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A Technical History Of Americas Nuclear Weapons Volume Ii Weapon Systems From 1960 To The Present
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Book Synopsis A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons: Volume II - Weapon Systems from 1960 to the Present by : Peter A. Goetz
Download or read book A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons: Volume II - Weapon Systems from 1960 to the Present written by Peter A. Goetz and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2018-08-31 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear publications prior to the e-book, A Technical History of America
Book Synopsis A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons by : Peter a Goetz
Download or read book A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons written by Peter a Goetz and published by . This book was released on 2020-09-10 with total page 630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the Second Edition of A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons: Volume I - Introduction and Nuclear Developments Through 1960. It is called a technical history because it focuses on nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons (delivery) systems. The people, laboratories, and politicians who championed these weapons have been dealt with by other authors. For the convenience of the Reader, Volume I has an introductory section that places the American nuclear arsenal into its historical context and provides the basic technical background needed to understand the weapon's mechanisms. Included are chapters on weapon design, the military-industrial complex, and stockpile logistics. These are followed by a discussion intended to clearly convey what would have happened if nuclear weapons were ever put to use. The introduction closes with a review of early warning and targeting, nuclear war plans, the deployment of nuclear forces, and the evolution of strategic doctrine during the period of the Cold War. It also includes sections on non-proliferation and the current management of the US Nuclear Stockpile. This story is told in a straightforward easy to understand manner. The use of equations is shunned. Albert Einstein declared that if you can't tell a story without the use of mathematics, you really don't understand your subject matter. The second half of Volume I examines early American nuclear weapons and delivery systems. It combines development histories with engineering descriptions to illustrate the performance characteristics of the weapons and the design challenges that faced their developers. Basic data about weapon operation, delivery systems, and deployments are also included. Like the First Edition, this Second Edition is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photographs.Volume I: 1) Has about 1,000 selected references, grouped into related categories 2) Uses official Military Characteristic (Parts) Numbers for components where available, a very useful tool for internet searches 3)Provides detailed information on the production of uranium and its enrichment in for use in nuclear weapons 4) Provides detailed information on the recovery of plutonium from spent fuel rods and the casting of plutonium cores 5) Outlines the evolution of nuclear pits: solid, composite, levitated, hollow, boosted, linear and linear boosted. 6) Provides information on explosives and the methods used to compress fissile cores, especially the plastic bonded explosives (PBX) produced at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Kingsport, Tennessee 7) Outlines the development of the batteries and the arming, fuzing, and firing (X-Unit) systems used in various nuclear MARKs and MODs 8) Outlines the internal and external electronic neutron initiation systems used in various nuclear MARKs and MODs 9)Describes boosted warheads, the forerunners to the hydrogen bomb 10) Follows the race to develop hydrogen bombs and investigates the first generation of multi-megaton weapons and their delivery aircraft.
Book Synopsis A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons by : Peter a Goetz
Download or read book A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons written by Peter a Goetz and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2020-09-10 with total page 642 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the Second Edition of A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons: Volume II -Nuclear Developments From 1960 Through 2020. Volume II takes up where Volume I ends. It is written in the same straightforward, easy to understand, manner as Volume I. American nuclear weapons and delivery systems are presented in a rough chronological order with some weapons treated individually and others in functional or family groupings. Like Volume I, Volume II combines development histories with engineering descriptions to illustrate the performance characteristics of each weapon described and the design challenges that faced their developers. Basic data about weapon operation, delivery systems, and deployments are also included. A light editing job on the material that previously comprised the First Edition has allowed room for two additional chapters and an afterword. These chapters focus on the nuclear weapon systems under development that will form the new Triad. The weapon systems include the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent ICBM, and the Columbia SSBN. The closing chapters draw heavily on information provided in the First Edition, since the New Triad relies heavily on previously developed technology. The afterword discusses some unclear aspects of the choices made for the new Triad. Like the First Edition, this Second Edition is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photographs. Volume II: 1) Uses official Military Characteristic (Parts) Numbers for components where available, a