of 1946. The goal was to test the effect of atomic weapons on ships.

Help from overseas

In 1933, German communist Klaus Fuchs fled to England. Having received a degree in physics from the University of Bristol, he continued to work. In 1941, Fuchs reported his participation in atomic research to Soviet intelligence agent Jürgen Kuchinsky, who informed the Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky. He instructed the military attaché to urgently establish contact with Fuchs, who was going to be transported to the United States as part of a group of scientists. Fuchs agreed to work for Soviet intelligence. Many Soviet illegal intelligence officers were involved in working with him: the Zarubins, Eitingon, Vasilevsky, Semenov and others. As a result of their active work, already in January 1945 the USSR had a description of the design of the first atomic bomb. At the same time, the Soviet station in the United States reported that the Americans would need at least one year, but no more than five years, to create a significant arsenal of atomic weapons. The report also said that the first two bombs could be detonated within a few months.

Pioneers of nuclear fission

K. A. Petrzhak and G. N. Flerov
In 1940, in the laboratory of Igor Kurchatov, two young physicists discovered a new, very peculiar species radioactive decay atomic nuclei - spontaneous fission.

Otto Hahn
In December 1938, German physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann were the first in the world to artificially split the nucleus of a uranium atom.

Hundreds of thousands of famous and forgotten gunsmiths of antiquity fought in search of the ideal weapon, capable of evaporating an enemy army with one click. From time to time, a trace of these searches can be found in fairy tales that more or less plausibly describe a miracle sword or a bow that hits without missing.

Fortunately, technological progress moved so slowly for a long time that the real embodiment of the devastating weapon remained in dreams and oral stories, and later on the pages of books. The scientific and technological leap of the 19th century provided the conditions for the creation of the main phobia of the 20th century. The nuclear bomb, created and tested under real conditions, revolutionized both military affairs and politics.

History of the creation of weapons

For a long time it was believed that the most powerful weapons could only be created using explosives. The discoveries of scientists working with the smallest particles have provided scientific evidence that enormous energy can be generated with the help of elementary particles. The first in a series of researchers can be called Becquerel, who in 1896 discovered the radioactivity of uranium salts.

Uranium itself has been known since 1786, but at that time no one suspected its radioactivity. The work of scientists at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries revealed not only special physical properties, but also the possibility of obtaining energy from radioactive substances.

The option of making weapons based on uranium was first described in detail, published and patented by French physicists, the Joliot-Curies in 1939.

Despite its value for weapons, the scientists themselves were strongly opposed to the creation of such a devastating weapon.

Having gone through the Second World War in the Resistance, in the 1950s the couple (Frederick and Irene), realizing the destructive power of war, advocated for general disarmament. They are supported by Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein and other prominent physicists of the time.

Meanwhile, while the Joliot-Curies were busy with the problem of the Nazis in Paris, on the other side of the planet, in America, the world's first nuclear charge was being developed. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the work, was given the broadest powers and enormous resources. The end of 1941 marked the beginning of the Manhattan Project, which ultimately led to the creation of the first combat nuclear warhead.

In the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, the first production facilities for weapons-grade uranium were erected. Subsequently, similar nuclear centers appeared throughout the country, for example in Chicago, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and research was carried out in California. Bombs were created to create best forces professors at American universities, as well as physicists who fled from Germany.

In the “Third Reich” itself, work on creating a new type of weapon was launched in a manner characteristic of the Fuhrer.

Since “Besnovaty” was more interested in tanks and planes, and the more the better, he did not see much need for a new miracle bomb.

Accordingly, projects not supported by Hitler moved at a snail's pace at best.

When things started to get hot, and it turned out that the tanks and planes were swallowed up by the Eastern Front, the new miracle weapon received support. But it was too late, in conditions of bombing and constant fear With Soviet tank wedges, it was not possible to create a device with a nuclear component.

The Soviet Union was more attentive to the possibility of creating a new type of destructive weapon. In the pre-war period, physicists gathered and brought together general knowledge about nuclear energy and the possibility of creating nuclear weapons. Intelligence worked intensively throughout the entire period of the creation of the nuclear bomb both in the USSR and in the USA. The war played a significant role in slowing down the pace of development, as huge resources went to the front.

True, Academician Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov, with his characteristic tenacity, promoted the work of all subordinate departments in this direction. Looking ahead a little, it is he who will be tasked with accelerating the development of weapons in the face of the threat of an American strike on the cities of the USSR. It was he, standing in the gravel of a huge machine of hundreds and thousands of scientists and workers, who would be awarded the honorary title of the father of the Soviet nuclear bomb.

