The most powerful bomb in the world. Which bomb is stronger: vacuum or thermonuclear? People were injured tens of kilometers from the epicenter

The destructive power of which, in the event of an explosion, cannot be stopped by anyone. What is the most powerful bomb in the world? To answer this question, you need to understand the features of certain bombs.

What is a bomb?

Nuclear power plants operate on the principle of releasing and shackling nuclear energy. This process must be controlled. The released energy is converted into electricity. An atomic bomb causes a chain reaction that is completely uncontrollable, and the huge amount of energy released causes monstrous destruction. Uranium and plutonium are not so harmless elements of the periodic table, they lead to global catastrophes.

Atomic bomb

To understand what is the most powerful atomic bomb on the planet, we will learn more about everything. Hydrogen and atomic bombs belong to the nuclear power industry. If you combine two pieces of uranium, but each will have a mass below the critical mass, then this "union" will greatly exceed the critical mass. Each neutron participates in a chain reaction, because it splits the nucleus and releases 2-3 more neutrons, which cause new decay reactions.

Neutron force is completely beyond human control. In less than a second, hundreds of billions of newly formed decays not only release a huge amount of energy, but also become sources of the strongest radiation. This radioactive rain covers the earth, fields, plants and all living things in a thick layer. If we talk about the disasters in Hiroshima, we can see that 1 gram caused the death of 200 thousand people.

Working principle and advantages of vacuum bomb

It is believed that a vacuum bomb, created using the latest technology, can compete with a nuclear one. The fact is that instead of TNT, a gas substance is used here, which is several tens of times more powerful. The high-yield aerial bomb is the most powerful non-nuclear vacuum bomb in the world. It can destroy the enemy, but at the same time houses and equipment will not be damaged, and there will be no decay products.

What is the principle of its work? Immediately after dropping from a bomber, a detonator fires at some distance from the ground. The hull collapses and a huge cloud is dispersed. When mixed with oxygen, it begins to penetrate anywhere - into houses, bunkers, shelters. The burning of oxygen forms a vacuum everywhere. When this bomb is dropped, a supersonic wave is produced and a very high temperature is generated.

The difference between an American vacuum bomb and a Russian one

The differences are that the latter can destroy the enemy, even in the bunker, with the help of an appropriate warhead. During the explosion in the air, the warhead falls and hits the ground hard, burrowing to a depth of 30 meters. After the explosion, a cloud is formed, which, increasing in size, can penetrate shelters and explode there. American warheads, on the other hand, are filled with ordinary TNT, which is why they destroy buildings. Vacuum bomb destroys a certain object, as it has a smaller radius. It doesn't matter which bomb is the most powerful - any of them delivers an incomparable destructive blow that affects all living things.

H-bomb

The hydrogen bomb is another terrible nuclear weapon. The combination of uranium and plutonium generates not only energy, but also a temperature that rises to a million degrees. Hydrogen isotopes combine into helium nuclei, which creates a source of colossal energy. The hydrogen bomb is the most powerful - a fact. It is enough just to imagine that its explosion is equal to the explosions of 3000 atomic bombs in Hiroshima. Both in the USA and in the former USSR, one can count 40,000 bombs of various capacities - nuclear and hydrogen.

The explosion of such ammunition is comparable to the processes that are observed inside the Sun and stars. Fast neutrons split the uranium shells of the bomb itself with great speed. Not only heat is released, but also radioactive fallout. There are up to 200 isotopes. The production of such nuclear weapons is cheaper than nuclear weapons, and their effect can be increased as many times as desired. This is the most powerful detonated bomb that was tested in the Soviet Union on August 12, 1953.

Consequences of the explosion

The result of the explosion of the hydrogen bomb is threefold. The very first thing that happens is a powerful blast wave is observed. Its power depends on the height of the explosion and the type of terrain, as well as the degree of transparency of the air. Large fiery hurricanes can form that do not calm down for several hours. And yet, the secondary and most dangerous consequence that the most powerful thermonuclear bomb can cause is radioactive radiation and contamination of the surrounding area for a long time.

Radioactive residue from the explosion of a hydrogen bomb

During the explosion, the fireball contains many very small radioactive particles that are trapped in the atmospheric layer of the earth and remain there for a long time. Upon contact with the ground, this fireball creates incandescent dust, consisting of particles of decay. First, a large one settles, and then a lighter one, which, with the help of the wind, spreads over hundreds of kilometers. These particles can be seen with the naked eye, for example, such dust can be seen on the snow. It is fatal if anyone is nearby. The smallest particles can stay in the atmosphere for many years and so “travel”, flying around the entire planet several times. Their radioactive emission will become weaker by the time they fall out in the form of precipitation.

