The history of the creation and principle of operation of the atomic bomb. The creation of the atomic bomb in the USSR Who was the first to create nuclear weapons in the world

It attracted experts from many countries. Scientists and engineers from the USA, the USSR, England, Germany and Japan worked on these developments. Particularly active work was carried out in this area by the Americans, who had the best technological base and raw materials, and also managed to attract the strongest intellectual resources at that time to research.

The United States government has set a task for physicists - in the shortest possible time to create the new kind weapons that could be delivered to the most remote point on the planet.

Los Alamos, located in the deserted desert of New Mexico, became the center of American nuclear research. Many scientists, designers, engineers and the military worked on the top-secret military project, and the experienced theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer, who is most often called the "father" of atomic weapons, was in charge of all the work. Under his leadership the best specialists all over the world developed the technology of controlled, without interrupting the search process even for a minute.

By the autumn of 1944, measures to create the first nuclear power plant in history in general terms came to an end. By this time, a special aviation regiment had already been formed in the United States, which had to carry out the tasks of delivering deadly weapons to the places of their use. The pilots of the regiment passed special training, making training flights at different altitudes and in conditions close to combat.

First atomic bombings

In mid-1945, US designers managed to assemble two nuclear devices ready for use. The first objects to strike were also chosen. At that time Japan was the strategic adversary of the USA.

The American leadership decided to deliver the first atomic strikes on two Japanese cities in order to frighten not only Japan, but also other countries, including the USSR, by this action.

On August 6th and 9th, 1945, American bombers dropped the first ever atomic bombs on the unsuspecting inhabitants of Japanese cities, which were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result, more than one hundred thousand people died from thermal radiation and shock waves. Such were the consequences of the use of unprecedented weapons. The world has entered a new phase of its development.

However, the US monopoly on the military use of the atom was not too long. The Soviet Union also searched hard for ways to put into practice the principles underlying nuclear weapons. Igor Kurchatov headed the work of a team of Soviet scientists and inventors. In August 1949, tests of the Soviet atomic bomb were successfully carried out, which received the working name RDS-1. The fragile military balance in the world was restored.

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

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

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

Meanwhile across the ocean

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

In 1933, the German communist Klaus Fuchs fled to England. After receiving a degree in physics from the University of Bristol, he continued to work. In 1941, Fuchs reported his participation in atomic research to Soviet intelligence agent Jurgen Kuchinsky, who informed Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky. He instructed the military attache to urgently establish contact with Fuchs, who, as part of a group of scientists, was going to be transported to the United States. Fuchs agreed to work for Soviet intelligence. Many illegal Soviet spies were involved in working with him: the Zarubins, Eitingon, Vasilevsky, Semyonov and others. As a result of their vigorous activity already in January 1945, the USSR had a description of the design of the first atomic bomb. At the same time, the Soviet residency in the United States reported that it would take the Americans at least one year, but no more than five years, to create a significant arsenal of atomic weapons. The report also said that the explosion of the first two bombs might be carried out in a few months. Pictured is Operation Crossroads, a series of atomic bomb tests conducted by the United States on Bikini Atoll in the summer of 1946. The goal was to test the effect of atomic weapons on ships.

In the USSR, the first information about the work carried out by both the allies and the enemy was reported to Stalin by intelligence as early as 1943. It was immediately decided to deploy similar work in the Union. Thus began the Soviet atomic project. Tasks were received not only by scientists, but also by intelligence officers, for whom the extraction of nuclear secrets has become a super task.

