Cobalt bomb. Cobalt bomb as a weapon of mass destruction

Theoretically, it is a thermonuclear warhead, in which the last shell contains not uranium-238, but cobalt. Natural cobalt is a monoisotopic element, it consists of 100% cobalt-59. During an explosion, this shell is irradiated with a strong neutron flux. As a result of neutron capture, the stable cobalt-59 nucleus is converted into the radioactive isotope cobalt-60. The half-life of cobalt-60 is 5.2 years; as a result of the beta decay of this nuclide, nickel-60 is formed in an excited state, which then passes to the ground state, emitting one or more gamma rays.

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The idea of ​​a cobalt bomb was described in February 1950 by physicist Leo Szilard, who suggested that an arsenal of cobalt bombs would be capable of destroying all humanity on the planet (the so-called Doomsday Machine, English Doomsday device, DDD). Cobalt was chosen as an element that, as a result of neutron activation, produces highly active and at the same time relatively long-lasting radioactive contamination. When using other elements, you can get contamination with isotopes with a long half-life, but their activity will be insufficient. There are also shorter-lived isotopes than cobalt-60, such as gold-198, zinc-65, sodium-24, but due to their rapid decay, part of the population may survive in bunkers.

Szilard's "Machine" doomsday" - a thermonuclear explosive device capable of producing cobalt-60 in quantities sufficient to destroy all humanity - does not involve any delivery means. A state (or terrorist organization) can use it as a tool of blackmail, threatening to detonate the Doomsday Machine on its territory and thereby destroy both its population and the rest of humanity. After the explosion, radioactive cobalt-60 will be carried throughout the planet by atmospheric currents over several months.

In the early 2000s, information appeared in the Russian press with reference to an interview with Colonel General E. A. Negin to foreign journalists that the group of Academician A. D. Sakharov allegedly offered N. S. Khrushchev to make a ship with cobalt plating containing a large amount of deuterium nearby nuclear bomb. If detonated off the east coast of America, radioactive fallout would fall on US territory.

Cobalt bombs in culture

Notes

1. The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (unavailable link), Samuel Glasstone and Philip J. Dolan (editors), United States Department of Defense and Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
2. 1.6 Cobalt Bombs and other Salted Bombs (undefined) . nuclearweaponarchive.org. Retrieved February 10, 2011. Archived July 28, 2012.
3. Ramzaev V. et al. Radiological investigations at the “Taiga” nuclear explosion site: Site description and in situ measurements (English) // Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. - 2011. - Vol. 102. - Iss. 7. - P. 672-680. - DOI:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.04.003.
4. Ramzaev V. et al. Radiological investigations at the “Taiga” nuclear explosion site, part II: man-made γ-ray emitting radionuclides in the ground and the resulting kerma rate in air (English) // Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. - 2012. - Vol. 109. - P. 1-12. -

The main calculation for a nuclear strike is made on the immediate effect that occurs directly during the explosion - a destructive shock wave, penetrating radiation, light radiation. At the same time, another very unpleasant one appears by-effect- radioactive contamination of the area. History knows a case when the military intended to rely on the last damaging factor, using a “dirty bomb” capable of making any territory uninhabitable for a very, very long time.

However, the first person to have such an idea was not a maniac scientist, not a dictator of a small third world country, or even a general from the Pentagon. In 1940, the aspiring but already promising American science fiction writer Robert Heinlein wrote the story “Bad Solution.” In Europe, the flywheel of World War II was already swinging, and the world, shuddering with anticipation the coming war, hastily armed himself; Heinlein was interested in physics, and therefore his creative thought flowed along an obvious channel: what new methods of murder could result from the latest achievements of science, in particular the fission of the uranium nucleus, discovered in 1939 by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann.

Interesting fact: in his story, Robert Heinlein foresaw its creation three years before the Manhattan Project. But if the result of research carried out within the framework of the real Manhattan Project were atomic bombs dropped on Japanese cities, then the scientists involved in the fictional Special Defense Project No. 347 were unable to solve the problem of controlling the nuclear reaction - and therefore decided to take a different path and take advantage of the deadly properties of radioactivity of unstable isotopes. In the alternative universe of the story, in order to force Germany to surrender, the United States of America dropped several dozen compact bombs with radioactive dust on Berlin in 1945 - the city was not damaged, but was completely depopulated - and then set a course for the world domination of democratic values, supported by “dirty bombs."

“Fantastic,” the reader will say. Alas, what Robert Heinlein wrote about was quite possible during the Second World War, and even more so can become a reality today. Especially after the media covered the topic of What is actually known about the Status-6 project

Radioactive dust

Radiological weapons, as “dirty bombs” are also called, do not need to be actual bombs. In Heinlein’s story, for example, the Russians (who created similar weapons almost simultaneously with the Americans) scattered radioactive dust over American cities directly from airplanes, like insecticide on the fields (by the way, another apt prediction of the author: long before cold war he foresaw that it was the USSR that would become the main rival of the United States in the field of superweapons). Even when made in the form of a bomb, such a weapon does not cause significant material destruction - a small explosive charge is used to disperse radioactive dust into the air.

