Types of weapons of mass destruction
Content
Nuclear weapon
Characteristics of nuclear weapons. Types of explosions
1.2 Damaging factors
a) Shock wave
b) Light healing
c) Penetrating radiation
d) Radioactive contamination
e) Electromagnetic pulse
1.3 Features of the destructive effect of neutron ammunition
1.4 Nuclear source
1.5 Zones of radioactive contamination in the wake of a nuclear explosion
Chemical weapon
2.1 Characteristics of chemical agents, means of combating and protecting against them
a) nerve agents
b) vesicant agent
c) Asphyxiating agent
d) Generally toxic agent
e) Agents of psychochemical action
2.2 Binary chemical munitions
2.3 Site of chemical damage
Bacteriological (biological) weapons
3.1 Characteristics of bacterial agents
3.2 Site of bacteriological damage
3.3 Observation and quarantine
Nuclear weapon
Characteristics of nuclear weapons. Types of explosions.
Nuclear weapons are one of the main types of weapons of mass destruction. It is capable of incapacitating a large number of people in a short time and destroying buildings and structures over large areas. The massive use of nuclear weapons is fraught with catastrophic consequences for all humanity, which is why they are being banned.
The destructive effect of nuclear weapons is based on the energy released during explosive nuclear reactions. The explosion power of a nuclear weapon is usually expressed by TNT equivalent, that is, the amount of conventional explosive (TNT), the explosion of which releases the same amount of energy as it is released during the explosion of a given nuclear weapon. TNT equivalent is measured in tons (kilotons, megatons).
The means of delivering nuclear weapons to targets are missiles (the main means of delivering nuclear strikes), aviation and artillery. In addition, nuclear land mines can be used.
Nuclear explosions are carried out in the air at various heights, near the surface of the earth (water) and underground (water). In accordance with this, they are usually divided into high-altitude, air, ground (surface) and underground (underwater). The point at which the explosion occurred is called the center, and its projection onto the surface of the earth (water) is called the epicenter of the nuclear explosion.
Damaging factors of a nuclear explosion.
The damaging factors of a nuclear explosion are shock wave, light radiation, penetrating radiation, radioactive contamination and electromagnetic pulse.
Shock wave.
The main damaging factor of a nuclear explosion, since most of the destruction and damage to structures, buildings, as well as injuries to people are usually caused by its impact. It is an area of sharp compression of the medium, spreading in all directions from the explosion site at supersonic speed. The front boundary of air compression is called the shock wave front.
The damaging effect of a shock wave is characterized by the magnitude of excess pressure. Excess pressure is the difference between the maximum pressure at the shock wave front and the normal atmospheric pressure ahead of it. It is measured in newtons per square meter (N/m2). This unit of pressure is called the pascal (Pa). 1 N/m 2 =1 Pa (1 kPa” 0.01 kgf/cm 2).
With excess pressure of 20-40 kPa, unprotected people can suffer minor injuries (minor bruises and contusions). Exposure to a shock wave with an excess pressure of 40-60 kPa leads to moderate damage: loss of consciousness, damage to the hearing organs, severe dislocations of the limbs, bleeding from the nose and ears. Severe injuries occur when excess pressure exceeds 60 kPa and are characterized by severe contusions of the entire body, broken limbs and damage to internal organs. Extremely severe injuries, often fatal, are observed at excess pressure above 100 kPa.
The speed of movement and the distance over which the shock wave propagates depend on the power of the nuclear explosion; As the distance from the explosion increases, the speed quickly decreases. Thus, when an ammunition with a power of 20 kt explodes, the shock wave travels 1 km in 2 s, 2 km in 5 s, 3 km in 8 s. During this time, a person after an outbreak can take cover and avoid defeat.
Light radiation.
It is a stream of radiant energy that includes visible ultraviolet and infrared rays. Its source is a luminous area formed by hot explosion products and hot air. Light radiation spreads almost instantly and lasts, depending on the power of the nuclear explosion, up to 20 s. However, its strength is such that, despite its short duration, it can cause burns to the skin (skin), damage (permanent or temporary) to people’s organs of vision and fire of flammable materials and objects.
Light radiation does not penetrate through opaque materials, so any barrier that can create a shadow protects against the direct action of light radiation and prevents burns. Light radiation is significantly weakened in dusty (smoky) air, fog, rain, and snowfall.
Penetrating radiation.
This is a stream of gamma rays and neutrons. It lasts 10-15 s. Passing through living tissue, gamma radiation and neutrons ionize the molecules that make up the cells. Under the influence of ionization, biological processes arise in the body, leading to disruption of the vital functions of individual organs and the development of radiation sickness. As a result of the passage of radiation through environmental materials, their intensity decreases. The attenuating effect is usually characterized by a layer of half attenuation, i.e. such a thickness of material, passing through which the radiation intensity is halved. For example, steel with a thickness of 2.8 cm, concrete - 10 cm, soil - 14 cm, wood - 30 cm, attenuates the intensity of gamma rays by half.
Open and especially closed cracks reduce the impact of penetrating radiation, and shelters and anti-radiation shelters almost completely protect against it.
Radioactive contamination.
Its main sources are fission products of a nuclear charge and radioactive isotopes formed as a result of the influence of neutrons on the materials from which nuclear weapons are made, and on some elements that make up the soil in the area of the explosion.
In a ground-based nuclear explosion, the glowing area touches the ground. Masses of evaporating soil are drawn inside it and rise upward. As they cool, vapors of soil fission products condense on solid particles. A radioactive cloud is formed. It rises to a height of many kilometers, and then moves with the wind at a speed of 25-100 km/h. Radioactive particles falling from the cloud to the ground form a zone of radioactive contamination (trace), the length of which can reach several hundred kilometers.
Radioactive substances pose the greatest danger in the first hours after deposition, since their activity is highest during this period.
Electromagnetic pulse.
This is a short-term electromagnetic field that occurs during the explosion of a nuclear weapon as a result of the interaction of gamma rays and neutrons emitted by a nuclear explosion with atoms of the environment. The consequence of its impact is burnout or breakdown of individual elements of radio-electronic and electrical equipment.
People can only be harmed if they come into contact with long wire lines at the time of the explosion.
The most reliable means of protection against all damaging factors of a nuclear explosion are protective structures. In the field you should take cover behind strong local objects, reverse slopes of heights, and in folds of the terrain.
When operating in contaminated zones, to protect the respiratory organs, eyes and open areas of the body from radioactive substances, respiratory protective equipment (gas masks, respirators, anti-dust fabric masks and cotton-gauze bandages), as well as skin protection products, are used.
Features of the damaging effect of neutron ammunition.
Neutron munitions are a type of nuclear munition. They are based on thermonuclear charges, which use nuclear fission and fusion reactions. The explosion of such ammunition has a damaging effect primarily on people due to the powerful flow of penetrating radiation, a significant part (up to 40%) of which is so-called fast neutrons.