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

Experience of Recent Enemies and Allies

Naturally, the Soviet leadership could not remain indifferent to the German nuclear development. At the end of the war, a group of Soviet physicists was sent to Germany, among whom were the future academicians Artsimovich, Kikoin, Khariton, Shchelkin. All were camouflaged in the uniform of colonels of the Red Army. The operation was led by First Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Ivan Serov, which opened any door. In addition to the necessary German scientists, the “colonels” found tons of metallic uranium, which, according to Kurchatov, reduced work on the Soviet bomb by at least a year. The Americans also took out a lot of uranium from Germany, taking the specialists who worked on the project with them. And in the USSR, in addition to physicists and chemists, they sent mechanics, electrical engineers, glassblowers. Some were found in POW camps. For example, Max Steinbeck, the future Soviet academician and vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, were taken away when, at the whim of the head of the camp, he made sundial. In total, at least 1000 German specialists worked on the atomic project in the USSR. From Berlin, the von Ardenne laboratory with a uranium centrifuge, equipment of the Kaiser Institute of Physics, documentation, reagents were completely taken out. Within the framework of the atomic project, laboratories "A", "B", "C" and "G" were created, the scientific supervisors of which were scientists who arrived from Germany.

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

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

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

In December 1938, German physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann for the first time in the world carried out artificial fission of the uranium atom nucleus.

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

The work of laboratory "B", organized in Obninsk, was headed by Professor Rudolf Pose, one of the pioneers in the field of nuclear research. Under his leadership, fast neutron reactors were created, the first nuclear power plant in the Union, the design of reactors for submarines. The object in Obninsk became the basis for the organization of the A.I. Leipunsky. Pose worked until 1957 in Sukhumi, then at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna.

American Robert Oppenheimer and Soviet scientist Igor Kurchatov are officially recognized as the fathers of the atomic bomb. But in parallel, deadly weapons were developed in other countries (Italy, Denmark, Hungary), so the discovery rightfully belongs to everyone.

The German physicists Fritz Strassmann and Otto Hahn were the first to tackle this issue, who in December 1938 for the first time managed to artificially split the atomic nucleus of uranium. And six months later, at the Kummersdorf test site near Berlin, the first reactor was already being built and urgently purchased uranium ore from the Congo.

"Uranium project" - the Germans start and lose

In September 1939, the Uranium Project was classified. 22 reputable scientific centers were attracted to participate in the program, the research was supervised by the Minister of Armaments Albert Speer. The construction of an isotope separation plant and the production of uranium for extracting an isotope from it that supports a chain reaction was entrusted to the IG Farbenindustry concern.

For two years, a group of the venerable scientist Heisenberg studied the possibilities of creating a reactor with and heavy water. A potential explosive (the isotope uranium-235) could be isolated from uranium ore.

But for this, an inhibitor is needed that slows down the reaction - graphite or heavy water. The choice of the last option created an insurmountable problem.

The only plant for the production of heavy water, which was located in Norway, after the occupation was put out of action by local resistance fighters, and small stocks of valuable raw materials were taken to France.

The explosion of an experimental nuclear reactor in Leipzig also prevented the rapid implementation of the nuclear program.

Hitler supported the uranium project as long as he hoped to obtain a super-powerful weapon that could influence the outcome of the war he unleashed. After the cuts in public funding, the programs of work continued for some time.

In 1944, Heisenberg managed to create cast uranium plates, and a special bunker was built for the reactor plant in Berlin.

It was planned to complete the experiment to achieve a chain reaction in January 1945, but a month later the equipment was urgently transported to the Swiss border, where it was deployed only a month later. In a nuclear reactor there were 664 cubes of uranium weighing 1525 kg. It was surrounded by a graphite neutron reflector weighing 10 tons, an additional one and a half tons of heavy water was loaded into the core.

On March 23, the reactor finally started working, but the report to Berlin was premature: the reactor did not reach a critical point, and a chain reaction did not occur. Additional calculations have shown that the mass of uranium must be increased by at least 750 kg, proportionally adding the amount of heavy water.

But the reserves of strategic raw materials were at the limit, as was the fate of the Third Reich. On April 23, the Americans entered the village of Haigerloch, where the tests were carried out. The military dismantled the reactor and transported it to the United States.

The first atomic bombs in the USA

A little later, the Germans took up the development of the atomic bomb in the United States and Great Britain. It all started with a letter from Albert Einstein and his co-authors, immigrant physicists, sent by them in September 1939 to US President Franklin Roosevelt.