During a nuclear explosion, a significant amount of various unstable isotopes is formed, in addition, contamination occurs with induced radioactivity resulting from neutron ionizing radiation of soil and objects. However, the level of radiation after a nuclear explosion drops relatively quickly, so the most dangerous period can be waited out in a bomb shelter, and the contaminated area after a few years becomes suitable for use for economic purposes and for living. For example, Hiroshima, which suffered from a uranium bomb, and Nagasaki, where a plutonium bomb was detonated, began to be rebuilt four years after the explosions.

It happens quite differently when a fairly powerful “dirty bomb” explodes, specifically designed to maximize contamination of the territory and turn it into something like the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Different radioactive isotopes have different half-lives, ranging from microseconds to billions of years. The most unpleasant of them are those whose half-life occurs over the course of years - a time significant relative to the duration of human life: you cannot sit them out in a bomb shelter; if they are sufficiently contaminated, the area remains radioactively dangerous for several decades, and generations will have time to change several times before they are destroyed. in the city (or in another territory) it will be possible to work and live again.

The most dangerous isotopes for humans include strontium-90 and strontium-89, cesium-137, zinc-64, tantalum-181. It should be kept in mind that different isotopes have different effects on the body. For example, iodine-131, although it has a relatively short half-life of eight days, poses a serious danger because it accumulates quickly in the thyroid gland. Radioactive strontium accumulates in bones, cesium in muscle tissue, carbon is distributed throughout the body.

The units of measurement of radiation absorbed by the body are the sievert (Sv) and the outdated, but still found in publications, the rem (“biological equivalent of an x-ray,” 1 rem = 0.01 Sv). The normal dose of radioactive radiation received by humans from natural sources throughout the year is 0.0035−0.005 Sv. Irradiation of 1 Sv is the lower threshold for the development of radiation sickness: the immune system is significantly weakened, health deteriorates, bleeding, hair loss and the occurrence of male infertility are possible. At a dose of 3-5 Sv, without serious medical care, half of the victims die within 1-2 months; survivors have a high probability of developing cancer. At 6-10 Sv, a person’s bone marrow almost completely dies; without a complete transplant there is no chance of survival; death occurs within 1-4 weeks. If a person received more than 10 Sv, it is impossible to save him.

In addition to somatic (that is, arising directly in an irradiated person) consequences, there are also genetic ones - manifested in his offspring. It should be borne in mind that even with a relatively small dose of radioactive radiation of 0.1 Sv, the probability of gene mutations doubles.

In 1952, Leo Szilard, a scientist who had discovered the nuclear chain reaction two decades earlier and a former participant in the Manhattan Project, general outline suggested the following idea: if hydrogen bomb surrounded by a shell of ordinary cobalt-59, then during the explosion it will turn into an unstable isotope cobalt-60 with a half-life of about 5.5 years - a powerful source of gamma radiation. Widespread (including in fiction) it is a misconception that a cobalt bomb is an extremely powerful explosive device, a “super nuclear bomb” - but this is not the case. The main damaging factor of a cobalt bomb is not a nuclear explosion at all, but the maximum possible radiation contamination of the area, so this bomb is the most “dirty”, if you like, “super-dirty”. To Szilard's credit, it should be said that he made his proposal not from militaristic motives and not in a state of naive detachment from reality, often characteristic of the priests of science, but solely in order to demonstrate the absurdity, the suicidal senselessness of the race for superweapons. But later other scientists conducted accurate calculations and came to the conclusion that if the size of the cobalt bomb is sufficient (and quite realistic for production), it (or a set of similar bombs) will destroy all life on Earth. And how can we know now whether they made these calculations out of their own curiosity or after a call from the Pentagon: “calculate the possibility, effectiveness, cost, report by evening”?..

No one has ever before proposed a feasible weapon option (no matter how massive its destructive effect) capable of sterilizing the entire planet. In the 1950s, RAND research center analyst Herman Kahn introduced the concept of “Doomsday Machines.” A state possessing such a device is capable of dictating its will to the whole world, but it will be the will of a suicide bomber clutching a grenade without a pin in his hand.

As Harrison Brown said in a radio discussion with Leo Szilard, “It is much easier to destroy all of humanity with such a bomb than to destroy a specific part of it.”

This is probably why, to this day, the cobalt bomb - as far as we know - remains a “hypothetical” weapon, like “dirty bombs” in general. But the threat of their use is high, higher than the threat of nuclear war. Especially in these stressful times. By the way, ironically, Szilard, like Heinlein who predicted the “dirty bomb,” was also known as a science fiction writer, the author of a number of science fiction stories, including those translated into Russian back in Soviet times.