World's first tests

But let's return to the American nuclear program. By the summer of 1945, American scientists managed to create the world's first nuclear bomb. Any boy who has made himself or bought a powerful firecracker in a store experiences extraordinary torment, wanting to blow it up as quickly as possible. In 1945, hundreds of American soldiers and scientists experienced the same thing.

On June 16, 1945, the first ever nuclear weapons test and one of the most powerful explosions to date took place in the Alamogordo Desert, New Mexico.

Eyewitnesses watching the explosion from the bunker were amazed by the force with which the charge exploded at the top of the 30-meter steel tower. At first, everything was flooded with light, several times stronger than the sun. Then he rose into the sky fire ball, which turned into a column of smoke, shaped into the famous mushroom.

As soon as the dust settled, researchers and bomb creators rushed to the site of the explosion. They watched the aftermath from lead-encrusted Sherman tanks. What they saw amazed them; no weapon could cause such damage. The sand melted to glass in places.

Tiny remains of the tower were also found; in a crater of huge diameter, mutilated and crushed structures clearly illustrated the destructive power.

Damaging factors

This explosion provided the first information about the power of the new weapon, about what it could use to destroy the enemy. These are several factors:

light radiation, flash, capable of blinding even protected organs of vision;
shock wave, a dense stream of air moving from the center, destroying most buildings;
electromagnetic pulse, which disables most of the equipment and does not allow the use of communications for the first time after the explosion;
penetrating radiation, the most dangerous factor for those who have taken refuge from other damaging factors, is divided into alpha-beta-gamma irradiation;
radioactive contamination that can negatively affect health and life for tens or even hundreds of years.

The further use of nuclear weapons, including in combat, showed all the peculiarities of their impact on living organisms and nature. August 6, 1945 was the last day for tens of thousands of residents of the small city of Hiroshima, then known for several important military installations.

The outcome of the war in the Pacific was a foregone conclusion, but the Pentagon believed that the operation on the Japanese archipelago would cost more than a million lives of US Marines. It was decided to kill several birds with one stone, take Japan out of the war, saving on the landing operation, test a new weapon and announce it to the whole world, and, above all, to the USSR.

At one o'clock in the morning, the plane carrying the "Baby" nuclear bomb took off on a mission.

The bomb, dropped over the city, exploded at an altitude of approximately 600 meters at 8.15 am. All buildings located at a distance of 800 meters from the epicenter were destroyed. The walls of only a few buildings, designed to withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake, survived.

Of every ten people who were within a radius of 600 meters at the time of the bomb explosion, only one could survive. The light radiation turned people into coal, leaving shadow marks on the stone, a dark imprint of the place where the person was. The ensuing blast wave was so strong that it could break glass at a distance of 19 kilometers from the explosion site.

One teenager was knocked out of the house through a window by a dense stream of air; upon landing, the guy saw the walls of the house folding like cards. The blast wave was followed by a fire tornado, destroying those few residents who survived the explosion and did not have time to leave the fire zone. Those at a distance from the explosion began to experience severe malaise, the cause of which was initially unclear to doctors.

Much later, a few weeks later, the term “radiation poisoning” was announced, now known as radiation sickness.

More than 280 thousand people became victims of just one bomb, both directly from the explosion and from subsequent illnesses.

The bombing of Japan with nuclear weapons did not end there. According to the plan, only four to six cities were to be hit, but weather conditions only allowed Nagasaki to be hit. In this city, more than 150 thousand people became victims of the Fat Man bomb.

Promises by the American government to carry out such attacks until Japan surrendered led to an armistice and then to the signing of an agreement that ended World War II. But for nuclear weapons this was just the beginning.

The most powerful bomb in the world

The post-war period was marked by the confrontation between the USSR bloc and its allies with the USA and NATO. In the 1940s, the Americans seriously considered the possibility of striking the Soviet Union. To contain the former ally, work on creating a bomb had to be accelerated, and already in 1949, on August 29, the US monopoly in nuclear weapons was ended. During the arms race, two nuclear tests deserve the most attention.

Bikini Atoll, known primarily for frivolous swimsuits, literally made a splash throughout the world in 1954 due to the testing of a specially powerful nuclear charge.

The Americans, having decided to test a new design of atomic weapons, did not calculate the charge. As a result, the explosion was 2.5 times more powerful than planned. Residents of nearby islands, as well as the ubiquitous Japanese fishermen, were under attack.

But it was not the most powerful American bomb. In 1960, the B41 nuclear bomb was put into service, but it never underwent full testing due to its power. The force of the charge was calculated theoretically, for fear of exploding such a thing at the test site. dangerous weapon.