The appeal stressed that Nazi Germany was close to building an atomic bomb.

Stalin first learned about the work on nuclear weapons (both allies and opponents) from intelligence officers in 1943. They immediately decided to create a similar project in the USSR. The instructions were issued not only to scientists, but also to intelligence, for which the extraction of any information about nuclear secrets has become a super task.

Invaluable information about the developments of American scientists, which was obtained Soviet intelligence officers, significantly advanced the domestic nuclear project. It helped our scientists avoid inefficient search paths and significantly speed up the implementation of the final goal.

Serov Ivan Aleksandrovich - head of the operation to create a bomb

Of course, the Soviet government could not ignore the successes of German nuclear physicists. After the war, a group of Soviet physicists was sent to Germany - future academicians in the form of colonels of the Soviet army.

Ivan Serov, the first deputy commissar of internal affairs, was appointed head of the operation, which allowed scientists to open any doors.

In addition to their German colleagues, they found reserves of uranium metal. This, according to Kurchatov, reduced the development time of the Soviet bomb by at least a year. More than one ton of uranium and leading nuclear specialists were also taken out of Germany by the American military.

Not only chemists and physicists were sent to the USSR, but also qualified labor force- mechanics, electricians, glassblowers. Some employees were found in POW camps. IN total about 1,000 German specialists worked on the Soviet nuclear project.

German scientists and laboratories on the territory of the USSR in the postwar years

A uranium centrifuge and other equipment were transported from Berlin, as well as documents and reagents from the von Ardenne laboratory and the Kaiser Institute of Physics. As part of the program, laboratories "A", "B", "C", "D" were created, which were headed by German scientists.

The head of laboratory "A" was Baron Manfred von Ardenne, who developed a method for gaseous diffusion purification and separation of uranium isotopes in a centrifuge.

For the creation of such a centrifuge (only on an industrial scale) in 1947, he received the Stalin Prize. At that time, the laboratory was located in Moscow, on the site of the famous Kurchatov Institute. The team of each German scientist included 5-6 Soviet specialists.

Later, laboratory "A" was taken to Sukhumi, where a physico-technical institute was created on its basis. In 1953, Baron von Ardenne became a Stalin laureate for the second time.

Laboratory "B", which conducted experiments in the field of radiation chemistry in the Urals, was headed by Nikolaus Riehl - a key figure in the project. There, in Snezhinsk, the talented Russian geneticist Timofeev-Resovsky worked with him, with whom they were friends back in Germany. The successful test of the atomic bomb brought Riel the star of the Hero of Socialist Labor and the Stalin Prize.

The research of laboratory "B" in Obninsk was led by Professor Rudolf Pose, a pioneer in the field of nuclear testing. His team managed to create fast neutron reactors, the first nuclear power plant in the USSR, and designs for reactors for submarines.

On the basis of the laboratory, the A.I. Leipunsky. Until 1957, the professor worked in Sukhumi, then in Dubna, at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Technologies.

Laboratory "G", located in the Sukhumi sanatorium "Agudzery", was headed by Gustav Hertz. The nephew of the famous 19th-century scientist gained fame after a series of experiments that confirmed the ideas of quantum mechanics and the theory of Niels Bohr.

The results of his productive work in Sukhumi were used to create an industrial plant in Novouralsk, where in 1949 they made the filling of the first Soviet bomb RDS-1.

The uranium bomb that the Americans dropped on Hiroshima was a cannon-type bomb. When creating the RDS-1, domestic nuclear physicists were guided by the Fat Boy, the “Nagasaki bomb”, made from plutonium according to the implosive principle.

In 1951, Hertz was awarded the Stalin Prize for his fruitful work.

German engineers and scientists lived in comfortable houses, they brought their families, furniture, paintings from Germany, they were provided with a decent salary and special food. Did they have the status of prisoners? According to academician A.P. Alexandrov, an active participant in the project, they were all prisoners in such conditions.