When a neutron munition explodes, the area affected by penetrating radiation exceeds the area affected by the shock wave by several times. In this zone, equipment and structures can remain unharmed, but people receive fatal injuries.
To protect against neutron munitions, the same means and methods are used as for protection against conventional nuclear munitions. In addition, when constructing shelters and shelters, it is recommended to compact and moisten the soil laid above them, increase the thickness of the ceilings, and provide additional protection for entrances and exits.
The protective properties of equipment are increased by the use of combined protection consisting of hydrogen-containing substances (for example, polyethylene) and high-density materials (lead).
The source of nuclear damage.
The source of nuclear damage is the territory that was directly exposed to the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. It is characterized by massive destruction of buildings, structures, rubble, accidents in utility networks, fires, radioactive contamination and significant losses among the population.
The more powerful the nuclear explosion, the larger the source size. The nature of the destruction in the outbreak also depends on the strength of the structures of buildings and structures, their number of storeys and building density.
The outer boundary of the source of nuclear damage is taken to be a conventional line on the ground drawn at such a distance from the epicenter (center) of the explosion where the excess pressure of the shock wave is equal to 10 kPa.
The source of nuclear damage is conventionally divided into zones - areas with approximately the same nature of destruction.
The zone of complete destruction is an area exposed to a shock wave with excess pressure (at the outer boundary) of over 50 kPa.
All buildings and structures in the zone, as well as anti-radiation shelters and part of the shelters, are completely destroyed, continuous rubble is formed, and the utility and energy network is damaged.
The zone of severe destruction is with excess pressure in the shock wave front from 50 to 30 kPa. In this zone, ground buildings and structures are severely damaged, local rubble is formed, and continuous and massive fires will occur. Most shelters will remain intact; some shelters will have their entrances and exits blocked. People in them can be injured only due to a violation of the sealing, flooding or gas contamination of the premises.
The zone of medium destruction is with excess pressure in the shock wave front from 30 to 20 kPa. In it, buildings and structures will suffer moderate damage. Shelters and basement-type shelters will remain. Light radiation will cause continuous fires.
The zone of weak destruction is with excess pressure in the shock wave front from 20 to 10 kPa. Buildings will suffer minor damage. Individual fires will arise from light radiation.
Zones of radioactive contamination on the trail of a nuclear explosion cloud.
A radioactive contamination zone is an area that has been contaminated by radioactive substances as a result of their fallout after ground (underground) and low air nuclear explosions.
The harmful effects of ionizing radiation are assessed by the received radiation dose (radiation dose) D, i.e., the energy of these rays absorbed per unit volume of the irradiated environment. This energy is measured by existing dosimetric instruments in roentgens (R).
X-ray is the amount of gamma radiation that creates 2.08 x 10 9 ions in 1 cm 2 of dry air (at a temperature of 0 ° C and a pressure of 760 mm Hg).
To assess the intensity of ionizing radiation emitted by radioactive substances in a contaminated area, the concept of ionizing radiation dose rate F (radiation level) is introduced. It is measured in roentgens per hour (R/h); small dose rates are measured in milliroentgens per hour (mR/h).
The radiation dose rate is gradually reduced. Thus, the radiation dose rate measured 1 hour after a ground-based nuclear explosion will decrease by half after 2 hours, four times after 3 hours, ten times after 7 hours, and a hundred times after 49.
It should be noted that in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant with the release of fragments of nuclear fuel (radionuclides), the area can be contaminated for from several months to several years.
The degree of radioactive contamination and the size of the contaminated area (radioactive trace) during a nuclear explosion depend on the power and type of explosion, meteorological conditions, as well as the nature of the terrain and soil.
The dimensions of the radioactive trace are conventionally divided into zones (Fig. 1).
Extremely dangerous contamination zone. At the outer boundary of the zone, the radiation dose from the moment radioactive substances fall out of the cloud onto the terrain until their complete disintegration is equal to 4000 R (in the middle of the zone - 10,000 R), the radiation dose rate 1 hour after the explosion is 800 R/h.
Dangerous contamination zone. At the outer boundary of the radiation zone – 1200 R, radiation dose rate after 1 hour – 240 R/h.
Area of heavy infection. At the outer boundary of the radiation zone – 400 R, radiation dose rate after 1 hour – 80 R/h.
Moderate infection zone. At the outer boundary of the radiation zone - 40 R, radiation dose rate after 1 hour - 8 R/h.
As a result of exposure to ionizing radiation, as well as exposure to penetrating radiation, people develop radiation sickness. A dose of 150-250 R causes radiation sickness of the first degree, a dose of 250-400 R causes radiation sickness of the second degree, a dose of 400-700 R causes radiation sickness of the third degree, a dose over 700 R causes radiation sickness of the fourth degree.
A single dose of irradiation up to 50 R over four days, as well as multiple irradiation up to 100 R over 10-30 days, does not cause external signs of the disease and is considered safe.
Chemical weapon
Chemical weapons are weapons of mass destruction, the action of which is based on the toxic properties of certain chemicals. This includes chemical warfare agents and means of their use.
Characteristics of toxic substances, means and methods of protection against them.
Toxic substances (0B) are chemical compounds that, when used, can infect people and animals over large areas, penetrate various structures, and contaminate terrain and water bodies. They are used to equip missiles, aircraft bombs, artillery shells and mines, chemical landmines, as well as airborne discharge devices (VAP).
Based on their effect on the human body, 0Bs are divided into nerve paralytic, vesicant, suffocating, common poisonous irritant and psychotropic.
0V nerve agent.
VX (Vi-X), sarin, affects the nervous system when acting on the body through the respiratory system, when penetrating in a vaporous and droplet-liquid state through the skin, as well as when entering the gastrointestinal tract along with food and water. Their durability lasts for more than a day in the summer, and several weeks and even months in the winter. These agents are the most dangerous. A very small amount of them is enough to infect a person.
Signs of damage are: salivation, constriction of the pupils (miosis), difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, paralysis.
A gas mask and protective clothing are used as personal protective equipment. To provide first aid to the affected person, a gas mask is put on him and the antidote is injected into him using a syringe tube or by taking a tablet. If nerve agents come into contact with skin or clothing, the affected areas are treated with liquid from an individual anti-chemical package (IPP).
0B vesicant action.
(Sulfur mustard) have a multilateral effect. In a droplet-liquid and vapor state, they affect the skin and eyes, when inhaling vapors - the respiratory tract and lungs, when ingested with food and water - the digestive organs. A characteristic feature of mustard gas is the presence of a period of latent action (the lesion is not detected immediately, but after some time - 2 hours or more). Signs of damage are redness of the skin, the formation of small blisters, which then merge into large ones and burst after two to three days, turning into difficult-to-heal ulcers. With any local damage, agents cause general poisoning of the body, which manifests itself in increased temperature and malaise.
When using blister agents, it is necessary to wear a gas mask and protective clothing. If drops of chemical agents come into contact with skin or clothing, the affected areas are immediately treated with liquid from the PPI.