The Soviet Union, which loved to be the first in everything, experienced in 1961, otherwise nicknamed “Kuzka’s mother.”

Responding to America's nuclear blackmail, Soviet scientists created the most powerful bomb in the world. Tested on Novaya Zemlya, it left its mark in almost all corners of the globe. According to recollections, a slight earthquake was felt in the most remote corners at the time of the explosion.

The blast wave, of course, having lost all its destructive power, was able to circle the Earth. To date, this is the most powerful nuclear bomb in the world created and tested by mankind. Of course, if his hands were free, Kim Jong-un's nuclear bomb would be more powerful, but he does not have New Earth to test it.

Atomic bomb device

Let's consider a very primitive, purely for understanding, device of an atomic bomb. There are many classes of atomic bombs, but let’s consider three main ones:

uranium, based on uranium 235, first exploded over Hiroshima;
plutonium, based on plutonium 239, first exploded over Nagasaki;
thermonuclear, sometimes called hydrogen, based on heavy water with deuterium and tritium, fortunately not used against the population.

The first two bombs are based on the effect of heavy nuclei fissioning into smaller ones through an uncontrolled nuclear reaction, releasing huge amounts of energy. The third is based on the fusion of hydrogen nuclei (or rather its isotopes of deuterium and tritium) with the formation of helium, which is heavier in relation to hydrogen. For the same bomb weight, the destructive potential of a hydrogen bomb is 20 times greater.

If for uranium and plutonium it is enough to bring together a mass greater than the critical one (at which a chain reaction begins), then for hydrogen this is not enough.

To reliably connect several pieces of uranium into one, a cannon effect is used in which smaller pieces of uranium are shot into larger ones. Gunpowder can also be used, but for reliability, low-power explosives are used.

In a plutonium bomb, to create the necessary conditions for a chain reaction, explosives are placed around ingots containing plutonium. Due to the cumulative effect, as well as the neutron initiator located in the very center (beryllium with several milligrams of polonium) the necessary conditions are achieved.

It has a main charge, which cannot explode on its own, and a fuse. To create conditions for the fusion of deuterium and tritium nuclei, we need unimaginable pressures and temperatures at at least one point. Next, a chain reaction will occur.

To create such parameters, the bomb includes a conventional, but low-power, nuclear charge, which is the fuse. Its detonation creates the conditions for the start of a thermonuclear reaction.

To estimate the power of an atomic bomb, the so-called “TNT equivalent” is used. An explosion is a release of energy, the most famous explosive in the world is TNT (TNT - trinitrotoluene), and all new types of explosives are equated to it. Bomb "Baby" - 13 kilotons of TNT. That is equivalent to 13000.

Bomb "Fat Man" - 21 kilotons, "Tsar Bomba" - 58 megatons of TNT. It’s scary to think of 58 million tons of explosives concentrated in a mass of 26.5 tons, that’s how much weight this bomb has.

The danger of nuclear war and nuclear disasters

Appearing in the midst of the worst war of the twentieth century, nuclear weapons became the greatest danger to humanity. Immediately after World War II, the Cold War began, which several times almost escalated into a full-fledged nuclear conflict. The threat of the use of nuclear bombs and missiles by at least one side began to be discussed back in the 1950s.

Everyone understood and understands that there can be no winners in this war.

To contain it, efforts have been and are being made by many scientists and politicians. The University of Chicago, using the input of visiting nuclear scientists, including Nobel laureates, sets the Doomsday Clock a few minutes before midnight. Midnight signifies a nuclear cataclysm, the beginning of a new World War and the destruction of the old world. IN different years The clock hands fluctuated from 17 to 2 minutes to midnight.

There are also several known major accidents that occurred at nuclear power plants. These disasters have an indirect relation to weapons; nuclear power plants are still different from nuclear bombs, but they perfectly demonstrate the results of using the atom for military purposes. The largest of them:

1957, Kyshtym accident, due to a failure in the storage system, an explosion occurred near Kyshtym;
1957, Britain, in the north-west of England, security checks were not carried out;
1979, USA, due to an untimely detected leak, an explosion and release from a nuclear power plant occurred;
1986, tragedy in Chernobyl, explosion of the 4th power unit;
2011, accident at the Fukushima station, Japan.

Each of these tragedies left a heavy mark on the fate of hundreds of thousands of people and turned entire areas into non-residential zones with special control.

There were incidents that almost cost the start of a nuclear disaster. Soviet nuclear submarines have repeatedly had reactor-related accidents on board. The Americans dropped a Superfortress bomber with two Mark 39 nuclear bombs on board, with a yield of 3.8 megatons. But the activated “safety system” did not allow the charges to detonate and a disaster was avoided.