Its explosion is capable of wiping Moscow off the face of the earth in a matter of seconds. The city center would easily evaporate in the truest sense of the word, and everything else could turn into the smallest rubble. The most powerful bomb in the world would have wiped out New York with all the skyscrapers. After it, a twenty-kilometer molten smooth crater would have remained. With such an explosion, it would not have been possible to escape by going down the subway. The entire territory within a radius of 700 kilometers would be destroyed and infected with radioactive particles.

The explosion of the "Tsar bomb" - to be or not to be?

In the summer of 1961, scientists decided to test and observe the explosion. The most powerful bomb in the world was supposed to explode at a test site located in the very north of Russia. The huge area of ​​the polygon occupies the entire territory of the island of Novaya Zemlya. The scale of the defeat was to be 1000 kilometers. The explosion could have left such industrial centers as Vorkuta, Dudinka and Norilsk infected. Scientists, having comprehended the scale of the disaster, took up their heads and realized that the test was cancelled.

There was no place to test the famous and incredibly powerful bomb anywhere on the planet, only Antarctica remained. But it also failed to carry out an explosion on the icy continent, since the territory is considered international and it is simply unrealistic to obtain permission for such tests. I had to reduce the charge of this bomb by 2 times. The bomb was nevertheless detonated on October 30, 1961 in the same place - on the island of Novaya Zemlya (at an altitude of about 4 kilometers). During the explosion, a monstrous huge atomic mushroom was observed, which rose up to 67 kilometers, and the shock wave circled the planet three times. By the way, in the museum "Arzamas-16", in the city of Sarov, you can watch a newsreel of the explosion on an excursion, although they say that this spectacle is not for the faint of heart.

MOSCOW, April 14 - RIA Novosti. The US Air Force released a video of the test of the most powerful non-nuclear bomb GBU-43 / B. She is also known as the "mother of all bombs".

The tests, the recording of which appeared on the Internet, took place back in 2003. The US Air Force decided to make them public only after "field" tests - the day before they dropped the GBU-43 / B on the positions of the "Islamic State" * in Afghanistan.

What is GBU-43/B

The American high-explosive aerial bomb GBU-43 / B was created in 2002-2003. According to open sources, one bomb of this type was once sent to Iraq, but was not used during the hostilities.

The bomb contains 8.4 tons of special Australian-made explosives: a mixture of hexogen, TNT and aluminum powder. According to experts, there may be about 15 such shells in the arsenals of the United States.

The bomb has a second official name Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) - a heavy explosive munition. From the abbreviation, the nickname Mother Of All Bombs was born - "the mother of all bombs."

The radius of continuous destruction after the explosion of the GBU-43 / B is 140 meters, partial destruction occurs at a distance of up to one and a half kilometers from the epicenter.

Attack on Afghanistan

The first combat test of the super-bomb took place in Afghanistan. The US Air Force dropped it on the positions of IS militants *, the main object of the bombardment was the tunnels that the terrorists used to move.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said 36 militants were killed in the airstrike. At the same time, there are no data on casualties among civilians.

US President Donald Trump called the strike of the US military on IS * "another very, very successful mission."

“I give the order to the military. We have the greatest armed forces in the world, and they did their job, as usual. We gave them every right (to do this), and this is what they are doing now,” Trump told reporters.

Questionable effectiveness

Even American experts doubted the effectiveness of the use of such weapons in Afghanistan.

"The attack on the cave complex in Afghanistan probably killed 150-200 members of the Afghan unit of the terrorist group IS *. In this sense, it was a modest tactical success," military historian Doug McGregor told RIA Novosti.

As it turned out later, the damage caused to the militants turned out to be even less.

"From a strategic point of view, the strike had no impact on the war in Afghanistan, where 40,000 Taliban fighters are regaining ground lost over the past few years and are crushing the US-trained and armed Afghan army and police," McGregor added.

According to the expert, the only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from Washington's actions is that "the president is being given bad advice."

Michael O'Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, also believes that the capabilities of the "mother of all bombs" are exaggerated.

"This is a weapon without that deep effect that folklore often ascribes to it. It's not that super-big and it's not that super-bad," O'Hanlon said.

"Effective gesture"

Igor Shatrov, deputy director of the National Institute for the Development of Modern Ideology, commenting on the use of the "mother of all bombs" in Afghanistan, noted that the United States is becoming prone to "showy gestures."

"In fact, it really was a bomb test, because it was its first combat use. In this regard, we saw a certain position, a certain new feature of Trump. He is prone to spectacular," beautiful "gestures using the armed forces," the political scientist said in broadcast on Sputnik radio.