Having received permission to return to their homeland, the German specialists signed a non-disclosure agreement about their participation in the Soviet atomic project for 25 years. In the GDR, they continued to work in their specialty. Baron von Ardenne was twice a laureate of the German National Prize.

The professor headed the Physics Institute in Dresden, which was created under the auspices of the Scientific Council for Peaceful Applications atomic energy. The Scientific Council was headed by Gustav Hertz, who received the National Prize of the GDR for his three-volume textbook on atomic physics. Here in Dresden Technical University, Professor Rudolf Pose also worked.

The participation of German specialists in the Soviet atomic project, as well as the achievements of Soviet intelligence, do not diminish the merits of Soviet scientists, who, with their heroic labor, created domestic atomic weapons. And yet, without the contribution of each project participant, the creation of the nuclear industry and nuclear bomb stretched out into indefinite

Change military doctrine USA in the period from 1945 to 1996 and the main concepts

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

By the summer of 1945, the Americans managed to assemble two atomic bombs, called "Kid" and "Fat Man". The first bomb weighed 2722 kg and was loaded with enriched Uranium-235. "Fat Man" with a charge of Plutonium-239 with a capacity of more than 20 kt had a mass of 3175 kg. On June 16, the first field test took place nuclear device timed to coincide with the meeting of the leaders of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France.

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

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

The fateful hour has come. On August 6 and 9, the crews of B-29 "Enola Gay" and "Bocks car" planes dropped their deadly cargo on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The total human losses and the extent of destruction from these bombings are characterized by the following figures: 300 thousand people died instantly from thermal radiation (temperature about 5000 degrees C) and a shock wave, another 200 thousand were injured, burned, irradiated. On an area of ​​12 sq. km, all buildings were completely destroyed. In Hiroshima alone, out of 90,000 buildings, 62,000 were destroyed. These bombings shocked the whole world. This event is believed to have started the race nuclear weapons and confrontation between the two political systems of that time at a new qualitative level.

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

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

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

President G. Truman instructed to develop a doctrine (later called the "Truman Doctrine") of pursuing a policy from a position of strength in relation to the USSR. In order to centralize planning and increase the effectiveness of the use of strategic aviation, in the spring of 1947 a strategic aviation command (SAC) was created. At the same time, the task of improving strategic aviation technology is being implemented at an accelerated pace.

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

However, as American military analysts calculated, this was not enough to achieve a quick victory. They believed that during this time Soviet army will be able to master the key regions of Europe and Asia. In early 1949, a special committee was created from the highest ranks of the army, air force and navy, under the leadership of Lieutenant General H. Harmon, who was tasked with trying to assess the political and military consequences of the planned atomic attack on the Soviet Union from the air. The committee's conclusions and calculations clearly showed that the United States was not yet ready for a nuclear war.

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

The announcement that the Soviet Union had mastered the secret of nuclear weapons aroused in the US ruling circles a desire to unleash a preventive war as soon as possible. The Troyan plan was developed, which provided for the start fighting January 1, 1950. At that time, the SAC had 840 strategic bombers in combat units, 1350 in reserve and over 300 atomic bombs.

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

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

In 1955, SAC had 1,565 bombers, 70% of which were B-47 jets, and 4,750 nuclear bombs for them with a yield of 50 kt to 20 Mt. In the same year, the B-52 heavy strategic bomber was put into service, which is gradually becoming the main intercontinental carrier of nuclear weapons.

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

With the advent of ballistic missiles in the strategic nuclear forces, the possibilities for delivering a nuclear strike from the United States are significantly increasing. However, in the USSR, by the end of the 1950s, intercontinental carriers of nuclear weapons were being created, capable of delivering a retaliatory strike on the territory of the United States. Soviet ICBMs were of particular concern to the Pentagon. Under these conditions, the leaders of the United States considered that the strategy of "massive retaliation" did not fully correspond to modern realities and should be adjusted.