Nuclear weapons past and present

Today it is clear to anyone that a nuclear war will destroy modern humanity. Meanwhile, the desire to possess nuclear weapons and enter the nuclear club, or rather, burst into it by knocking down the door, still excites the minds of some state leaders.

India and Pakistan created nuclear weapons without permission, and the Israelis are hiding the presence of a bomb.

For some, owning a nuclear bomb is a way to prove their importance on the international stage. For others, it is a guarantee of non-interference by winged democracy or other external factors. But the main thing is that these reserves do not go into business, for which they were really created.

Video

The investigation took place in April-May 1954 in Washington and was called, in the American manner, “hearings.”
Physicists (with capital letters!), but for the scientific world of America the conflict was unprecedented: not a dispute about priority, not the behind-the-scenes struggle of scientific schools, and not even the traditional confrontation between a forward-looking genius and a crowd of mediocre envious people. Sounded authoritative during the proceedings keyword- "loyalty". The accusation of “disloyalty,” which acquired a negative, menacing meaning, entailed punishment: deprivation of access to top-secret work. The action took place at the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Main characters:

Robert Oppenheimer, a native of New York, pioneer of quantum physics in the USA, scientific director of the Manhattan Project, “father of the atomic bomb”, successful scientific manager and refined intellectual, after 1945 a national hero of America...

“I am not the simplest person,” American physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi once remarked. “But compared to Oppenheimer, I am very, very simple.” Robert Oppenheimer was one of the central figures of the twentieth century, whose very “complexity” absorbed the political and ethical contradictions of the country.

During World War II, the brilliant physicist Azulius Robert Oppenheimer led the development of American nuclear scientists to create the first atomic bomb in human history. The scientist led a solitary and secluded lifestyle, and this gave rise to suspicions of treason.

Atomic weapons are the result of all previous developments of science and technology. Discoveries that are directly related to its occurrence were made in late XIX V. The research of A. Becquerel, Pierre Curie and Marie Sklodowska-Curie, E. Rutherford and others played a huge role in revealing the secrets of the atom.

At the beginning of 1939, the French physicist Joliot-Curie concluded that a chain reaction was possible that would lead to an explosion of monstrous destructive force and that uranium could become a source of energy, like an ordinary explosive. This conclusion became the impetus for developments in the creation of nuclear weapons.

Europe was on the eve of World War II, and the potential possession of such a powerful weapon pushed militaristic circles to quickly create it, but the problem of having a large amount of uranium ore for large-scale research was a brake. Physicists from Germany, England, the USA, and Japan worked on the creation of atomic weapons, realizing that without a sufficient amount of uranium ore it was impossible to carry out work, the USA in September 1940 purchased a large amount of the required ore using false documents from Belgium, which allowed them to work on the creation nuclear weapons are in full swing.

From 1939 to 1945, more than two billion dollars were spent on the Manhattan Project. A huge uranium purification plant was built in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. H.C. Urey and Ernest O. Lawrence (inventor of the cyclotron) proposed a purification method based on the principle of gas diffusion followed by magnetic separation of the two isotopes. A gas centrifuge separated the light Uranium-235 from the heavier Uranium-238.

On the territory of the United States, in Los Alamos, in the desert expanses of New Mexico, an American nuclear center was created in 1942. Many scientists worked on the project, but the main one was Robert Oppenheimer. Under his leadership, the best minds of that time were gathered not only in the USA and England, but in almost all of Western Europe. A huge team worked on the creation of nuclear weapons, including 12 Nobel Prize laureates. Work in Los Alamos, where the laboratory was located, did not stop for a minute. In Europe, meanwhile, the Second World War, and Germany carried out massive bombings of English cities, which endangered the English atomic project “Tub Alloys”, and England voluntarily transferred its developments and leading scientists of the project to the United States, which allowed the United States to take a leading position in the development of nuclear physics (the creation of nuclear weapons).

“The Father of the Atomic Bomb,” he was at the same time an ardent opponent of American nuclear policy. Bearing the title of one of the most outstanding physicists of his time, he enjoyed studying the mysticism of ancient Indian books. A communist, a traveler, and a staunch American patriot, a very spiritual man, he was nevertheless willing to betray his friends in order to protect himself from the attacks of anti-communists. The scientist who developed the plan to cause the greatest damage to Hiroshima and Nagasaki cursed himself for the “innocent blood on his hands.”

Writing about this controversial man is not an easy task, but it is an interesting one, and the twentieth century is marked by a number of books about him. However rich life The scientist continues to attract biographers.