So, the main destructive element of such weapons is still the scattered cobalt isotope. A nuclear or thermonuclear warhead is used exclusively to convert cobalt from its natural state to a radioactive state. Soon the term “Doomsday Machine” appeared for such devices. It became clear that a sufficient number of cobalt bombs could be guaranteed to destroy at least a large part of the Earth's population and the biosphere. In 1964, this super-cruelty of radiological weapons was played out in the feature film “Dr. Strangelove, or how I stopped being afraid and fell in love with the bomb” (directed by S. Kubrick). The same Dr. Strangelove from the movie title, having learned that the Soviet automatic system after the fall of an American bomb on the territory of the USSR, it set into motion the “Doomsday Machine”, he quickly calculated that the revival of humanity could begin only in more than ninety years. And then, with a number of appropriate measures, and the time for their implementation was rapidly decreasing.

The above-mentioned film is rightfully considered one of the best anti-militarist films. And, interestingly, the cannibalistic cobalt bomb was not proposed by Sillard out of a desire to quickly destroy a potential enemy. The physicist simply wanted to demonstrate the futility of further race in the field of weapons of mass destruction. In the mid-50s, American nuclear scientists calculated the technological and economic parts of the cobalt bomb project and were horrified. The creation of a Doomsday Machine capable of destroying all life on the planet was affordable for any country with nuclear technology. To avoid problems in the very near future, the Pentagon banned further work on the topic of dirty bombs using cobalt-60. This decision is quite understandable; in one of the radio broadcasts of the fifties with the participation of Sillard, a wonderful phrase was heard: “it is easier to destroy all of humanity with a cobalt bomb than a specific part of it.”

But stopping work on cobalt munitions did not guarantee that dirty bombs would not be used. The superpowers, and then the countries with nuclear technology, quickly came to the conclusion that such weapons made no sense. A nuclear or thermonuclear bomb can instantly destroy the enemy in the right place. It will be possible to occupy this territory in a matter of days after the explosion, when the radiation level drops to an acceptable level. But radiological weapons cannot work as quickly as nuclear weapons and “liberate” the area from their consequences just as quickly. Dirty bomb as a deterrent? This application is hampered by exactly the same problems. It turns out that large developed countries do not need dirty ammunition. Thanks to all this, radiological weapons were never officially adopted, never tested, and, moreover, never used in practice.

Who benefits from this?

As far as is known, no state officially has radiological weapons. It is unprofitable for traditional wars: “ dirty bomb"does not allow you to destroy the enemy instantly, like other types of weapons, its effect is extended over time, in addition, by long years it makes the territory unsuitable for capture and use - and even for the entry of troops. The “dirty bomb” is also not suitable as a deterrent weapon. the best option, when there are missiles with nuclear warheads.

However, while the “dirty bomb” is not suitable for either “hot” or “cold” armed confrontation, it is quite suitable for groups waging war by unconventional methods, primarily terrorist ones. Radiological weapons make it possible to inflict maximum damage on civilians - therefore, they are an ideal means of deterrence. September 11, 2001 during largest terrorist attack Almost 3,000 people died under the ruins of the Twin Towers. If a medium-power “dirty bomb” had exploded in the same place, the number of victims would have gone into the millions. The National Geographic Channel produced a 40-minute video showing the consequences of a hypothetical explosion of a small American-strontium “dirty bomb” in the middle of an American town - it clearly simulated the consequences of such an explosion.

Another dubious advantage of this type of weapon is its availability. In one of the publications on this topic, the “dirty bomb” was incorrectly, but very aptly called “an atomic bomb for the poor.” Only eight countries in the world have nuclear weapons. In order to make a real atomic bomb, you need resources that only developed countries have: research laboratories, high-tech production, and finally, weapons-grade uranium or plutonium, which cannot be obtained so easily. A “dirty” bomb can be made literally “on the knee”. Radioactive isotopes are now used very widely: in industry and energy, in medicine, in science and even in everyday life (for example, smoke detectors are often made based on americium-241), so if you want to obtain enough radioactive substances to make a bomb, it is not a problem. It is no coincidence that during US military operations in the Middle East and in the camps Chechen militants, as the press writes, drawings of “dirty bombs” have been found more than once (however, the latter may also be a “duck”).

There is another unpleasant scenario, similar in effect to the use of radiological weapons: a terrorist attack with an ordinary explosion at a nuclear power plant.

Today, when the danger of terrorist attacks is high, people need to know what is happening and how to behave in the event of explosions, including explosions of “dirty bombs”. Apparently, here it is worth directing readers to the National Geographic film, which is called “Dirty Bomb”. And although the film demonstrates the actions of the American civil defense system, the Russian viewer can also glean a lot of useful information from it.