He did not rule out that there would be many more such "gestures" from Trump.

“The United States has shown that they have a powerful weapon, the emphasis is on the fact that this is a powerful non-nuclear bomb – of course, this is a signal to the whole world and Russia in particular. All this is called “saber rattling,” Shatrov said.

Yury Shvytkin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Defense Committee, also agrees with the political scientist. According to the deputy, the use of a super-powerful non-nuclear bomb testifies to Washington's desire to show its power.

“Here, it seems to me, the strike is less calculated on the Islamic State *, although it is clear that physical and material damage was done. But to a greater extent, it is about showing other states its power. Washington’s attempt to show the power of its ", Shvytkin told RIA Novosti.

According to him, the bombing once again proved the impulsiveness and unpredictability of US President Donald Trump.
“It is important to understand that this causes damage not only to the Islamic State* itself, but also to the territory of the state where the militants are located. There must be comparability of actions. It is especially important to prevent losses among civilians, but, unfortunately, the United States does not it always works out," Shvytkin said.

*The terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) is banned in Russia

A hydrogen bomb (Hydrogen Bomb, HB, VB) is a weapon of mass destruction with incredible destructive power (its power is estimated in megatons of TNT). The principle of operation of the bomb and the structure scheme is based on the use of the energy of thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei. The processes that take place during an explosion are similar to those that take place in stars (including the Sun). The first test of a WB suitable for transportation over long distances (project by A.D. Sakharov) was carried out in the Soviet Union at a training ground near Semipalatinsk.

thermonuclear reaction

The sun contains huge reserves of hydrogen, which is under the constant influence of ultra-high pressure and temperature (about 15 million degrees Kelvin). At such an extreme density and temperature of the plasma, the nuclei of hydrogen atoms randomly collide with each other. The result of collisions is the fusion of nuclei, and as a result, the formation of nuclei of a heavier element - helium. Reactions of this type are called thermonuclear fusion, they are characterized by the release of an enormous amount of energy.

The laws of physics explain the energy release during a thermonuclear reaction as follows: part of the mass of light nuclei involved in the formation of heavier elements remains unused and turns into pure energy in enormous quantities. That is why our celestial body loses approximately 4 million tons of matter per second, releasing a continuous flow of energy into outer space.

Isotopes of hydrogen

The simplest of all existing atoms is the hydrogen atom. It consists of only one proton, which forms the nucleus, and a single electron, revolving around it. As a result of scientific studies of water (H2O), it was found that the so-called "heavy" water is present in it in small quantities. It contains "heavy" isotopes of hydrogen (2H or deuterium), whose nuclei, in addition to one proton, also contain one neutron (a particle close in mass to a proton, but devoid of charge).

Science also knows tritium - the third isotope of hydrogen, the nucleus of which contains 1 proton and 2 neutrons at once. Tritium is characterized by instability and constant spontaneous decay with the release of energy (radiation), resulting in the formation of a helium isotope. Traces of tritium are found in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere: it is there, under the influence of cosmic rays, that the gas molecules that form the air undergo similar changes. It is also possible to obtain tritium in a nuclear reactor by irradiating the lithium-6 isotope with a powerful neutron flux.

Development and first tests of the hydrogen bomb

As a result of a thorough theoretical analysis, specialists from the USSR and the USA came to the conclusion that a mixture of deuterium and tritium makes it easiest to start a thermonuclear fusion reaction. Armed with this knowledge, scientists from the United States set about creating a hydrogen bomb in the 1950s. And already in the spring of 1951, a test test was carried out at the Eniwetok test site (an atoll in the Pacific Ocean), but then only partial thermonuclear fusion was achieved.

A little more than a year passed, and in November 1952, a second test of a hydrogen bomb with a capacity of about 10 Mt in TNT was carried out. However, that explosion can hardly be called an explosion of a thermonuclear bomb in the modern sense: in fact, the device was a large container (the size of a three-story house) filled with liquid deuterium.

In Russia, they also took up the improvement of atomic weapons, and the first hydrogen bomb of the A.D. Sakharova was tested at the Semipalatinsk test site on August 12, 1953. RDS-6 (this type of weapon of mass destruction was nicknamed Sakharov's puff, since its scheme implied the sequential placement of deuterium layers surrounding the initiator charge) had a power of 10 Mt. However, unlike the American "three-story house", the Soviet bomb was compact, and it could be quickly delivered to the place of release on enemy territory in a strategic bomber.