very useful tool for internet searches 2) Discusses second generation multi-megaton hydrogen bombs including the three-stage, 25-megaton MK 41, America's most powerful weapon 3) Outlines the evolution of jet-powered, medium and heavy, strategic bombers-Discusses the continued development of tactical nuclear bombs and their delivery systems 4) Explains the mechanism of Dial-a-Yield, used in the B61 and B83 bombs 5) Follows the evolution of liquid and solid fuel ICBMs, which now form the core of the nuclear triad - based in silos and on-board Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarines 6) Describes the evolution of Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs) that allowed Moscow to be targeted with four hundred thermonuclear warheads 7) Takes up the development of tactical nuclear missiles where Volume I left off 8) Describes the development of Enhanced Radiation or "neutron" weapons to minimize casualties in the European Theater 9) Outlines how tactical nuclear missiles and nuclear artillery were combined to provide "Terrain Fire", in which thousands of overlapping nuclear bursts to depths of 50 or 100 kilometers along an adversary's border would annihilate its forward forces leaving millions of dead 10) Follows the development air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, including the W61 warhead, which used gold to produce extremely high intensity radiation for use in the vacuum of space 10) Discusses the B-21 Raider, GBSD ICBM, and the Columbia Class SSBN that form the new Nuclear Triad 11) Reviews the Russian "doomsday" Poseidon torpedo and other new weapons and their implications for American deterrence 12) Considers the implications of the termination of The New START Treaty
Book Synopsis A Technical History of America's Nuclear Arms by : Peter GOETZ
Download or read book A Technical History of America's Nuclear Arms written by Peter GOETZ and published by . This book was released on 2018-08-23 with total page 555 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear publications prior to the recently published e-book, A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons - Their Design, Operation, Deployment, and Delivery, have concentrated mostly on specific topics such as weapon physics, testing, warheads, delivery systems, deployments, or doctrine. The e-book was intended to provide "one stop shopping" with a broad treatment of the subject. In providing a wide scope, some depth was sacrificed in order to produce a volume of manageable size. In republishing the A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons - Their Design, Operation, Deployment and Delivery e-book as a paperback, it was necessary to divide it into two volumes due to limitations of the printing process. While unfortunate that the book had to be published in two volumes, it allowed the author to lavishly illustrate each chapter of the book.For the convenience of the Reader, A History of America's Nuclear Weapons: Volume I - Introduction and Weapon Systems Through 1960 has a leading section that places the American nuclear arsenal into its historical context and provides the basic technical background needed to understand the weapon's mechanisms. Included are chapters on weapon design, the military-industrial complex, and stockpile logistics. These are followed by a discussion intended to clearly convey what would have happened if nuclear weapons were ever put to use. The introduction closes with a review of early warning and targeting, nuclear war plans, the deployment of nuclear forces, and the evolution of strategic doctrine during the period of the Cold War. It also includes sections on non-proliferation and the current management of the US Nuclear Stockpile. This story is told in a straightforward easy to understand manner. The use of equations is avoided like the plague. Albert Einstein declared that if you can't tell a story without the use of mathematics, you really didn't understand your subject matter.The main body of this book examines American nuclear weapons and delivery systems in a rough chronological order. It treats some weapons individually, whereas it presents others in functional or family groupings. It also combines development histories with engineering descriptions to illustrate the performance characteristics of the weapons and the design challenges that faced their developers. Basic data about weapon operation, delivery systems, and deployments are also included. Volume I: -Has about 1,000 technical references, grouped into related categories-Uses official Military Characteristic (parts) Numbers for components where available, a very useful tool for internet searches-Provides detailed information on the recovery of plutonium from spent fuel rods and the casting of plutonium cores-Outlines the evolution of nuclear pits: solid, composite, levitated, hollow, boosted, linear and linear boosted.-Provides information on the explosives and methods used to compress plutonium cores on a weapon by weapon basis, especially the plastic bonded explosives (PBX) produced at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Kingsport, Tennessee -Outlines the development of the batteries and the arming, fuzing and firing (X-Unit) systems used in various nuclear MARKs and MODs-Outlines the internal and external electronic neutron initiation systems used in various nuclear MARKs and MODs-Follows the race to develop hydrogen bombs and investigates the first generation of multi-megaton bombs and their delivery aircraft.Preprints of this paperback were sent to the NNSA, DOE, and DOD for review, thus, the Author can guarantee that the men-in-black will never come to your home if you purchase this book. He cannot guarantee, however, that the ballistic missile submarine that a Reader constructs in a backyard pool will not implode before it reaches its specified collapse depth or that a thermonuclear bomb reverse engineered will be a dud.