Oppenheimer was born in New York in 1903 into a family of wealthy and educated Jews. Oppenheimer was brought up in a love of painting, music, and in an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity. In 1922, he entered Harvard University and graduated with honors in just three years, his main subject being chemistry. Over the next few years, the precocious young man traveled to several European countries, where he worked with physicists who were studying the problems of studying atomic phenomena in the light of new theories. Just a year after graduating from university, Oppenheimer published a scientific paper that showed how deeply he understood the new methods. Soon he, together with the famous Max Born, developed the most important part of quantum theory, known as the Born-Oppenheimer method. In 1927, his outstanding doctoral dissertation brought him worldwide fame.

In 1928 he worked at the Universities of Zurich and Leiden. The same year he returned to the USA. From 1929 to 1947 Oppenheimer taught at the University of California and the University of California Institute of Technology. From 1939 to 1945, he actively participated in the work on creating an atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project; heading the Los Alamos laboratory specially created for this purpose.

In 1929, Oppenheimer rising star science, accepted offers from two of several universities competing for the right to invite him. He taught the spring semester at the vibrant, young California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, and the fall and winter semesters at the University of California, Berkeley, where he became the first professor of quantum mechanics. In fact, the polymath had to adjust for some time, gradually reducing the level of discussion to the capabilities of his students. In 1936, he fell in love with Jean Tatlock, a restless and moody young woman whose passionate idealism found outlet in communist activism. Like many thoughtful people of the time, Oppenheimer explored the ideas of the left as a possible alternative, although he did not join the Communist Party, as his younger brother, sister-in-law and many of his friends did. His interest in politics, like his ability to read Sanskrit, was a natural result of his constant pursuit of knowledge. By his own account, he was also deeply alarmed by the explosion of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany and Spain and invested $1,000 a year from his $15,000 annual salary in projects related to the activities of communist groups. After meeting Kitty Harrison, who became his wife in 1940, Oppenheimer broke up with Jean Tatlock and moved away from her circle of left-wing friends.

In 1939, the United States learned that Hitler's Germany had discovered nuclear fission in preparation for global war. Oppenheimer and other scientists immediately realized that the German physicists would try to create a controlled chain reaction that could be the key to creating a weapon far more destructive than any that existed at that time. Enlisting the help of the great scientific genius, Albert Einstein, concerned scientists warned President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the danger in a famous letter. In authorizing funding for projects aimed at creating untested weapons, the president acted in strict secrecy. Ironically, many of the world's leading scientists, forced to flee their homeland, worked together with American scientists in laboratories scattered throughout the country. One part of the university groups explored the possibility of creating a nuclear reactor, others took up the problem of separating uranium isotopes necessary to release energy in a chain reaction. Oppenheimer, who had previously been busy with theoretical problems, was offered to organize a wide range of work only at the beginning of 1942.

The US Army's atomic bomb program was codenamed Project Manhattan and was led by 46-year-old Colonel Leslie R. Groves, a career military officer. Groves, who characterized the scientists working on the atomic bomb as "an expensive bunch of nuts," however, acknowledged that Oppenheimer had a hitherto untapped ability to control his fellow debaters when the atmosphere became tense. The physicist proposed that all the scientists be brought together in one laboratory in the quiet provincial town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, in an area he knew well. By March 1943, the boarding school for boys had been turned into a strictly guarded secret center, with Oppenheimer becoming its scientific director. By insisting on the free exchange of information between scientists, who were strictly forbidden to leave the center, Oppenheimer created an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, which contributed to the amazing success of his work. Without sparing himself, he remained the head of all areas of this complex project, although his personal life suffered greatly from this. But for a mixed group of scientists - among whom there were more than a dozen then or future Nobel laureates and of whom it was a rare individual who did not have a strong personality - Oppenheimer was an unusually dedicated leader and a keen diplomat. Most of them would agree that the lion's share of the credit for the project's ultimate success belongs to him. By December 30, 1944, Groves, who had by then become a general, could say with confidence that the two billion dollars spent would produce a bomb ready for action by August 1 of the following year. But when Germany admitted defeat in May 1945, many of the researchers working at Los Alamos began to think about using new weapons. After all, Japan would probably have soon capitulated even without the atomic bombing. Should the United States become the first country in the world to use such a terrible device? Harry S. Truman, who became president after Roosevelt's death, appointed a committee to study possible consequences use of the atomic bomb, which included Oppenheimer. Experts decided to recommend dropping an atomic bomb without warning on a large Japanese military installation. Oppenheimer's consent was also obtained.
All these worries would, of course, be moot if the bomb had not gone off. The world's first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945, approximately 80 kilometers from the air base at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The device being tested, named "Fat Man" for its convex shape, was attached to a steel tower set up in a desert area. At exactly 5:30 a.m., a remote-controlled detonator detonated the bomb. With an echoing roar, a giant purple-green-orange fireball shot into the sky over an area 1.6 kilometers in diameter. The earth shook from the explosion and the tower disappeared. A white column of smoke quickly rose to the sky and began to gradually expand, taking on the terrifying shape of a mushroom at an altitude of about 11 kilometers. First nuclear explosion amazed scientific and military observers near the test site and turned their heads. But Oppenheimer remembered the lines from the Indian epic poem "Bhagavad Gita": "I will become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Until the end of his life, the satisfaction from scientific success was always mixed with a sense of responsibility for the consequences.
On the morning of August 6, 1945, there was a clear, cloudless sky over Hiroshima. As before, the approach of two American planes from the east (one of them was called Enola Gay) at an altitude of 10-13 km did not cause alarm (since they appeared in the sky of Hiroshima every day). One of the planes dived and dropped something, and then both planes turned and flew away. The dropped object slowly descended by parachute and suddenly exploded at an altitude of 600 m above the ground. It was the Baby bomb.