The earth is full of rumors

Despite the fact that “dirty bombs” were never produced or used in actual combat, journalistic “canards” related to this topic regularly appeared in the press, causing mixed reactions from both the public and intelligence agencies. For example, from 1955 to 1963 the British tested atomic charges in Maralinga (South Australia). As part of this program, Operation Antler was carried out, the purpose of which was to test thermonuclear weapons. The program included three tests with charges of different powers (0.93, 5.67 and 26.6 kilotons), and in the first case (code name - Tadje, September 14, 1957) radiochemical tags made of ordinary cobalt (Co-59) were located at the test site ), which under the influence of neutrons turns into cobalt-60. By measuring the intensity of gamma radiation from the tags after testing, one can fairly accurately judge the intensity of the neutron flux during an explosion. The word "cobalt" was leaked to the press, leading to rumors that Britain had not only built a dirty cobalt bomb, but was testing it. The rumors were not confirmed, but the “duck” seriously damaged Britain’s international image - to the point that a royal commission went to Maralinga to check what British nuclear scientists were actually doing in Australia.

Dirty bomb at home

At the same time, dirty bombs have several alarming features. Firstly, it is relatively affordable. In order to have an atomic or hydrogen bomb, you need appropriate enterprises, the proper level of science and many other important nuances. But for the production of radiological warheads, a certain amount of any radioactive substance is enough, and there are, as they say, a lot of explosives in the world. Radioactive material can be taken from anywhere – even uranium ore or medical supplies, although in the latter case you will have to “pick apart” quite a large number of containers intended for oncology departments of hospitals. After all, smoke detectors often use suitable isotopes, such as americium-241.

So how many smoke detectors need to be picked apart so that the americium extracted in this way is enough to create a “dirty bomb” at home.

So, a modern HIS-07 smoke detector contains approximately 0.25 µg of americium-241 (0.9 µCi). The ancient Soviet RID-1 smoke detector contains two sources of 0.57 mCi of plutonium-239, which corresponds to approximately 8 mg (total 16 mg per sensor). The relatively new Soviet smoke detector RID-6M contains two sources of 5.7 µCi of plutonium-239, approximately 80 µg each (a total of 160 µg per sensor - not bad!).

The critical mass of a sphere of americium-241 under normal conditions without the use of a neutron reflector is estimated at 60 kg. The critical mass of a plutonium-239 sphere under normal conditions without the use of a neutron reflector is 11 kg. A neutron reflector and a well-thought-out implosion circuit could make it possible to create a bomb with only 0.2 of these masses. But even in this case, we will need plutonium from 140,000 RID-1 sensors, 14 million RID-6M sensors or 48 billion HIS-07.

As for the “dirty bomb,” we can say that the level of contamination of the earth’s surface will be dangerous at about 1 mCi/m2. This means that per 1 m² you need one RID-1, 100 RID-6M and 1000 HIS-07. But one RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generator, used, for example, at remote lighthouses and weather stations) Beta-M is enough for 35,000 m². And a pollution level of about 1 µCi/m2 will certainly be harmful and beyond any standards. Accordingly, RID-1 can thoroughly dirty 1000 m², RID-6M - 10 m², and HIS-07 - 1 m². Well, RTG Beta-M will pollute no less than 35 km².

These are, of course, conditional figures. Different isotopes have different dangers. What exactly is considered dangerous and what is harmful is very controversial issue. Plus, small amounts are sprayed unevenly, so the actual areas of contamination will be much smaller.

It is no coincidence that third world countries are mentioned in the context of radiological weapons. The fact is that dirty bombs are sometimes called “beggars’ nuclear weapons.” In particular, this is why notes regularly appear in the media around the world that talk about the discovery of blueprints or even parts of a finished dirty bomb in various parts of the world. I would really like all these messages to turn out to be banal newspaper ducks. There is ample reason to want just such an outcome. According to military analysts, if there had been a terrorist attack in New York on September 11, 2001, using not airplanes, but a dirty bomb... The number of victims would not have been in the thousands, but in the millions. In addition, a large part of the city would have to be turned into an exclusion zone similar to Chernobyl. In other words, radiological weapons can be considered a very attractive thing for terrorist organizations. Their “actions” are most often aimed at civilians, and dirty bombs could turn out to be a powerful “argument” in unreliable hands.

The accident at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant can be considered the clearest example of what can happen if radiological weapons are used. It should be noted that the actual impact of a real radiological bomb will be much weaker, if only because an explosion occurred in the nuclear power plant reactor with a power of at least several hundred kilograms of TNT (various unofficial sources even mention the equivalent of 100 tons), and after the explosion itself in In the destroyed structure, favorable conditions remained for the evaporation of radioactive material. It is unlikely that anyone would make a dirty bomb with five hundred kilograms of trinitrotoluene. If only because it is impractical.