0V asphyxiating effect.
(phosgene) affects the body through the respiratory system. Signs of damage are a sweetish, unpleasant taste in the mouth, cough, dizziness, and general weakness. These phenomena disappear after leaving the source of infection, and the victim feels normal within 4-6 hours, unaware of the damage he has received. During this period (latent action) pulmonary edema develops. Then breathing may sharply worsen, a cough with copious sputum, headache, fever, shortness of breath, and palpitations may appear.
In case of defeat, a gas mask is put on the victim, they are taken out of the contaminated area, they are covered warmly and they are provided with peace.
Under no circumstances should you perform artificial respiration on the victim!
0B generally poisonous.
(hydrocyanic acid and cyanogen chloride) affect only when inhaling air contaminated with their vapors (they do not act through the skin). Signs of damage include a metallic taste in the mouth, throat irritation, dizziness, weakness, nausea, severe convulsions, and paralysis. To protect against these chemical agents, it is enough to use a gas mask.
To help the victim, you need to crush the ampoule with the antidote and insert it under the gas mask helmet. In severe cases, the victim is given artificial respiration, warmed up and sent to a medical center.
0V irritant.
CS (CS), adamsite, etc. cause acute burning and pain in the mouth, throat and eyes, severe lacrimation, coughing, and difficulty breathing.
0B psychochemical action.
BZ (Bi-Z) specifically acts on the central nervous system and causes mental (hallucinations, fear, depression) or physical (blindness, deafness) disorders.
If you are affected by an irritant or psychochemical agent, it is necessary to treat the infected areas of the body with soapy water, and shake out the uniform and clean it with a brush. Victims should be removed from the contaminated area and provided with medical care.
Binary chemical munitions.
Unlike other ammunition, they are equipped with two non-toxic or low-toxic components (CA), which during the flight of the ammunition to the target are mixed and enter into a chemical reaction with each other to form highly toxic agents, for example VX or sarin.
0 stage of chemical damage.
The territory within which mass casualties of people and farm animals occurred as a result of exposure to chemical weapons is called a lesion site. Its dimensions depend on the scale and method of application of the agent, the type of agent, meteorological conditions, terrain and other factors.
Particularly dangerous are persistent nerve agent agents, the vapors of which travel in the wind over a fairly large distance (15-25 km or more).
The duration of the damaging effect of the agent is shorter, the stronger the wind and rising air currents. In forests, parks, ravines, and on narrow streets, pollutants persist longer than in open areas.
The area directly exposed to chemical weapons and the area over which a cloud of contaminated air has spread in damaging concentrations is called a chemical contamination zone. There are primary and secondary zones of infection.
The primary zone of contamination is formed as a result of exposure to a primary cloud of contaminated air, the source of which is vapors and aerosols of chemical agents that appeared directly from the explosion of chemical munitions. The secondary contamination zone is formed as a result of the influence of a cloud, which is formed during the evaporation of droplets of chemical agents that settle after the explosion of chemical munitions.
Bacteriological weapons.
Bacteriological weapons are a means of mass destruction of people, farm animals and plants. Its action is based on the use of pathogenic properties of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, rickettsia, fungi, as well as toxins produced by some bacteria). Bacteriological weapons include formulations of pathogenic organisms and means of delivering them to the target (missiles, aerial bombs and containers, aerosol sprays, artillery shells, etc.).
Bacteriological weapons are capable of causing mass diseases in humans and animals over vast areas; they have a damaging effect over a long period of time and have a long latent (incubation) period of action.
Microbes and toxins are difficult to detect in the external environment; they can penetrate with the air into unsealed shelters and rooms and infect people and animals in them.
Signs of the use of bacteriological weapons are:
the dull sound of shells and bombs exploding, unusual for conventional ammunition;
the presence of large fragments and individual parts of ammunition in places of explosions;
the appearance of drops of liquid or powdery substances on the ground;
unusual accumulation of insects and mites in areas where ammunition ruptures and containers fall;
mass diseases of people and animals.
The use of bacterial agents can be determined using laboratory tests.
Characteristics of bacterial agents, methods of protection against them.
Causative agents of various infectious diseases can be used as bacterial agents: plague, anthrax, brucellosis, glanders, tularemia, cholera, yellow and other types of fever, spring-summer encephalitis, typhus and typhoid fever, influenza, malaria, dysentery, smallpox and others. In addition, botulinum toxin can be used, which causes severe poisoning of the human body.
To infect animals, along with the pathogens of anthrax and glanders, it is possible to use viruses of foot-and-mouth disease, cattle and bird plague, swine cholera, etc.; for the destruction of agricultural plants - pathogens of cereal rust, late blight, potatoes and some other diseases.
Infection of people and animals occurs as a result of inhalation of contaminated air, contact with microbes and toxins on the mucous membrane and damaged skin, consumption of contaminated food and water, bites of infected insects and ticks, contact with a contaminated object, injury from fragments of ammunition filled with bacterial agents, and also as a result of direct communication with sick people (animals). A number of diseases are quickly transmitted from sick people to healthy people and cause epidemics (plague, cholera, typhoid, influenza, etc.).
The main means of protecting the population from bacteriological weapons include: serum vaccine preparations, antibiotics, sulfonamide and other medicinal substances used for special and emergency prevention of infectious diseases, personal and collective protective equipment, chemical substances used for neutralization.
If signs of the use of bacteriological weapons are detected, immediately put on gas masks (respirators, masks), as well as skin protection and report bacteriological contamination.
The source of bacteriological infection.
The source of bacteriological damage is considered to be populated areas and objects of the national economy that have been directly exposed to bacterial agents that create a source of spread of infectious diseases. Its boundaries are determined on the basis of bacteriological reconnaissance data, laboratory studies of samples from environmental objects, as well as identification of patients and ways of spreading emerging infectious diseases. Armed guards are installed around the outbreak, entry and exit, as well as the removal of property are prohibited.
Observation and quarantine.
Observation is a specially organized medical observation of the population in the focus of bacteriological damage, including a number of activities aimed at timely detection and isolation in order to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases. At the same time, with the help of antibiotics, emergency prevention of possible diseases is carried out, necessary vaccinations are given, and strict adherence to the rules of personal and public hygiene is monitored, especially in catering units and public areas. Food and water are used only after they have been reliably disinfected.
The observation period is determined by the length of the maximum incubation period for a given disease and is calculated from the moment of isolation of the last patient and the end of disinfection in the lesion.
In the case of the use of pathogens of particularly dangerous infections - plague, cholera, smallpox - quarantine is established. Quarantine is a system of the most stringent isolation and restrictive measures carried out to prevent the spread of infectious diseases from the source of infection and to eliminate the source itself.
Literature:
Kostrov A.M. Civil defense.
M.: Education, 1991. – 64 p.: ill.