Three days after "Little Boy" was blown up in Hiroshima, exact copy The first "Fat Man" was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. On August 15, Japan, whose resolve was finally broken by these new weapons, signed an unconditional surrender. However, the voices of skeptics had already begun to be heard, and Oppenheimer himself predicted two months after Hiroshima that “mankind will curse the names Los Alamos and Hiroshima.”

The whole world was shocked by the explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tellingly, Oppenheimer managed to combine his worries about testing a bomb on civilians and the joy that the weapon had finally been tested.

Nevertheless, the following year he accepted an appointment as chairman of the scientific council of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), thereby becoming the most influential adviser to the government and military on nuclear issues. While the West and the Stalin-led Soviet Union prepared in earnest for the Cold War, each side focused its attention on the arms race. Although many of the Manhattan Project scientists did not support the idea of creating a new weapon, Oppenheimer's former collaborators Edward Teller and Ernest Lawrence believed that National security The United States demands the speedy development of a hydrogen bomb. Oppenheimer was horrified. From his point of view, two nuclear powers and so they were already confronting each other, like “two scorpions in a jar, each capable of killing the other, but only at the risk of their own life.” With the proliferation of new weapons, wars would no longer have winners and losers - only victims. And the “father of the atomic bomb” made a public statement that he was against the development of the hydrogen bomb. Always uncomfortable with Oppenheimer and clearly jealous of his achievements, Teller began to make efforts to head the new project, implying that Oppenheimer should no longer be involved in the work. He told FBI investigators that his rival was using his authority to keep scientists from working on the hydrogen bomb, and revealed the secret that Oppenheimer suffered from bouts of severe depression in his youth. When President Truman agreed to fund the hydrogen bomb in 1950, Teller could celebrate victory.

In 1954, Oppenheimer's enemies launched a campaign to remove him from power, which they succeeded after a month-long search for "black spots" in his personal biography. As a result, a show case was organized in which many influential political and scientific figures spoke out against Oppenheimer. As Albert Einstein later put it: “Oppenheimer’s problem was that he loved a woman who didn’t love him: the US government.”

By allowing Oppenheimer's talent to flourish, America doomed him to destruction.

Oppenheimer is known not only as the creator of the American atomic bomb. He is the author of many works on quantum mechanics, the theory of relativity, elementary particle physics, and theoretical astrophysics. In 1927 he developed the theory of interaction of free electrons with atoms. Together with Born, he created the theory of the structure of diatomic molecules. In 1931, he and P. Ehrenfest formulated a theorem, the application of which to the nitrogen nucleus showed that the proton-electron hypothesis of the structure of nuclei leads to a number of contradictions with the known properties of nitrogen. Investigated the internal conversion of g-rays. In 1937 he developed the cascade theory of cosmic showers, in 1938 he made the first calculation of the model neutron star, predicted the existence of “black holes” in 1939.

Oppenheimer owns a number of popular books, including Science and the Common Understanding (1954), The Open Mind (1955), Some Reflections on Science and Culture (1960) . Oppenheimer died in Princeton on February 18, 1967.

Work on nuclear projects in the USSR and the USA began simultaneously. In August 1942, the secret “Laboratory No. 2” began working in one of the buildings in the courtyard of Kazan University. Igor Kurchatov was appointed its leader.