Despite the lack of commercially produced designs, dirty bombs can be considered very dangerous, although mostly fictional weapons. And yet there remains some possibility that a dirty bomb could end up in the hands of dangerous individuals with less than good intentions. Intelligence agencies around the world are obliged to do everything to prevent radiological weapons from becoming hypothetical and becoming fully existent - the cost of this will be too high.

The Kremlin called it an “accident” that information about a secret program to create new Russian weapons appeared in the news releases of central television channels - a tablet with a presentation of the Status-6 complex appeared in the frame during a meeting on military issues at the Sochi residence of Vladimir Putin.

Indeed, some secret data there was captured by the camera lens, so they were subsequently deleted, TASS quotes presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. He added that measures will be taken to ensure that this does not happen again in the future.

While conspiracy theorists are arguing on blogs whether the leak was truly accidental or intentional, weapons forums are discussing the purpose and tactical and technical characteristics of Status-6, based on several television footage and historical calculations. From the information on the tablet caught in the camera lens, it is clear that we're talking about about the marine - more precisely, the ocean system, the carrier of which will be submarines.

On the left is a nuclear submarine under construction. special purpose"Belgorod" of project 09852 "Antey", on the right is the special-purpose nuclear submarine "Khabarovsk" of project 09851, which is under construction, the military blog reported. Both submarines are carriers of deep-sea vehicles and have a docking station in the bottom, which is why their cargo cannot be detected either from land or from a satellite.

Of particular interest to the public was the object in the center of the tablet - presumably, the actuator of the “Status”. A giant torpedo - essentially a robotic submarine - with a range of 10 thousand kilometers, a diving depth of a kilometer and a speed of 100 knots, will calmly bypass all hydroacoustic tracking stations and other traps and deliver its cargo where it should go.

The load is also not easy - as follows from the description of the project, we are talking about causing guaranteed unacceptable damage to the enemy by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination on the coast, unsuitable for human life for a long time. In open sources there is only one ammunition with characteristics suitable for this task. This is a cobalt bomb - a weapon described by one of the creators of the American atomic weapons Leo Szilard. The bomb is a thermonuclear weapon, the last shell of which contains not uranium-238, but cobalt-59. During a nuclear explosion, the shell is irradiated by a strong neutron flux and turns into the cobalt-60 isotope with the highest radioactivity and a half-life of more than five years.

The explosion of a cobalt bomb guarantees the destruction of all living things - unlike, say, isotopes of gold, zinc and sodium with a shorter half-life, when used, part of the population can sit out in bunkers. At the same time, practical tests of the ammunition were never carried out - due to the same severe radioactive contamination.

According to experts, a cobalt bomb cannot be used as an impact weapon due to the unsuitability of the affected areas for development and the risk of completely destroying the Earth's biosphere if used on a massive scale (according to calculations, this will require only 510 tons of cobalt). But it can be considered as a means of deterrence - together with a system on alert that guarantees a retaliatory strike with the full power of Russia's nuclear forces, even if command posts and the country's leadership are destroyed.

Russia has new types of weapons, including the advanced underwater drone “Status-6”, which is capable of carrying a nuclear charge on board. This combat vehicle seriously excited Western experts, who appreciated this development of the Russian defense industry and called it a “cobalt bomb” capable of turning entire continents into lifeless territories.

Researcher on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, Stephen Schwartz, in an interview with Business Insider, analyzed the combat capabilities of the unmanned Status-6 vehicle.

The expert said that the detonation of nuclear weapons near or on the surface of the earth causes radioactive fallout.

During an explosion, a fire cloud appears, which actually absorbs water or soil, contaminating it with radionuclides. The particles released into the atmosphere are then carried over vast distances.

Today, the United States has designed its nuclear weapons to destroy entire cities while creating minimal radioactive contamination. Their charges detonate in the air, and it is the shock wave that becomes the damaging factor.

He is "Status-6" experts expect much more. Despite the fact that there is still no exact information about the capabilities of Russian weapons, there are rumors that the underwater drone, in addition to the possibility of detonation in the water column, also contains the substance cobalt-59. Upon detonation, neutron capture will transform the isotope into radioactive cobalt-60. In this case, water particles and fields containing it will be able to spread thousands of kilometers around the epicenter of the explosion.

Stephen Schwartz concluded that if such weapons were used near Washington, radioactive fallout would also most likely reach Mexico and Canada. The impact will be so powerful that it will take at least 50 years until the intensity of ionizing radiation returns to background values. This will make the contaminated areas completely uninhabitable for this period.

The specialist noted that people who managed to hide underground, when trying to get to the surface, would be exposed to doses of radiation that would soon lead to their death.