By the beginning of 1960, nuclear planning in the United States was taking on a centralized character. Prior to this, each branch of the Armed Forces planned the use of nuclear weapons independently. But the increase in the number of strategic carriers required the creation of a single body for planning nuclear operations. They became the Joint Strategic Objectives Planning Headquarters, subordinate to the commander of the SAC and the Committee of the Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces. In December 1960, the first unified plan for the conduct of a nuclear war was drawn up, which received the name "Unified Integrated Operational Plan" - SIOP. It envisaged, in accordance with the requirements of the "massive retaliation" strategy, waging only a general nuclear war against the USSR and China with unlimited use of nuclear weapons (3.5 thousand nuclear warheads).

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

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

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

In the early years of this decade, a significant constellation of ICBMs was deployed. So, if at the beginning of 1960 in combat strength SAK had 20 missiles of only one type - Atlas-D, then by the end of 1962 - already 294. By this time, Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles of modifications "E" and "F", "Titan-1" and "Minuteman-1A" were adopted. The latest ICBMs were several orders of magnitude higher than their predecessors in terms of sophistication. In the same year on combat patrol the tenth American SSBN was released. The total number of Polaris-A1 and Polaris-A2 SLBMs has reached 160 units. The last of the ordered B-52H heavy bombers and B-58 medium bombers entered service. Total bombers as part of the strategic aviation command amounted to 1819. Thus, the American nuclear triad of strategic offensive forces (units and formations of ICBMs, nuclear missile submarines and strategic bombers) took shape organizationally, each component of which harmoniously complemented each other. It was equipped with over 6,000 nuclear warheads.

In mid-1961, the SIOP-2 plan was approved, reflecting a "flexible response" strategy. It provided for the conduct of five interconnected operations to destroy the Soviet nuclear arsenal, suppression of the air defense system, the destruction of bodies and points of the military and government controlled, large groupings of troops, as well as strikes on cities. The total number of targets in the plan was 6,000. In place of those, the developers of the plan also took into account the possibility of a retaliatory nuclear strike by the Soviet Union on US territory.

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

In the autumn of 1962, the world was again on the brink of nuclear war. The outbreak of the Caribbean crisis forced politicians around the world to look at nuclear weapon from the new side. For the first time, it clearly played the role of a deterrent. The sudden appearance of Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba and the lack of an overwhelming superiority in the number of ICBMs and SLBMs over the Soviet Union made the military way of resolving the conflict impossible.

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

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

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

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

The strategic nuclear arms race put before military industrial complex US more and more challenges. needed to be found new way rapid build-up of nuclear power. The high scientific and production level of the leading American rocket-building firms made it possible to solve this problem as well. Designers have found a way to significantly increase the number of nuclear charges raised without increasing the number of their carriers. Multiple reentry vehicles (MIRVs) were developed and implemented, first with dispersive warheads, and then with individual guidance.

The US leadership decided that the time had come to slightly correct the military-technical side of its military doctrine. Using the tried-and-tested thesis of the "Soviet missile threat" and the "US lagging behind", it easily managed to allocate funds for new strategic weapons. Since 1970, the deployment of Minuteman-3 ICBMs and Poseidon-S3 SLBMs with MIRV-type MIRVs began. At the same time, the obsolete Minuteman-1B and Polaris were removed from combat duty.

In 1971, the strategy of "realistic deterrence" was officially adopted. It was based on the idea of ​​nuclear superiority over the USSR. The authors of the strategy took into account the upcoming equality in the number of strategic carriers between the US and the USSR. By that time, without taking into account the nuclear forces of England and France, the following balance of strategic weapons had developed. For land-based ICBMs, the United States has 1,054 versus 1,300 for the Soviet Union; for the number of SLBMs, 656 versus 300; and for strategic bombers, 550 versus 145, respectively. The new strategic offensive arms development strategy provided for a sharp increase in the number of nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles while improving their performance characteristics, which was supposed to provide a qualitative superiority over the strategic nuclear forces of the Soviet Union.