On January 16, 1963, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the world community that a new weapon of terrible destructive power had appeared in the USSR - the hydrogen bomb. Today is a review of the most destructive weapons.
Hydrogen "Tsar Bomb"
The most powerful hydrogen bomb in the history of mankind was exploded at the Novaya Zemlya test site approximately 1.5 years before Khrushchev’s official announcement that the USSR had a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb. The main purpose of the tests is to demonstrate the military power of the USSR. At that time, the thermonuclear bomb created in the USA was almost 4 times weaker.
The Tsar Bomba exploded at an altitude of 4,200 m above sea level 188 seconds after being dropped from a bomber. The nuclear mushroom of the explosion rose to a height of 67 km, and the radius of the fireball of the explosion was 4.6 km. The shock wave from the explosion circled the globe 3 times, and the ionization of the atmosphere created radio interference within a radius of hundreds of kilometers for 40 minutes. The temperature on the surface of the earth below the epicenter of the explosion was so high that the stones turned to ash. It is worth noting that the “Tsar Bomba”, or as it was also called, “Kuzka’s Mother”, was quite clean - 97% of the power came from the thermonuclear fusion reaction, which practically does not create radioactive contamination.
Atomic bomb
On July 16, 1945, the first explosive nuclear device, a single-stage plutonium-based “Gadget” bomb, was tested in the desert near Alamogordo in the United States of America.
In August 1945, the Americans demonstrated the power of their new weapons to the whole world: American bombers dropped atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The USSR officially announced the presence of the atomic bomb on March 8, 1950, thereby ending the US monopoly on the world's most destructive weapon.
Chemical weapon
The first case in history of the use of chemical weapons in war can be considered April 22, 1915, when Germany used chlorine against Russian soldiers near the Belgian city of Ypres. From a huge cloud of chlorine released from cylinders installed on the front flank of German positions, 15 thousand people were severely poisoned, of which 5 thousand died.
In World War II, Japan used chemical weapons many times during its conflict with China. During the bombing of the Chinese city of Woqu, the Japanese dropped 1,000 chemical shells, and later another 2,500 aerial bombs near Dingxiang. Chemical weapons were used by the Japanese until the end of the war. In total, 50 thousand people died from toxic chemicals, both among the military and among the civilian population.
The Americans took the next step in the use of chemical weapons. During the Vietnam War, they very actively used toxic substances, leaving the civilian population no chance of salvation. Since 1963, 72 million liters of defoliants have been sprayed over Vietnam. They were used to destroy forests in which Vietnamese partisans were hiding, and during the bombing of populated areas. Dioxin, which was present in all mixtures, settled in the body and caused liver and blood diseases, and deformities in newborns. According to statistics, about 4.8 million people suffered from chemical attacks, some of them after the end of the war.
Laser weapons
Laser gun
In 2010, the Americans announced that they had successfully tested laser weapons. According to media reports, four unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down by a 32-megawatt laser cannon off the coast of California. The planes were shot down from a distance of more than three kilometers. Previously, the Americans reported that they had successfully tested an air-launched laser, destroying a ballistic missile in the acceleration section of its trajectory.
The US Missile Defense Agency notes that laser weapons will be in great demand because they can be used to strike multiple targets at once at the speed of light at a distance of several hundred kilometers.
Biological weapons
Letter with white anthrax powder
The beginning of the use of biological weapons dates back to the ancient world, when in 1500 BC. The Hittites sent a plague to enemy lands. Many armies understood the power of biological weapons and left infected corpses in enemy fortresses. It is believed that the 10 plagues of the Bible are not vengeful acts of God, but biological warfare campaigns. One of the most dangerous viruses in the world is anthrax. In 2001, letters containing white powder began arriving at US Senate offices. There was a rumor that these were spores of the deadly bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax. 22 people were infected and 5 were killed. The deadly bacterium lives in the soil. A person can become infected with anthrax by touching, inhaling, or ingesting the spore.
MLRS "Smerch"
Multiple launch rocket system "Smerch"
Experts call the Smerch multiple launch rocket system the most terrible weapon after a nuclear bomb. It takes only 3 minutes to prepare a 12-barreled Smerch for battle, and 38 seconds for a full salvo. "Smerch" allows you to effectively fight modern tanks and other armored vehicles. Missile shells can be launched from the cockpit of a combat vehicle or using a remote control. “Smerch” retains its combat characteristics in a wide range of temperatures – from +50 C to -50 C and at any time of the day.
Missile system "Topol-M"
The modernized Topol-M missile system forms the core of the entire group of strategic missile forces. The Topol-M intercontinental strategic complex is a 3-stage monoblock solid-fuel missile, “packed” in a transport and launch container. It can be stored in this packaging for 15 years. The service life of the missile system, which is produced in both silo and ground versions, is more than 20 years. The one-piece Topol-M warhead can be replaced with a multiple warhead, carrying three independent warheads at once. This makes the missile invulnerable to air defense systems. The current agreements do not allow Russia to do this, but it is possible that the situation may change.
Specifications:
hull length with head part – 22.7 m,
diameter – 1.86 m,
starting weight – 47.2 tons,
throwable combat load weight 1200 kg,
flight range – 11 thousand km.
Neutron bomb
Neutron bomb by Samuel Cohen
The neutron bomb, created by the American scientist Samuel Cohen, destroys only living organisms and causes minimal destruction. The shock wave from a neutron bomb accounts for only 10-20% of the energy released, whereas in a conventional atomic explosion it accounts for about 50% of the energy.
Cohen himself said that his brainchild is “the most moral weapon that has ever been created.” In 1978, the USSR came up with a proposal to ban the production of neutron weapons, but this project did not find support in the West. In 1981, the United States began producing neutron charges, but today they are not in service.
Intercontinental ballistic missile RS-20 "Voevoda" (Satana)
Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missiles, created in the 1970s, terrify a potential enemy simply by the fact of their existence. SS-18 (model 5), as the Voevoda is classified, was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile. It carries a 10,750 kiloton charge of independent homing warheads. No foreign analogues of “Satan” have been created so far.
Specifications:
hull length with head part – 34.3 m,
diameter – 3 m,
throwable combat load weight 8800 kg,
flight range – more than 11 thousand km.
Rocket "Sarmat"
In 2018 – 2020, the Russian army will receive the latest heavy ballistic missile “Sarmat”. The technical data of the missile have not yet been disclosed, but, according to military experts, the new missile is superior in its characteristics to the complex with the Voevoda heavy missile.
Despite the reduction in the risk of large-scale war or conflict between states, weapons of mass destruction continue to remain one of the most dangerous weapons of war. The ever-increasing threat of its use by extremist and terrorist organizations forces us to continue to pay attention to the issues of protection from damaging factors. In generally accepted terminology, weapons of mass destruction are divided into three main types: nuclear, chemical, biological (bacteriological).