Information about the Status-6 weapon is strictly classified, but earlier The Washington Free Beacon, citing American intelligence data, reported that the drone was allegedly tested at the end of 2016. During the tests, the vehicle was launched from the Sarov submarine.

According to currently available data, Status-6 has a range of about 10 thousand kilometers and can reach a speed of more than 56 knots at a diving depth of up to a kilometer. Now weapons are attributed to two damaging factors: radiation pollution and the creation of a tsunami.

Cameramen from Channel One and NTV “accidentally” broadcast documents about a new Russian development capable of destroying the United States from the ocean abyss. This is the most striking shot from the television report of the NTV channel about the event chaired by Russian President V.V. Putin on November 9, 2015, at a meeting on the development of the defense industry.

So what is known on this moment? Ocean multipurpose system “Status-6”. Developer – OJSC “TsKB MT “Rubin”. Purpose – “Destruction of important enemy economic targets in the coastal area. Causing guaranteed unacceptable damage to the territory of the country by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination, unsuitable for carrying out military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time.”

The proposed carriers are shown at the top left of a special-purpose nuclear submarine under construction “Belgorod” project 09852. On the right is a special-purpose nuclear submarine under construction “Khabarovsk” project 09851.

Retaliation weapon concept

The main damaging factor of the new torpedo is not the creation of a tsunami, but the massive nuclear contamination of the coast, making it impossible to conduct it there. economic activity and accommodation. Academician Sakharov also proposed using a cobalt bomb warhead as a weapon of retaliation against US ports and the coastal zone. This is a variant of an atomic weapon with an unusually high yield of radioactive material. (So, to ensure radioactive contamination of the entire surface of the Earth, only 510 tons of cobalt-60 are required).

Previously, it was believed that the cobalt bomb was only a theoretical weapon and no country actually possessed it. However measurements from the Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene named after. Ramzaeva near the site of testing nuclear charges in 1971 as part of the Taiga project, near Perm with the officially declared legend of explosions to create the Pechora-Kolva canal, radiation contamination with cobalt-60 isotopes was revealed. It can only be obtained artificially.

According to The Daily Mirror

The fact that the “Status-6” demonstration was carried out during a meeting of the Russian Ministry of Defense dedicated to the US missile defense system, this weapon is considered as an asymmetric response to the US missile defense system - it is helpless against strategic nuclear torpedoes. Making a comparison, American sources note that the diving depth and speed of the Status-6 significantly exceed the capabilities of the US Mark 54 anti-submarine torpedoes. In addition, the Russian military design bureau is developing a whole line of .

In addition, it is very likely that the ideas of Academician Sakharov are involved in the project. He proposed using an armored version of the torpedo to reduce the likelihood of being hit by anti-submarine weapons and to ensure a breakthrough of anti-torpedo networks without damaging the nuclear carrier.

The Washington Free Beacon (WFB) received

Even before the publication of the TV report about “Status-6”, sources in the Pentagon provided information that a “high-speed, long-range nuclear torpedo with nuclear weapons of tens of megatons” was being created. The goal is to cause “catastrophic damage” to US ports and coastal areas. According to Pentagon experts, such a torpedo cannot be intercepted. And the use of such weapons violates the idea of ​​humanity and customs of war.

The Washington Times polled

leading American military analysts. How do they evaluate the design of a nuclear torpedo capable of destroying a wide coastal strip? Jack Caravelli, who previously worked for the CIA in the intelligence department against Russia, assessed the weapon as “extremely aggressive.” He believes that it can cause irreparable damage to the coastal cities of the United States and its allies.

Mark Schneider, former Pentagon analyst

on nuclear strategy, noted that he noticed RIA Novosti publications where an engineer for the development of underwater systems was interviewed, which he classified specifically as this weapon. General Robert Kehler, former manager strategic nuclear forces and US missile defense, assessed the development of a nuclear torpedo as extremely alarming for US security.

The Washington Times notes

Also, the head of the US Navy, Ray Maybus, in his speech in April 2015, mentioned “revolutionary undersea systems” that are capable of attacking the most protected waters of the United States.

Business Insider and The Washington Time s

also stated that previously authoritative analysts from the Jane’s 360 portal noted a change in the naval doctrine of the Russian Federation with the advent of certain uninhabited underwater vehicles for strategic purposes. Special purpose submarines have already been accepted for combat duty. Thus, on August 1, in Severodvinsk, a ceremony was held to remove the special-purpose nuclear submarine BS-64 Podmoskovye from the slipway of workshop No. 15.

The submarine was converted from the K-64 missile carrier of Project 667BDRM. Now it is a boat designed to work with nuclear deep-sea stations (AGS) and uninhabited underwater vehicles in the interests of top-secret Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) Russian Ministry of Defense . This boat has yet to undergo mooring and then factory sea trials. After this, the BS-64 Podmoskovye will replace the Orenburg boat in the fleet. (In 1996-2002, also converted from a Project 667BDR missile carrier).