The improvement of the strategic offensive forces was reflected in the next plan - SIOP-4, adopted in 1971. It was developed taking into account the interaction of all components of the nuclear triad and provided for the defeat of 16,000 targets.

But under pressure from the world community, the US leadership was forced to negotiate on nuclear disarmament. The methods of conducting such negotiations were regulated by the concept of "negotiating from a position of strength" - component"realistic deterrence" strategies. In 1972, the US-USSR Treaty on the Limitation of ABM Systems and the Interim Agreement on Certain Measures in the Sphere of the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (SALT-1) were concluded. However, the buildup of the strategic nuclear potential of the opposing political systems continued.

By the mid-70s, the deployment was completed missile systems Minuteman 3 and Poseidon. All SSBNs of the Lafayette type, equipped with new missiles, have been upgraded. Heavy bombers were armed with nuclear SD SRAM. All this led to a sharp increase in the nuclear arsenal assigned to strategic delivery vehicles. So in five years from 1970 to 1975, the number of warheads increased from 5102 to 8500 units. System improvements were in full swing combat control strategic weapons, which made it possible to implement the principle of quickly re-aiming warheads at new targets. It now took only a few tens of minutes to completely recalculate and replace the flight mission for one missile, and the entire grouping of SNA ICBMs could be retargeted in 10 hours. By the end of 1979, this system was implemented on all launchers. intercontinental missiles and launch control points. At the same time, the protection of mine launchers ICBM "Minuteman".

The qualitative improvement in US START made it possible to move from the concept of "assured destruction" to the concept of "selection of targets", which provided for multivariate actions - from a limited nuclear strike with several missiles to a massive strike against the entire complex of planned targets of destruction. The SIOP-5 plan was drawn up and approved in 1975, which provided for strikes on military, administrative and economic targets of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries in a total number of up to 25 thousand.

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

From the second half of the 1970s, the transformation of the views of the American political leadership on the prospects for nuclear war began. Taking into account the opinion of the majority of scientists about the disastrous for the United States even a retaliatory Soviet nuclear strike, it decided to accept the theory of a limited nuclear war for one theater of operations, and specifically, the European one. For its implementation, new nuclear weapons were needed.

The administration of President J. Carter allocated funds for the development and production of highly efficient strategic system sea-based "Trident". Implementation this project was to be carried out in two stages. At the first, it was planned to rearm 12 SSBNs of the J. Madison" missiles "Trident-C4", as well as build and put into operation 8 SSBNs of a new generation of the "Ohio" type with 24 of the same missiles. At the second stage, it was supposed to build another 14 SSBNs and arm all the boats of this project with the new Trident-D5 SLBM with higher performance characteristics.

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

With the coming to power of the administration of President R. Reagan, the “doctrine of neo-globalism” appeared, reflecting the new views of the US military-political leadership on the path to achieving world domination. It provided for a wide range of measures (political, economic, ideological, military) to "reject communism", the direct use military force against those countries where the United States sees a threat to its "vital interests." Naturally, the military-technical side of the doctrine was also adjusted. Its basis for the 1980s was the strategy of "direct confrontation" with the USSR on a global and regional scale, aimed at achieving "complete and undeniable military superiority of the United States."

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

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

In March 1980, the president approves the SIOP-5D plan. The plan provided for the application of three options nuclear strikes: preventive, counter-reciprocal and reciprocal. The number of objects of destruction was 40 thousand, which included 900 cities with a population of over 250 thousand each, 15 thousand industrial and economic facilities, 3500 military targets in the USSR, the Warsaw Pact countries, China, Vietnam and Cuba.

In early October 1981, President Reagan announced his "strategic program" for the 1980s, which contained guidelines for further building up the strategic nuclear potential. At six meetings of the Committee on Military Affairs of the US Congress, the last hearings on this program were held. Representatives of the president, the Ministry of Defense, leading scientists in the field of armaments were invited to them. As a result of comprehensive discussions of all structural elements, the strategic arms buildup program was approved. In accordance with it, starting from 1983, 108 Pershing-2 IRBM launchers and 464 BGM-109G land-based cruise missiles were deployed in Europe as forward-based nuclear weapons.