Nuclear weapon
It is the main variety and, within a short period of time, can destroy the economic and industrial potential of any state, cause huge losses in human and biological resources, infect vast territories and make them uninhabitable. As weapons of mass destruction, nuclear and thermonuclear charges have, in principle, a colossal energy release that occurs when the ammunition is detonated. Their power
expressed in TNT equivalent, and measured in kilo- and megatons. Factors resulting from the detonation of a nuclear charge in terms of their damaging abilities are the following: light radiation, shock wave, penetrating radiation, radioactive contamination, electromagnetic pulse. Thermonuclear (neutron) ammunition affects biological objects (people, animals), striking them mainly with penetrating radiation, which has a more powerful radiation flux. The protective properties of environmental materials contribute to reducing the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. A specially equipped shelter allows complete protection from all damaging factors. Exposure to ionizing radiation poses a huge danger to life and health, which, like penetrating radiation, leads to radiation sickness.
Chemical weapon
The combat capabilities of chemical weapons are based on the toxic capabilities of the combinations created and existing elements. Its varieties differ in their nerve-paralytic, blister, suffocating, generally toxic, irritant and psychochemical effects. Unlike nuclear weapons, chemical weapons of mass destruction have the ability to incapacitate only manpower without causing damage to infrastructure. The main signs of its use include rapidly dissipating smoke appearing in places where ammunition explodes, streaks of air masses of altered consistency that settle on the ground behind a passing aircraft (helicopter), and the appearance of oily stains on vegetation, ground, and buildings. At the same time, people feel irritation of the respiratory organs, vision, and changes in physiological state.
Biological weapons
This weapon of mass destruction allows, through the use of microorganisms that have pathogenic properties, to infect people, farm animals and plants. Its capabilities cause epidemic diseases of a health-hazardous nature, affecting for a long time, in some cases having a latent (incubation) period. Timely detection of emerging microbes and toxins is very difficult; they easily penetrate unsealed shelters, infecting the people in them. The main signs of use are large fragments and fragments of ammunition (missiles, shells, containers), drops of unknown liquids and powdery substances on the ground, significant accumulations of small insects in the place where the ammunition (container) fell, the suddenness and massiveness of diseases of people and animals that are not typical for this terrain.
Modern weapons of mass destruction have a much wider range of capabilities, including allowing selective destruction of the required targets and objects. But it is hidden in the laboratories and arsenals of the armies of states. The threat from terrorists and extremists comes from means created clandestinely, as well as the possibility of threats to life and health as a result of disasters and man-made accidents.
APPROVED
At a meeting of the educational and methodological council of the department
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Topic No. 8
"Weapons of mass destruction".
Teacher
Nepochatov V.K.,
professor MOIUP
IVANTEEVKA
Topic 8 Weapons of mass destruction
Main questions
1. History of the creation and development of weapons of mass destruction. Features.
2. Brief description of types of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Literature
Main literature
1. Life safety: Textbook for universities / S.V. Belov, V.A. Devisilov, A.V. Ilnitskaya, etc.; Under the general editorship of S.V. Belova. - 8th edition, stereotypical - M.: Higher School, 2009. - 616 p. : ill.
2. Life safety: Textbook for universities (edited by Arustamov E.A.) 12th edition, revised, additional. – M.: Dashkov and K, 2007.- 420 p.
additional literature
1. Life safety. Textbook for students of secondary vocational educational institutions / S.V.Belov, V.A.Devisilov, A.F.Kozyakov and others. Under the general direction. ed. S.V. Belova - 6th edition, stereotypical - M.: Higher School, 2008. - 423 p.
2. Life safety. Safety of technological processes and production. Occupational safety: Textbook for universities / P.P. Kukin, V.L. Lapin, N.L. Ponomarev. - Ed. 4th, revised – M.: Higher School, 2007. – 335 p.: ill.
3. Life safety: Textbook for universities / Zanko N.G., Malayan K.R., Rusak O.N. - 12th edition, trans. and additional – St. Petersburg: Lan, 2008. – 672 p.: ill.
4. B.S. Mastryukov Dangerous situations of man-made nature and protection from them. Textbook for universities / B.S. Mastryukov. - M.: Academy, 2009. - 320 pp.: ill.
5. B.S. Mastryukov Safety in emergency situations. – Ed. 5th, revised - M.: Academy, 2008. - 334 p.: ill.
6. Collection No. 3. Library of the magazine "Military Knowledge". M:, 1998. 47 p. pp. 3-9.
7. “Civil Protection”, 1999, No. 8, pp. 13-16
8. V A Vladimirov Modern war and civil defense
1. History of the creation and development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
Our country consistently pursues a policy to limit (prohibit) the production and destruction of stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. However, some countries do not share this position, believing that it is necessary to leave stockpiles of nuclear weapons in Europe as a deterrent. Russia's proposal, made in 1996, to station nuclear weapons within national territories was rejected. In 1998, India and Pakistan tested atomic weapons.
In January 1993, 146 states signed the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and Their Destruction, but representatives of the US Department of Defense made no secret of the desire that the Convention, at least in the coming years, not interfere with the implementation of the chemical rearmament program, in particular, a binary program. The United States and Russia ratified the Convention only in 1997.
Until 1972, active work was carried out in developed capitalist countries in the field of development of biological weapons. Since the signing of the Biological Weapons Convention (1972), there has been virtually no information about work in this area. However, some indirect signs do not allow us to say that such work has been stopped completely.
The implementation of the results of new research can and does lead to the creation of beam, radio frequency, radiological, infrasonic and geophysical weapons.
Facts indicate that, in the name of its interests, the West is using the latest weapons, not paying attention to world public opinion (for example, operations against Iraq using high-precision weapons).
In these conditions, the readiness of the Russian Armed Forces to act in conditions of the use of weapons of mass destruction, and of civil defense to organize measures for radiation, chemical and biological protection of the population, is of current importance.
Main signs of weapons of mass destruction
Large scale of destructive action, subject to limited expenditure of effort, money and time.
The ability to achieve a damaging effect at the level of object destruction.
Difficulties in achieving active opposition from military personnel and the population, preventing destruction of structures, damage to military and other equipment.
The predominance of severe forms of injury to personnel,
destruction of various objects. Difficulties in treating damaged and restoring destroyed objects.
The presence of a high moral and psychological effect from WMD injuries.
Severe, long-term, and sometimes irreversible consequences of using this type of weapon.
Nuclear weapons (NW)
First in human history nuclear explosion was produced by the USA on July 16, 1945 in the New Mexico desert at the Trinity test site ("Holy Trinity") under the code code "Trinity". Creation work nuclear (atomic) weapons in the USA were carried out under the general scientific leadership of the German scientist Robert Openheimer as part of the Manhattan Project.
Scientific discoveries are not made by inspiration: first there is a process of data accumulation. The scientific prerequisites for the creation of nuclear weapons (NW) were the fundamental discoveries made by that time, as well as the theoretical and experimental research carried out in the field of nuclear physics, which, first of all, should include the following.