Having accepted the challenge, in March 1954 the United States exploded a more powerful aerial bomb (15 Mt) at a test site on the Bikini Atoll (Pacific Ocean). The test caused the release of a large amount of radioactive substances into the atmosphere, some of which fell with precipitation hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. The Japanese ship "Lucky Dragon" and instruments installed on the island of Roguelap recorded a sharp increase in radiation.

Since the processes occurring during the detonation of a hydrogen bomb produce stable, safe helium, it was expected that radioactive emissions should not exceed the level of contamination from an atomic fusion detonator. But the calculations and measurements of real radioactive fallout varied greatly, both in quantity and composition. Therefore, the US leadership decided to temporarily suspend the design of these weapons until a full study of their impact on the environment and humans.

Video: tests in the USSR

Tsar bomb - thermonuclear bomb of the USSR

The Soviet Union put a fat point in the chain of accumulating the tonnage of hydrogen bombs when, on October 30, 1961, a 50-megaton (largest in history) Tsar bomb was tested on Novaya Zemlya - the result of many years of work by the research group A.D. Sakharov. The explosion thundered at an altitude of 4 kilometers, and the shock wave was recorded three times by instruments around the globe. Despite the fact that the test did not reveal any failures, the bomb never entered service. But the very fact that the Soviets possessed such weapons made an indelible impression on the whole world, and in the United States they stopped gaining the tonnage of the nuclear arsenal. In Russia, in turn, they decided to refuse to put hydrogen warheads on combat duty.

A hydrogen bomb is the most complex technical device, the explosion of which requires a series of sequential processes.

First, the detonation of the initiator charge located inside the shell of the VB (miniature atomic bomb) occurs, which results in a powerful emission of neutrons and the creation of a high temperature required to start thermonuclear fusion in the main charge. A massive neutron bombardment of the lithium deuteride insert (obtained by combining deuterium with the lithium-6 isotope) begins.

Under the influence of neutrons, lithium-6 is split into tritium and helium. The atomic fuse in this case becomes a source of materials necessary for the occurrence of thermonuclear fusion in the detonated bomb itself.

The mixture of tritium and deuterium triggers a thermonuclear reaction, resulting in a rapid increase in temperature inside the bomb, and more and more hydrogen is involved in the process.
The principle of operation of a hydrogen bomb implies an ultra-fast flow of these processes (the charge device and the layout of the main elements contribute to this), which look instantaneous to the observer.

Superbomb: Fission, Fusion, Fission

The sequence of processes described above ends after the start of the reaction of deuterium with tritium. Further, it was decided to use nuclear fission, and not the fusion of heavier ones. After the fusion of tritium and deuterium nuclei, free helium and fast neutrons are released, the energy of which is sufficient to initiate the onset of fission of uranium-238 nuclei. Fast neutrons can split atoms from the uranium shell of a superbomb. The fission of a ton of uranium generates energy of the order of 18 Mt. In this case, energy is spent not only on the creation of an explosive wave and the release of an enormous amount of heat. Each uranium atom decays into two radioactive "fragments". A whole “bouquet” is formed from various chemical elements (up to 36) and about two hundred radioactive isotopes. It is for this reason that numerous radioactive fallout is formed, recorded hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it became known that in the USSR they planned to develop the "Tsar Bomb", with a capacity of 100 Mt. Due to the fact that at that time there was no aircraft capable of carrying such a massive charge, the idea was abandoned in favor of a 50 Mt bomb.

Consequences of the explosion of the hydrogen bomb

shock wave

The explosion of a hydrogen bomb entails large-scale destruction and consequences, and the primary (obvious, direct) impact is of a threefold nature. The most obvious of all direct impacts is the ultra-high intensity shock wave. Its destructive ability decreases with distance from the epicenter of the explosion, and also depends on the power of the bomb itself and the height at which the charge detonated.

thermal effect

The effect of the thermal impact of an explosion depends on the same factors as the power of the shock wave. But one more is added to them - the degree of transparency of air masses. Fog or even a slight overcast dramatically reduces the radius of impact, at which a thermal flash can cause serious burns and loss of vision. An explosion of a hydrogen bomb (more than 20 Mt) generates an incredible amount of thermal energy, enough to melt concrete at a distance of 5 km, evaporate almost all the water from a small lake at a distance of 10 km, destroy enemy manpower, equipment and buildings at the same distance . In the center, a funnel is formed with a diameter of 1-2 km and a depth of up to 50 m, covered with a thick layer of vitreous mass (several meters of rocks with a high content of sand melt almost instantly, turning into glass).