In the second half of the 1980s, another concept was developed - "essential equivalence". It determined how, in the conditions of the reduction and elimination of some types of strategic offensive weapons, by improving the combat characteristics of others, to ensure a qualitative superiority over the strategic nuclear forces of the USSR.

Since 1985, the deployment of 50 silo-based MX ICBMs began (another 50 missiles of this type in a mobile version were planned to be put on combat duty in the early 1990s) and 100 B-1B heavy bombers. The production of BGM-86 air-launched cruise missiles to equip 180 B-52 bombers was in full swing. A new MIRV with more powerful warheads was installed on the 350 Minuteman-3 ICBMs, while the control system was modernized.

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

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

Land-based cruise missiles, also considered NATO's nuclear weapons, have become a dangerous weapon. But their use was envisaged in accordance with the SIOP plan. Their main advantage was the high accuracy of firing (up to 30 m) and the secrecy of the flight, which took place at an altitude of several tens of meters, which, combined with a small effective dispersion area, made the interception of such missiles by the air defense system extremely tricky business. The targets for the KR could be any pinpoint highly protected targets such as command posts, silos, etc.

However, by the end of the 1980s, the USA and the USSR had accumulated such a huge nuclear capability that he has long outgrown reasonable limits. There was a situation when it was necessary to make a decision what to do next. The situation was aggravated by the fact that half of the ICBMs (Minuteman-2 and part of Minuteman-3) had been in operation for 20 years or more. Maintaining them in a combat-ready state cost more and more every year. Under these conditions, the country's leadership decided on the possibility of a 50% reduction in strategic offensive arms, subject to a reciprocal step on the part of the Soviet Union. Such an agreement was concluded at the end of July 1991. Its provisions largely determined the development of strategic weapons for the 1990s. A directive was given for the development of such strategic offensive arms, so that the USSR would need to spend large financial and material resources to parry the threat from them.

The situation changed radically after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a result, the United States achieved world domination and remained the only "superpower" of the world. Finally, the political part of the American military doctrine was carried out. But with the end of the Cold War, according to the Clinton administration, threats to US interests have remained. In 1995, the report "National Military Strategy" appeared, presented by the chairman of the committee of the chiefs of staff of the Armed Forces, and sent to Congress. It became the last of the official documents that set out the provisions of the new military doctrine. It is based on a “strategy of flexible and selective engagement”. Certain adjustments in the new strategy have been made to the content of the main strategic concepts.

The military-political leadership still relies on force, and the Armed Forces are preparing to wage war and achieve "victory in any wars, wherever and whenever they arise." Naturally, the military structure is being improved, including the strategic nuclear forces. They are entrusted with the task of deterring and intimidating a potential enemy, both in peacetime and at the entrance to a general or limited war using conventional weapons.

A significant place in theoretical developments is given to the place and methods of operation of the SNS in a nuclear war. Taking into account the existing correlation of forces between the United States and Russia in the field of strategic weapons, the American military-political leadership believes that the goals in a nuclear war can be achieved as a result of multiple and spaced nuclear strikes against objects of military and economic potential, administrative and political management. In time, it can be both proactive and reciprocal actions.

The following types of nuclear strikes are envisaged: selective - to destroy various command and control agencies, limited or regional (for example, against enemy troop groups in the course of a conventional war if the situation develops unsuccessfully) and massive. In this regard, a certain reorganization of the US START was carried out. A further change in American views on the possible development and use of strategic nuclear weapons can be expected at the beginning of the next millennium.