1. The discovery in 1896 by the French physicist Becquerel of the phenomenon of radioactivity, which contributed to a deeper study and understanding of the structure of matter, and, in particular, the structure of the atom.
2. In April 1919, the English scientist Rutherford for the first time carried out the nuclear reaction of converting nitrogen into oxygen with the release of thermal energy when nitrogen nuclei were bombarded with alpha particles (helium nuclei). This fundamental discovery was not put into practice; it served as an impetus for the search for new ways to carry out similar reactions in order to study the structure of the nucleus and the possibility of obtaining energy. The discovery in the same year of the proton as a result of electron bombardment of hydrogen atoms largely clarified the picture of the internal structure of the atomic nucleus.
3. In 1932, the English physicist James Chadwick made a new fundamental discovery - the discovery of the electrically neutral particle neutron - a tool for studying the nucleus, which contributed to the development of research in the field of nuclear physics.
4. In 1934, French physicists Pierre Curie and Marie Sklodowska-Curie discovered artificial radioactivity. In 1935, a group led by I.V. Kurchatov discovered the phenomenon of nuclear isomerism, that is, the fact of the existence of several elements that do not differ in chemical properties and mass number, but have different energies and half-lives.
5. In 1939, the Italian scientist Enrico Fermi carried out the fission reaction of uranium under the influence of a neutron, releasing a significant amount of heat. It was from this discovery that it became practically possible to release atomic rest energy, concentrated in huge quantities inside matter.
In 1939, Albert Einstein, based on the law he discovered regarding the relationship between energy and mass, came to the conclusion that the fission energy of U-235 could be used for military purposes. In a letter to the US President, he wrote: “One such bomb, delivered in a boat and detonated in the port, could completely destroy the port and devastate the surrounding area.”
In 1945, almost after the end of the war, the Americans dropped Fat Man atomic bombs with a power of 22 kt and a mass of 4.9 tons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This marked the beginning of the first generation of nuclear weapons. The results of the first air strike using nuclear weapons were impressive at that time: about 273 thousand people died in cities and over 195 thousand people received fatal radiation exposure.
As a result of the work carried out under the leadership of I.V. Kurchatov, on August 29, 1949 at 7.00 local time, the first explosion of a Soviet atomic bomb was carried out at the test site near Semipalatinsk, which meant the loss of the US monopoly on nuclear weapons.
Further work in the field of nuclear weapons was aimed at improving it in the direction of searching for new designs of nuclear charges and new nuclear explosives.
In November 1952, the United States exploded a 3 Mt hydrogen device on Eniwetak Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. On August 12, 1953, a thermonuclear bomb with a nuclear charge of 465 kt was exploded in the Soviet Union with a more advanced design (the so-called “dry bomb”). The USA exploded the same real ammunition, with a capacity of about 15 Mt, on March 1, 1954.
By the end of the 70s, the armed forces of the USA, USSR, Great Britain, France and China were equipped with nuclear weapons.
Chemical weapons(XO)
History of development chemical weapons(XO) dates back to April 22, 1915, when German troops used chlorine gas against French troops on the Ypres River. At a 6 km front, 180 tons of chlorine were released from 5,730 cylinders in 5-8 minutes. As a result of the gas attack, 15 thousand people were poisoned, of which 5 thousand died on the battlefield and about 5 thousand became disabled.
Chemical warfare was first used against Russian troops in the direction of the main attack of the Kaiser's German army near Bolimov (west of Warsaw) on May 31, 1915. After a short artillery preparation on a 12 km front, German troops launched a gas release from 12 thousand cylinders filled with 264 tons of a mixture of chlorine and phosgene (75%: 25%). In two Russian divisions, almost 9 thousand people were put out of action, over a thousand of whom died.
In total, from April 1915 to November 1918, more than 50 German gas attacks took place. During the same period, 150 British and 20 French gas launches were carried out against German troops.
In 1917, gas launchers appeared in service with the British and German armies. The gas launchers were loaded with mines containing from 9 to 28 kg of gaseous phosgene, liquid diphosgene and chloropicrin. The main method of using gas launchers was a simultaneous salvo of several hundred barrels over small areas, which made it possible to create high concentrations of chemical agents in the target area.
So German troops used gas launchers on the Italian battalion, which occupied a key defensive position in the Isonzo River valley near the city of Flich. With a salvo of 912 gas launchers and phosgene mines, all life in the valley was destroyed in a short time. More than 500 Italians died, many of them wearing gas masks.
The result of research in the field of chemical agent chemistry was the adoption by the armies of some countries of hydrocyanic acid, tin tetrachloride, triarsenic chloride, diphenylchlorarsine, mixtures of diphenylchlorararsine with phosgene and diphosgene, and other more powerful toxic substances.
In the post-war period, work in the field of chemical warfare continued at an even more accelerating pace. In the first post-war years, the greatest attention in the United States was paid to organophosphorus agents. For this purpose, the results of scientific research obtained by German chemists were widely used. As a result of targeted work, the production of sarin began in 1952, industrial production of VX in 1961, and BZ in 1962. Several years ago, reports appeared in the foreign press about a substance coded GP, which, according to experts, in its properties, in particular volatility, occupies an intermediate position between sarin and VX, as well as about the substance EA-5774, which, when inhaled, three times more toxic than VX.
In the Soviet Union, in the post-war years, explosive agents similar to the American ones were synthesized and adopted into service. During these years, the means of using chemical agents were significantly developed: chemical warheads of missiles, chemical aerial bombs and aerial discharge devices, chemical projectiles for rocket and cannon artillery, and a chemical hand grenade.
By the end of the 70s, parity had reached between the USSR and the USA in the field of chemical weapons. Each country had reserves estimated by experts at 55 thousand tons of chemical agents.
Biological weapons.
The idea of using pathogenic microbes as a means of destruction arose a long time ago due to the fact that the mass infectious diseases / epidemics / caused by them brought untold losses to humanity, which most often arose as the consequences of wars. It is known, for example, that from 1733 to 1865. 8 million people died in the wars in Europe, of which only 1.5 million were combat losses, and 6.5 million people died from infectious diseases; During the Vietnam War, 3 times more US military personnel suffered from infectious diseases than they lost in killed and wounded.
For the first time, imperialist states began the targeted and systematic development of biological weapons (BW) at the turn of the 20th century, using advances in the field of biological sciences and a high level of knowledge about the nature and ways of spreading pathogenic microorganisms.
In the 30s of this century, research in the field of chemical weapons was carried out in a number of countries, and especially in Japan. The press reported that in the occupied territory of Manchuria, Japanese militarists created a special formation of the Kwantung Army - “Detachment-731”, which, along with research and production departments, had an experimental site where tests of biological agents (BS) were carried out on laboratory animals and living people , including prisoners of war - citizens of China, the USA, the USSR and other countries, while almost 3,000 people died.
In the post-war period, human pathogens were synthesized in a number of countries, which led to a real threat of using them for aggressive purposes.