During trips to sea for sea trials and state trials, the BS-64 will presumably interact with the AGS of the Sperm Whale, Halibut and Losharik projects. It will serve as a mother boat, which secretly delivers an underwater special object for battery life. "Orenburg" and AGS are part of the 29th separate brigade of submarines of the Northern Fleet, which performs tasks in the interests of the GUGI.

For reference:

Until 1986, the “kids” were not included in the Navy. They were part of a General Staff unit associated with the GRU. Note that at the beginning of September this year The American publication The Washington Free Beacon reported , that Russia is allegedly creating an “underwater drone” codenamed “Canyon”. He is believed to be able to carry nuclear weapon with a capacity of tens of megatons and threaten US ports and coastal cities.

Then naval analyst Norman Polmar suggested that the Canyon system was based on the Soviet T-15 linear nuclear torpedo with a yield of 100 megatons (the idea of ​​Academician Sakharov). It was designed in the 1950s to attack coastal targets in the United States.

Academician Igor Nikolaevich Ostretsov

talked about the T-15 concept like this: “ A young nuclear physicist from Arzamas-16, Andrei Sakharov, suggested that the curator of atomic projects, Lavrentiy Beria, “wash America off the face of the earth.”

What did the scientist suggest? Send a powerful tsunami onto the United States. To do this, blow up a super torpedo with a hot filling off the coast of America.

He painted picture after picture: a giant wave more than 300 m high comes from the Atlantic and hits New York, Philadelphia, Washington. Tsunami washes away The White house and the Pentagon.

Another wave hits the West Coast in the Charleston area. Two more waves hit San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Just one wave is enough to wash away Houston, New Orleans and Pensacola to the Gulf Coast.

Submarines and aircraft carriers have been thrown ashore. Ports and naval bases have been destroyed... Sakharov considered such a project to be completely justified from a moral point of view.”

One should not, of course, accuse Academician Sakharov of being particularly bloodthirsty. Although he was definitely not a humanist, proposing such a plan. You cannot take a person’s actions out of historical context. Then there was a time of greatest instability and danger in the world - the USA and the USSR were one step away from nuclear war.

For security reasons, as well as taking into account other factors, the “Sakharov torpedo” (T-15) was developed without the participation of the Navy.

The Navy learned about it only through the project of the first nuclear submarine. At one time, it was precisely for such a large torpedo that the first Soviet nuclear submarine of Project 627 was specially created. It was supposed to have not eight torpedo tubes, but one - with a caliber of 1.55 meters and a length of up to 23.5 meters.

It was assumed that the T-15 would be able to approach the American naval base and with a super-powerful charge of several tens of megatons, destroy all living things. But then this idea was abandoned in favor of a submarine with eight torpedoes, which could solve a whole range of tasks. As a result, Project 627A nuclear submarines were created.

There is information that Soviet admirals, having familiarized themselves with the project in 1954, stated that the submarine could be destroyed on the approach to the American base. Moreover, the entrances to American bases many kilometers away the winding shores of bays, islands, shoals, as well as booms and steel nets are covered.

How said military expert and historian Alexander Shirokorad , in 1961, the T-15 idea was again revived at the suggestion of academician Andrei Sakharov.

- The fact is that in fact the tactics of using such a super-torpedo could be completely different. The nuclear submarine was supposed to secretly fire a torpedo at a distance from the coast much greater than 40 km. Having used up all the energy of the batteries, the T-15 would lie on the ground, that is, it would become an intelligent bottom mine. The torpedo fuse could remain in the waiting mode for a long time for a signal from an aircraft or ship, through which the charge could be detonated. The point is that damage to naval bases, ports and other coastal facilities, including cities, would be caused by a powerful shock wave - a tsunami, caused by a nuclear explosion...

In accordance with the project, the torpedo weighed 40 tons, had a length of 23.55 meters and a caliber of 1550 mm.

Ongoing the objections of the Navy leadership had an effect in 1955, when technical project 627 has been corrected. The submarine's ammunition load was 20 torpedoes, eight of which were 533-mm T-5 torpedoes carrying tactical nuclear weapons. After this, work on the T-15 torpedo was stopped...

Deputy Director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis Alexander Khramchikhin I am convinced of the following. In principle, there cannot be a scenario of an unplanned leak of information about developments classified as “Top Secret” in the media. “There is no doubt that this is a deliberate hoax. The goal is to make a known adversary think about his actions.”

Corresponding member of RARAN, captain 1st rank reserve Konstantin Sivkov commenting on this “leak” in the media, he suggests that, apparently, we are talking about the fact that special-purpose submarines will carry out combat missions in the future. “If the ocean multi-purpose system “Status-6” is really being developed, then this, in my opinion, can only indicate one thing - our leadership is aware of the likelihood of a military clash with the West and is taking measures to counter the American threat of a military-technical nature - the concept of “Rapid Global blow" etc.