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

The Germans took over first. In December 1938, their physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, for the first time in the world, carried out artificial fission of the uranium atom nucleus. In April 1939, the military leadership of Germany received a letter from professors of the University of Hamburg P. Harteck and V. Groth, which indicated the fundamental possibility of creating a new type of highly effective explosive. The scientists wrote: "The country that is the first to be able to practically master the achievements of nuclear physics will gain absolute superiority over others." And now, in the Imperial Ministry of Science and Education, a meeting is being held on the topic "On a self-propagating (that is, a chain) nuclear reaction." Among the participants is Professor E. Schumann, head of the research department of the Third Reich Arms Administration. Without delay, we moved from words to deeds. Already in June 1939, the construction of Germany's first reactor plant began at the Kummersdorf test site near Berlin. A law was passed banning the export of uranium outside Germany, and in the Belgian Congo urgently purchased a large number of uranium ore.

Germany starts and… loses

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

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

Within two years, the Heisenberg group carried out the research needed to create an atomic reactor using uranium and heavy water. It was confirmed that only one of the isotopes, namely uranium-235, contained in a very small concentration in ordinary uranium ore, can serve as an explosive. The first problem was how to isolate it from there. The starting point of the bombing program was an atomic reactor, which required either graphite or heavy water as a reaction moderator. German physicists chose water, thereby creating a serious problem for themselves. After the occupation of Norway, the only heavy water plant in the world at that time passed into the hands of the Nazis. But there, the stock of the product needed by physicists by the beginning of the war was only tens of kilograms, and the Germans did not get them either - the French stole valuable products literally from under the noses of the Nazis. And in February 1943, the British commandos abandoned in Norway, with the help of local resistance fighters, disabled the plant. The implementation of Germany's nuclear program was in jeopardy. The misadventures of the Germans did not end there: an experimental nuclear reactor exploded in Leipzig. The uranium project was supported by Hitler only as long as there was hope of obtaining a super-powerful weapon before the end of the war unleashed by him. Heisenberg was invited by Speer and asked bluntly: "When can we expect the creation of a bomb capable of being suspended from a bomber?" The scientist was honest: "I think it will take several years of hard work, in any case, the bomb will not be able to affect the outcome of the current war." The German leadership rationally considered that there was no point in forcing events. Let the scientists work quietly - by the next war, you see, they will have time. As a result, Hitler decided to concentrate scientific, industrial and financial resources only on projects that would give the fastest return in the creation of new types of weapons. State funding for the uranium project was curtailed. Nevertheless, the work of scientists continued.

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

Meanwhile across the ocean

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

In the USSR, the first information about the work carried out by both the allies and the enemy was reported to Stalin by intelligence as early as 1943. It was immediately decided to deploy similar work in the Union. Thus began the Soviet atomic project. Tasks were received not only by scientists, but also by intelligence officers, for whom the extraction of nuclear secrets has become a super task.

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

Experience of Recent Enemies and Allies

Naturally, the Soviet leadership could not remain indifferent to German nuclear developments. At the end of the war, a group of Soviet physicists was sent to Germany, among whom were the future academicians Artsimovich, Kikoin, Khariton, Shchelkin. All were camouflaged in the uniform of colonels of the Red Army. The operation was led by First Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Ivan Serov, which opened any door. In addition to the necessary German scientists, the “colonels” found tons of metallic uranium, which, according to Kurchatov, reduced work on the Soviet bomb by at least a year. The Americans also took out a lot of uranium from Germany, taking the specialists who worked on the project with them. And in the USSR, in addition to physicists and chemists, they sent mechanics, electrical engineers, glassblowers. Some were found in POW camps. For example, Max Steinbeck, the future Soviet academician and vice-president of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, was taken away when he was making a sundial at the whim of the head of the camp. In total, at least 1000 German specialists worked on the atomic project in the USSR. From Berlin, the von Ardenne laboratory with a uranium centrifuge, equipment of the Kaiser Institute of Physics, documentation, reagents were completely taken out. Within the framework of the atomic project, laboratories "A", "B", "C" and "G" were created, the scientific supervisors of which were scientists who arrived from Germany.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Help from overseas

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

Nuclear fission pioneers