In Soviet times, it was argued that the USSR solved its atomic problem completely independently, and Kurchatov was considered the “father” of the domestic atomic bomb. Although there were rumors about some secrets stolen from the Americans. And only in the 90s, 50 years later, one of the main characters then, Yuli Khariton, spoke about the significant role of intelligence in accelerating the lagging behind. Soviet project. And American scientific and technical results were obtained by those who came to English group Klaus Fuchs.

Information from abroad helped the country's leadership make a difficult decision - to begin work on nuclear weapons during a difficult war. The reconnaissance allowed our physicists to save time and helped to avoid a “misfire” during the first atomic test, which had enormous political significance.

In 1939, a chain reaction of fission of uranium-235 nuclei was discovered, accompanied by the release of colossal energy. Soon after, articles on nuclear physics began to disappear from the pages of scientific journals. This could indicate the real prospect of creating an atomic explosive and weapons based on it.

After the discovery by Soviet physicists of the spontaneous fission of uranium-235 nuclei and the determination of the critical mass, a corresponding directive was sent to the residency on the initiative of the head of the scientific and technological revolution L. Kvasnikov.

In the FSB of Russia (formerly the KGB of the USSR), 17 volumes of archival file No. 13676, which document who and how recruited US citizens to work for Soviet intelligence, are buried under the heading “keep forever.” Only a few of senior management The KGB of the USSR had access to the materials of this case, the secrecy of which was only recently lifted. Soviet intelligence received the first information about the work on creating an American atomic bomb in the fall of 1941. And already in March 1942, extensive information about the research ongoing in the USA and England fell on I.V. Stalin’s desk. According to Yu. B. Khariton, during that dramatic period it was safer to use the bomb design already tested by the Americans for our first explosion. “Taking into account state interests, any other solution was then unacceptable. The merit of Fuchs and our other assistants abroad is undoubted. However, we implemented the American scheme during the first test not so much for technical, but for political reasons.

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

A test site was built in the area of Semipalatinsk. At exactly 7:00 a.m. on August 29, 1949, the first Soviet nuclear device, codenamed RDS-1, was detonated at this test site.

The Troyan plan, according to which atomic bombs were to be dropped on 70 cities of the USSR, was thwarted due to the threat of a retaliatory strike. The event that took place at the Semipalatinsk test site informed the world about the creation of nuclear weapons in the USSR.

Foreign intelligence not only attracted the attention of the country's leadership to the problem of creating atomic weapons in the West and thereby initiated similar work in our country. Thanks to foreign intelligence information, as recognized by academicians A. Aleksandrov, Yu. Khariton and others, I. Kurchatov did not make big mistakes, we managed to avoid dead-end directions in the creation of atomic weapons and create more short time an atomic bomb in the USSR in just three years, while the United States spent four years on it, spending five billion dollars on its creation.
As he noted in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper on December 8, 1992, the first Soviet atomic charge was manufactured according to the American model with the help of information received from K. Fuchs. According to the academician, when government awards were presented to participants in the Soviet atomic project, Stalin, satisfied that there was no American monopoly in this area, remarked: “If we had been one to a year and a half late, we would probably have tried this charge on ourselves.” ".

The American uranium bomb that destroyed Hiroshima had a cannon design. Soviet nuclear scientists, when creating the RDS-1, were guided by the “Nagasaki bomb” - Fat Boy, made of plutonium using an implosion design.

Germany starts and... loses

22 organizations were involved in the project, including such well-known scientific centers as the Institute of Physics of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the University of Hamburg, the Institute of Physics of the Higher Technical School in Berlin, the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the University of Leipzig and many others. The project was personally supervised by the Reich Minister of Armaments Albert Speer. The IG Farbenindustry concern was entrusted with the production of uranium hexafluoride, from which it is possible to extract the uranium-235 isotope, capable of maintaining a chain reaction. The same company was also entrusted with the construction of an isotope separation plant. Such venerable scientists as Heisenberg, Weizsäcker, von Ardenne, Riehl, Pose, Nobel laureate Gustav Hertz and others directly participated in the work.