According to calculations from real-world tests, people have a 50% chance of staying alive if they:

• They are located in a reinforced concrete shelter (underground) 8 km from the epicenter of the explosion (EV);
• They are located in residential buildings at a distance of 15 km from the EW;
• They will find themselves in an open area at a distance of more than 20 km from the EW in case of poor visibility (for a "clean" atmosphere, the minimum distance in this case will be 25 km).

With the distance from the EV, the probability of staying alive among people who find themselves in open areas also increases sharply. So, at a distance of 32 km, it will be 90-95%. A radius of 40-45 km is the limit for the primary impact from the explosion.

Fire ball

Another obvious impact from the explosion of a hydrogen bomb is self-sustaining firestorms (hurricanes), which are formed due to the involvement of colossal masses of combustible material in the fireball. But, despite this, the most dangerous consequence of the explosion in terms of impact will be radiation pollution of the environment for tens of kilometers around.

Fallout

The fireball that arose after the explosion is quickly filled with radioactive particles in huge quantities (decay products of heavy nuclei). The size of the particles is so small that when they get into the upper layers of the atmosphere, they are able to stay there for a very long time. Everything that the fireball reaches on the surface of the earth instantly turns into ashes and dust, and then is drawn into the fiery column. Flame vortices mix these particles with charged particles, forming a dangerous mixture of radioactive dust, the process of sedimentation of granules of which stretches for a long time.

Coarse dust settles quite quickly, but fine dust is carried by air currents over great distances, gradually falling out of the newly formed cloud. In the immediate vicinity of the EW, the largest and most charged particles settle; hundreds of kilometers away, ash particles that are visible to the eye can still be found. It is they who form a deadly cover, several centimeters thick. Anyone who gets close to him runs the risk of receiving a serious dose of radiation.

Smaller and indistinguishable particles can "hover" in the atmosphere for many years, repeatedly going around the Earth. By the time they fall to the surface, they are pretty much losing their radioactivity. The most dangerous is strontium-90, which has a half-life of 28 years and generates stable radiation throughout this time. Its appearance is determined by instruments around the world. "Landing" on grass and foliage, it becomes involved in food chains. For this reason, people who are thousands of kilometers from the test sites during the examination are found to have strontium-90 accumulated in the bones. Even if its content is extremely small, the prospect of being a "polygon for storing radioactive waste" does not bode well for a person, leading to the development of bone malignant neoplasms. In regions of Russia (as well as other countries) close to the places of test launches of hydrogen bombs, an increased radioactive background is still observed, which once again proves the ability of this type of weapon to leave significant consequences.

H-bomb video

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Non-profit organization The Outrider Foundation has developed an interactive map where you can check the consequences of a nuclear strike on any city on the planet. The service shows in detail how long the shock wave will spread, how many people will die, how radiation will spread and other characteristics of the explosion. In addition to the city, you can choose the type of bomb. The whole world is in ruins.

Nuclear Bombing Simulator Organization The Outrider Foundation developed because "nuclear war is considered one of the greatest threats to the future." Tara Drozdenko, director of the fund, told Gizmodo about this.

We live in a dangerous world. Nuclear weapons do not make it safer, but vice versa. Understanding the dangers is the first step towards a safer future.

In order for anyone to be able to calculate the consequences of a nuclear strike on their city, an interactive map was developed. With its help, you can see what will happen if an explosion occurs literally in your yard, you need to enter the name of the city and the index.

In the service, you can select the address where to drop the bomb, as well as its type. In total, four types of deadly weapons are available: from a small bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima to the Tsar Bomba, developed in the USSR in 1954-1961 and considered the most powerful of all that was tested on the planet.

You can also choose how the bomb will explode: in the air (which is more deadly), or on impact with the ground (with less consequences).

Here, for example, what will happen if you drop a Hwansong 14 missile on the editorial office of Medialeaks, .

As the service shows, 418,371 people will die from such a missile strike, and another 928,074 people will be injured. The fireball from the explosion will turn out to be four hundred meters in diameter, the shock wave will disperse more than 21 kilometers. An area with a diameter of almost six kilometers will be contaminated with radiation. It is worth considering that this is far from the most powerful bomb.

If you have ever dreamed of dropping a nuclear bomb on a city, you can try it yourself.

As Tara Drozdenko said, the minus of this simulator is that it looks too beautiful, like a toy. Even when the man himself tested it at home, his wife, looking at the monitor, compared nuclear explosions with flowers.

When I said that it was a simulation of the death of several million people, she replied that now it looks less pretty.

A new Cold War and an arms race in particular were also discussed after the message of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly. Putin devoted most of his speech to new Russian nuclear weapons, including . In a video that showed off a new weapon, a bombed-out Florida was seen on the Internet.