And in 1972, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction was adopted.
New types of weapons of mass destruction.
In the early 90s, a concept began to emerge in the military circles of some countries, according to which the armed forces should have not only nuclear, chemical, biological and conventional weapons, but also special means to ensure the implementation of police and peacekeeping missions, effective participation in local conflicts without applying the opposite
to unnecessary losses in manpower and material assets.
Military experts primarily classify such weapons as:
Means for creating an electromagnetic pulse (non-nuclear);
Infrasound generators;
Chemical compositions and biological formulations capable of changing the structure of the base materials of the main elements of military equipment;
Substances that damage lubricants and rubber products cause the fuel to thicken.
The presence of such weapons, called non-lethal weapons (NLW), would make it possible to achieve their goals in cases where the use of conventional (and especially nuclear) weapons is unacceptable for political and ethical reasons. Such views are reflected, for example, in official documents of the US Department of Defense, which give the following definition of ONSD: “Weapons that are capable of neutralizing the enemy or depriving him of the ability to conduct combat operations without causing him irreparable loss of manpower, destruction of material assets or large-scale environmental damage "
2. Distinctive features, brief characteristics of types of weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
Weapons of mass destruction -weapons intended to cause massive casualties of personnel and population, destruction (disablement, damage) of military and other equipment, engineering and other structures.
WMD has characteristic features , in which it differs from other types of weapons. Qualitative signs of weapons of mass destruction include:
1). Large scale of damaging (destructive) action, subject to limited expenditure of effort, money and time.
2). The ability to achieve a damaging effect at the level of object destruction.
3). Difficulties in achieving active opposition from military personnel and the population, preventing destruction of structures, damage to military and other equipment.
4). The predominance of severe forms of injury to personnel,
destruction (damage) of various objects. Difficulties in treating damaged and restoring destroyed objects.
5). The presence of a high moral and psychological effect from WMD injuries.
6). Severe, long-term, and sometimes irreversible consequences of using this type of weapon.
Let's look at the main types of weapons of mass destruction.
Nuclear weapon.
Nuclear weapons form the basis of weapons of mass destruction. nuclear weapons - weapons of mass destruction, the destructive effect of which is based on the use of intranuclear energy released during chain reactions of fission of heavy nuclei of certain isotopes or during thermonuclear reactions 
synthesis of light metals.
Fission chain reaction.
A chain reaction of nuclear fission is a reaction that, having begun by the fission of one or more nuclei, can continue in a substance without external influence, i.e. is self-developing.
The fission of nuclei of atoms of charge substances in nuclear weapons occurs under the influence of slow neutrons. A heavy nucleus that has captured a neutron becomes unstable and splits into two fragments, which are the nuclei of atoms of lighter elements. Nuclear fission is accompanied by the release of a significant amount of nuclear energy and the release of two or three neutrons, called secondary. Secondary neutrons are capable of splitting two or three new nuclei, resulting in the appearance of two or three more neutrons for each split nucleus, etc. If the number of secondary neutrons causing nuclear fission increases, an accelerating nuclear fission reaction occurs in the substance, in which the number of fissile nuclei increases like an avalanche. This reaction occurs in millionths of a second and is a nuclear explosion.
Of the natural isotopes, only in uranium - 235, and from artificial isotopes - in uranium - 233 and plutonium - 239, a nuclear fission chain reaction can develop. These three isotopes are currently used as fissile material in nuclear charges.
A chain reaction cannot develop in any amount of nuclear matter. The smallest mass of fissile material in which a nuclear chain reaction can develop under given conditions is called critical. The mass of a substance less than the critical mass is called subcritical, and that exceeding the critical mass is called supercritical. The critical mass for a ball made of uranium - 235 is 40-60 kg, and for a ball of plutonium - 239 - 10-20 kg.
The critical mass of a substance decreases as its density increases. So, when the density is doubled, the critical mass of uranium - 235 is 12 kg, which makes it possible, by artificially increasing (for example, by compressing using the explosion of a conventional explosive) the density of the fissile substance, to reduce its critical mass.
TNT equivalent - This is the weight of a TNT charge, the explosion of which releases the same amount of energy as the explosion of a nuclear charge.
In the nuclear fission reaction zone, the temperature reaches tens of millions of degrees, and the pressure reaches tens of millions of atmospheres.
Fusion reaction (thermonuclear reaction).
During a fusion reaction, light nuclei combine to form heavier ones. To carry out the fusion reaction, a mixture of hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium, as well as lithium isotopes - is used as nuclear fuel.
The synthesis reaction is possible only at temperatures of several tens of millions of degrees. To create such temperatures, a nuclear explosion based on a fission reaction is used. Therefore, thermonuclear explosions occur in two stages: first there is an explosive fission reaction of a nuclear charge, which is like a detonator, then a fusion reaction.
When all the nuclei contained in 1 g of deuterium-tritium mixture are combined, approximately the same amount of energy is released as in the explosion of 80 tons of TNT.
Features of a nuclear explosion.
A nuclear explosion is fundamentally different from explosions of even the largest ammunition filled with conventional explosives; a nuclear explosion occurs in millionths of a second (1000 times faster than TNT). At the center of the explosion, the temperature instantly rises to several million degrees, and the pressure to several million atmospheres, as a result of which the charge substance turns into a gaseous state. The sphere of hot gases of the luminous region, trying to expand, compresses the adjacent layers of air, creates a sharp pressure drop at the boundary of the compressed layer and forms a shock wave. During a nuclear explosion, simultaneously with the shock wave, a powerful stream of neutrons and gamma rays, generated during the nuclear reaction and during the decay of radioactive fission fragments, propagates from the explosion zone. The luminous area (fireball) reaches its maximum size after 1-2 seconds, the density of the gases in it decreases and it begins to rise upward, cooling and turning into a swirling cloud. Powerful ascending air currents caused by temperature differences lift dust and small soil particles from the surface of the earth in the area of the explosion and form a dust column. Dust and soil contain radioactive substances - fission fragments of the unreacted part of the nuclear charge, artificial radioactive isotopes formed in the soil under the influence of neutrons. This dust and soil gradually fall out of the radioactive cloud, creating radioactive contamination of the area and objects.
During a nuclear explosion, instantaneous gamma radiation interacts with the atoms of the environment, dividing them into electrons and positively charged ions, and creates a stream of fast electrons that fly away at high speed in a radial direction from the center of the explosion, while the positive ions practically remain in place. In space, positive and negative charges are separated, and this leads to the emergence of electric and magnetic fields. These short-term fields are called the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear explosion.
Thus, in a nuclear explosion, injuries are possible as a result of exposure to:
Hydraulic, seismic, air shock waves;
Light radiation;
Penetrating radiation;
Radioactive contamination of the area;
Electromagnetic pulse;
Base wave (during an underwater nuclear explosion).
(For more details on damaging factors, see textbooks on civil defense.)