Over the course of two years, Heisenberg's group carried out the research necessary to create a nuclear reactor using uranium and heavy water. It was confirmed that only one of the isotopes, namely uranium-235, contained in very small concentrations in ordinary uranium ore, can serve as an explosive. The first problem was how to isolate it from there. The starting point of the bomb program was a nuclear reactor, which required graphite or heavy water as a reaction moderator. German physicists chose water, thereby creating a serious problem for themselves. After the occupation of Norway, the world's only heavy water production plant at that time passed into the hands of the Nazis. But there, at the beginning of the war, the supply of the product needed by physicists was only tens of kilograms, and even they did not go to the Germans - the French stole valuable products literally from under the noses of the Nazis. And in February 1943, British commandos sent to Norway, with the help of local resistance fighters, put the plant out of commission. The implementation of Germany's nuclear program was under threat. The misfortunes of the Germans did not end there: an experimental nuclear reactor exploded in Leipzig. The uranium project was supported by Hitler only as long as there was hope of obtaining super-powerful weapons before the end of the war he started. Heisenberg was invited by Speer and asked directly: “When can we expect the creation of a bomb capable of being suspended from a bomber?” The scientist was honest: “I believe it will take several years of hard work, in any case, the bomb will not be able to influence the outcome of the current war.” The German leadership rationally considered that there was no point in forcing events. Let the scientists work calmly - you'll see they'll be in time for the next war. As a result, Hitler decided to concentrate scientific, production and financial resources only on projects that would give the fastest return in the creation of new types of weapons. Government funding for the uranium project was curtailed. Nevertheless, the work of scientists continued.

Manfred von Ardenne, who developed a method for gas diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge.

Meanwhile overseas

Experience of recent enemies and allies

Naturally, the Soviet leadership could not remain indifferent to German atomic developments. At the end of the war, a group of Soviet physicists was sent to Germany, among whom were future academicians Artsimovich, Kikoin, Khariton, Shchelkin. Everyone was camouflaged in the uniform of Red Army colonels. The operation was led by First Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Ivan Serov, which opened any doors. In addition to the necessary German scientists, the “colonels” found tons of uranium metal, which, according to Kurchatov, shortened the work on the Soviet bomb by at least a year. The Americans also removed a lot of uranium from Germany, taking along the specialists who worked on the project. And in the USSR, in addition to physicists and chemists, they sent mechanics, electrical engineers, and glassblowers. Some were found in prisoner-of-war camps. For example, Max Steinbeck, the future Soviet academician and vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, was taken away when, at the whim of the camp commander, he was making a sundial. In total, at least 1,000 German specialists worked on the nuclear project in the USSR. The von Ardenne laboratory with a uranium centrifuge, equipment from the Kaiser Institute of Physics, documentation, and reagents were completely removed from Berlin. As part of the atomic project, laboratories “A”, “B”, “C” and “D” were created, the scientific directors of which were scientists who arrived from Germany.

K.A. Petrzhak and G. N. Flerov In 1940, in the laboratory of Igor Kurchatov, two young physicists discovered a new, very unique type of radioactive decay of atomic nuclei - spontaneous fission.

In December 1938, German physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann were the first in the world to artificially split the nucleus of a uranium atom.

Having received recognition in the USSR as a researcher and talented organizer, able to find effective solutions to complex problems, Dr. Riehl became one of the key figures in the Soviet atomic project. After successfully testing a Soviet bomb, he became a Hero of Socialist Labor and a Stalin Prize laureate.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 1971, the strategy of “realistic deterrence” was officially adopted. It was based on the idea of nuclear superiority over the USSR. The authors of the strategy took into account the emerging equality in the number of strategic carriers between the USA and the USSR. By that time, without taking into account the nuclear forces of England and France, the following balance of strategic weapons had developed. In terms of ground-based ICBMs, the United States has 1054 versus 1,300 in the Soviet Union, in terms of the number of SLBMs - 656 versus 300, and in strategic bombers- 550 versus 145, respectively. The new strategy for the development of strategic offensive arms provided for a sharp increase in the number of nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles while simultaneously improving them tactical and technical characteristics, which was supposed to provide qualitative superiority over the strategic nuclear forces of the Soviet Union.

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

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

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

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

The main form of use of American strategic offensive weapons was considered to be a sudden massive nuclear strike by all combat-ready ICBMs and SLBMs, as well as a certain number of heavy bombers. By this time, SLBMs had become the leading ones in the US nuclear triad. If before 1970 most of the nuclear weapons were considered strategic aviation, then in 1975, 4536 warheads were installed on 656 sea-based missiles (2154 charges on 1054 ICBMs, and 1800 on heavy bombers). Views on their use have also changed. In addition to striking cities, given the short flight time (12 - 18 minutes), submarine missiles could be used to destroy launching Soviet ICBMs on the active part of the trajectory or directly in launchers, preventing their launch before the approach of American ICBMs. The latter were entrusted with the task of destroying highly protected targets and, above all, silos and command posts missile units Strategic Missile Forces. In this way, a Soviet retaliatory nuclear strike on US territory could have been thwarted or significantly weakened. Heavy bombers were planned to be used to destroy surviving or newly identified targets.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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