Moreover, apparently, the threat is quite serious, since we are talking about such a variant of guaranteed deterrence. At one time, I put forward the idea (I voiced it at the international military-technical forum "Army-2015") that Russia needs to develop asymmetrical mega weapon, which will eliminate any threat of a large-scale war against Russia, even in conditions of the enemy’s absolute superiority in traditional defeat systems. Apparently, this development is in the same paradigm.

From a geophysical point of view, the United States is a very vulnerable country.

A guaranteed source of catastrophic geophysical processes there may be, first of all, a blow to Yellowstone supervolcano. This initiates a powerful eruption. The detonation of powerful ammunition in the area of ​​the San Andreas, San Gabriel or San Jocinto faults is also being considered. Exposure to a sufficiently powerful nuclear weapon could trigger catastrophic events that could completely destroy US infrastructure on the Pacific coast with a large-scale tsunami. Initiating giant tsunamis is also the idea of ​​Academician Sakharov.

When several munitions are detonated at design points along the Atlantic and Pacific transform faults, according to scientists, a wave will be formed that will reach a height of 400-500 meters or more off the US coast...

It is quite possible to initiate such large-scale geophysical processes. Today it is possible to “fit” high-power ammunition into the weight and size characteristics of, for example, the same ICBM. home headache And main question, which torments NATO analysts: “what if the Russians already have an underwater drone - a means of delivering nuclear ammunition?”

After the TV report was released, The WBF newspaper and Russian Forces deciphered the data on the RF Ministry of Defense slide as follows.

The torpedo is intended primarily for radioactive contamination of coastal US cities (comments note that armament with a warhead capable of tens of megatons is quite likely).

Approximate diving depth is 3200 feet (1000m). Torpedo speed is 56 knots (103 km/h). Range – 6200 miles (10000 km). The main torpedo carriers are nuclear submarines of projects 09852 and 09851.

The torpedo is equipped with a nuclear reactor. (For the T-15, Academician Sakharov assumed the use of direct-flow water steam nuclear reactor). The system is controlled from special command ships.

Torpedoes are created for servicing auxiliary vessels. The torpedo can also be transported by the Sarov submarine and a “special vessel”.

According to Pavel Podvig from the RussianForces portal , the first to notice the “leak”, a special vessel is used in the event of a torpedo accident.

Is the project promising? Whether there are torpedoes in stock and exactly how many are currently on combat duty is unknown. On November 11, 2015, a project of a nuclear torpedo “Status-6” with a range of 10,000 km, a travel depth of 1000 meters and a caliber of 1.6 meters, close to the T-15 and classified as a continuation of the T-15 by many experts, was “accidentally” demonstrated.

According to naval technology expert Norman Polmar published by The Washington Times Even before the “leak”, we should expect the Russian Federation to revive the T-15 project in a new capacity.

In the stories of a number of Russian television channels about a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on defense topics (held on November 9), footage of the secret “Status-6” system was actually shown. This was stated by presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov , Interfax reports. “Indeed, some secret data got into the camera lens there. They were subsequently removed. We hope that this will not happen again,” Peskov said. When asked whether any organizational conclusions were followed in connection with such a leak of information, Peskov said: “I am not yet aware of any measures. But in the future we will certainly take preventive measures to ensure that this does not happen again.”

On television footage of a number of Russian channels one could see a printout of a slide dedicated to the “Ocean multi-purpose system “Status-6””, developed by the Central Design Bureau for MT “Rubin”. According to information shown on the slide, the system is a massive torpedo (labeled a “self-propelled underwater vehicle”). The cruising range is up to 10 thousand kilometers and the cruising depth is about 1000 meters. A certain “combat module” has been proposed as equipment.

The purpose of the system, according to the slide, is formulated as “the destruction of important objects of the enemy’s economy in the coastal area and causing guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country’s territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination, unsuitable for carrying out military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time.” .

Special nuclear submarines of projects 90852 Belgorod and 09851 Khabarovsk are indicated as carriers of the system.

Special nuclear submarine "Belgorod" project 949A\09852 in the factory workshop

2015-11-11T23:23:03+05:00 Sergey Sinenko Analysis - forecast Defense of the Fatherlandanalysis, army, atomic bomb, defense of the Fatherland, Russia, USAOcean multi-purpose system "Status-6" (new weapon of retaliation) TV operators from Channel One and NTV “accidentally” broadcast documents about a new Russian development capable of destroying the United States from the ocean depths. This is the most striking shot from the television report of the NTV channel about the event chaired by Russian President V.V. Putin on November 9, 2015, at a meeting on the development of the defense industry. So,...Sergei Sinenko Sergei Sinenko [email protected] Author In the Middle of Russia