Chemical weapon
Chemical weapons are weapons whose destructive effect is based on the use of the toxic properties of toxic chemical substances. This definition of chemical weapons is formulated in relation to a military purpose.
For the purposes of destruction of chemical weapons, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and Their Destruction (1993) provides the following definition: chemical weapons mean, collectively or individually, the following:
a) toxic chemicals and their precursors (mixtures), except when they are intended for purposes not prohibited under this Convention, provided that the types and quantities are appropriate for such purposes;
b) ammunition and devices specifically designed to cause death or other harm due to the toxic properties of specified toxic chemicals released as a result of the use of such ammunition and devices;
c) any equipment specifically designed for use directly in connection with the use of ammunition and devices specified above.
Chemical weapons are intended to defeat and exhaust the enemy's manpower during prolonged use of protective equipment in order to impede (disorganize) the activities of his troops and rear facilities. It is believed that chemical weapons have a number of advantages over other types of weapons, including nuclear weapons. As a result of the use of chemical weapons on any scale, along with the massive destruction of the enemy’s human resources, there is no destruction of the most important industrial and other facilities that can be used by the occupying party without spending money on their restoration.
Toxic substances(HS) are highly toxic substances that, when used in combat, are capable of defeating enemy personnel or reducing their combat effectiveness.
Agents, unlike other weapons, are capable of causing massive destruction of manpower over large areas, penetrating tanks, combat vehicles, shelters and structures that do not have special equipment, maintaining a destructive effect while in the air, on the ground and various objects for some time. time after their use. The amount of agent required to cause a fatal injury when it enters the body along with inhaled air depends on the concentration of the substance and the time the affected person remains in the contaminated air (measured in mg/l).
Poisoning of the body is also possible when the agent penetrates through the skin. In this case, poisoning can be achieved through the action of droplet-liquid and vapor agents.
A war with the use of weapons of mass destruction, if it occurs, cannot be a means of achieving political, economic, ideological and other goals. There will be neither winners nor losers. This conclusion follows from the presence of military-strategic parity between the USSR and OSHA, the Warsaw Treaty Organization and NATO, and its recognition by the opposing sides.
However, despite the fact that new political thinking and the positive processes associated with it are gradually gaining ground on the world stage, the situation remains complex and unpredictable. The threat of a new war continues. It still comes from the most reactionary, aggressively militaristic circles of imperialism, which have not given up the idea of solving the historical dispute with socialism by military means in their favor.
In the military doctrines of the United States and its NATO allies, an important role is assigned to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) - weapons of great lethality designed to cause mass casualties and destruction.
The United States has chemical weapons stockpiles amounting to hundreds of thousands of tons. These are millions of aviation clusters, bombs, shells, mines, land mines and other chemical munitions stored both in the United States and in the territories of other European NATO member countries within the proposed theaters of military operations.
The United States attaches great importance to the development of a long-term program of chemical rearmament, the creation of a new type of chemical weapon - binary chemical munitions intended for massive combat use in various theaters of military operations, and primarily in Europe.
The US armed forces have gained extensive experience in the use of chemical weapons in aggressive wars in Southeast Asia. Various types of chemical weapons were used by American forces in many operations in South Vietnam. This led to huge casualties and caused irreparable damage to the ecology of Vietnam.
After the Second World War, the US military department took advantage of the experience of the Japanese imperialists, who were developing biological weapons and tested them on human prisoners of war in the territory of Manchuria, which they then occupied, and began to consider biological weapons as one of the effective means of warfare, comparable in its capabilities to nuclear and nuclear weapons. chemical weapons.
In search of the greatest effectiveness of the damaging effects of biological weapons, the United States in the 50-60s repeatedly carried out large-scale field tests using both biological agents themselves and their simulators.
In violation of the official statement of the US President made in 1969 to cease the development of biological weapons and the destruction of their stockpiles and obligations under the Biological Convention of 1972, the United States continues to develop biological and toxin weapons and maintains production facilities for their manufacture. The Pentagon moved its center for the development of biological and toxin weapons from Fort Detrick to the US Army's Dugway Proving Ground in the desert region of Utah and launched research there at the Baker Biological Laboratory. However, work on biological weapons at Fort Detrick did not stop.
Research is being carried out on a broad front in the United States in order to create new types of weapons of mass destruction, the destructive effect of which is based on different physical principles. The implementation of the results of these studies could lead to the creation of beam, radio frequency, infrasound, radiological and geophysical weapons.
A concrete expression of the principled line of the Soviet state on the issue of war and peace was the detailed program put forward in the Statement of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M. S. Gorbachev dated January 15, 1986 for the elimination of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction by the end of this century. For the coming years, the struggle for the implementation of this program is the central direction of USSR foreign policy. This foreign policy platform of the USSR's sincere desire for peace was approved by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU.
Since military force and violence in the countries of imperialism have always played a dominant role, and, according to American data, in the post-war period the issue of the use of nuclear weapons was put on the agenda in Washington 19 times, including in four cases the threat was addressed to the USSR, the responsibility for maintaining constant vigilance and high combat readiness of the Armed Forces of the USSR to defend against aggression.
The development of nuclear energy in many countries of the world in recent years has made the threat of radioactive contamination of vast territories real not only in the event of the use of nuclear weapons, but also in the event of destruction of nuclear fuel cycle facilities located in the area of combat operations by conventional weapons or in the event of their accident in during industrial operation. Therefore, troops must be trained to act in conditions of radioactive contamination, both as a result of ground-based nuclear explosions, and in conditions of radioactive contamination during the destruction of nuclear fuel cycle facilities and liquidation of the consequences of this destruction.
In the local wars unleashed by the imperialists after the Second World War, incendiary weapons were widely used, which caused massive losses in personnel and military equipment. Consequently, along with measures to protect against weapons of mass destruction, it is necessary to provide for measures to protect troops from incendiary weapons.
Soviet soldiers are obliged to deeply study the combat properties and capabilities of various types of weapons of mass destruction and incendiary weapons of foreign armies, be able to act in the conditions of use of these types of weapons, and have a firm knowledge of the means and methods of protecting them. This publication can provide some assistance in this regard.
Section I is supplemented with information about the scale and characteristics of radioactive contamination and other consequences of the destruction (major accident) of nuclear fuel cycle facilities, as well as information about the development in the United States of weapons of mass destruction based on new “physical principles.”
Section II includes a new chapter, which sets out methods for protecting units from nuclear weapons in the main types of combat, during movement and location, as well as the features of eliminating the consequences of radioactive contamination during the destruction (major accident) of nuclear fuel cycle facilities.
The second edition is supplemented by a new section I1, s - which gives the characteristics of incendiary weapons of foreign armies, as well as means and methods of protecting against them.
This publication does not exhaust all the issues, the knowledge of which is necessary for [solving a complex of protection measures in a unit. Therefore, unit commanders in their work must use additional literature on the combat properties of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as insidious and new types of weapons of foreign armies, on the means and methods of protecting against them.
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