Book Synopsis Nuclear Weapons of the United States by : James N. Gibson
Download or read book Nuclear Weapons of the United States written by James N. Gibson and published by Schiffer Military History. This book was released on 1996 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covers every nuclear delivery system the United States ever deployed, from submarines and their missiles to artillery rounds and mines.
Book Synopsis US Nuclear Weapons by : Chuck Hansen
Download or read book US Nuclear Weapons written by Chuck Hansen and published by Crown. This book was released on 1988 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the historical and technical data for every warhead built by the United States since 1945
Book Synopsis Rearming for the Cold War 1945-1960 - History of Acquisition in the Department of Defense of Nuclear Weapons, Missiles and Rockets, the Nuclear Navy, Air Force Bombers, and the Atomic Army by : Department of Defense
Download or read book Rearming for the Cold War 1945-1960 - History of Acquisition in the Department of Defense of Nuclear Weapons, Missiles and Rockets, the Nuclear Navy, Air Force Bombers, and the Atomic Army written by Department of Defense and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-24 with total page 540 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a history of the acquisition of major weapon systems by the United States armed forces from 1945 to 1960, the decade and a half that spanned the Truman and Eisenhower administrations following World War II. These instruments of warfare--aircraft, armored vehicles, artillery, guided missiles, naval vessels, and supporting electronic systems--when combined with nuclear warheads, gave the postwar American military unprecedented deterrent and striking power. They were also enormously expensive. A Brookings Institution study estimated that from the end of World War II through the mid-1990s the United States spent over $5 trillion (including the cost of the wartime atomic bomb project) on the development, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons, and on the systems for delivering and defending against them. Twenty percent of that sum was expended between 1945 and 1960.Although there is a large body of published literature on specific aspects of weapons acquisition, primarily studies of individual systems, no in-depth analysis has yet appeared that combines the histories of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the military services into one account. Such a study is badly needed. World War II was a watershed for acquisition. The postwar defense environment was dramatically different from that existing before the war. So too were the policies, organizations, and processes that governed the acquisition of new weapons. Many of the changes that shaped the nature and course of acquisition through the end of the century were instituted between 1945 and 1960. Additionally, many of the problems that have repeatedly challenged defense policymakers and acquisition professionals since World War II first surfaced during those years. History does not repeat itself exactly; but by revealing long-term trends and the reasons for past choices, it can help illuminate the path forward for those who must grapple with the complex issues surrounding the development, production, and deployment of major weapon systems.The volume is organized chronologically, with individual chapters addressing the roles of OSD, the Army, Navy, and Air Force in two distinct periods. The first, roughly coinciding with President Truman's tenure, covers the years from the end of World War II through the end of the Korean War in 1953. The second spans the two terms of the Eisenhower presidency from 1953 through early 1961. The year 1953 marked a natural breakpoint between the two periods. The Korean War had ended. President Eisenhower and his defense team began implementing the "New Look," a policy and strategy based on nuclear weapons, which they believed would provide security and make it possible to reduce military spending. The New Look's stress on nuclear weapons, along with the deployment of the first operational guided missiles and the rapid advances subsequently made in nuclear and missile technology, profoundly influenced acquisition in the services throughout the 1950s and the remainder of the century.I. WORLD WAR II: A WATERSHED * II. ORGANIZING FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: OSD AND ACQUISITION, 1945-1949 * Coordination of Research and Development Prior to the National Security Act * The Research and Development Board * Coordination of Procurement Prior to the National Security Act * The Munitions Board * III. THE RESPONSE TO WAR: OSD AND ACQUISITION, 1950-1953 * Rearmament: Purposes and Organization * Requirements Estimates and Production Schedules * Production Difficulties * The Attack on Production Delays * Production Priorities * Research and Development
Download or read book Minuteman written by David Stumpf and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2021-02-26 with total page 595 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Minuteman: A Technical History of the Missile That Defined American Nuclear Warfare, David K. Stumpf demystifies the intercontinental ballistic missile program that was conceived at the end of the Eisenhower administration as a key component of the US nuclear strategy of massive retaliation. Although its nuclear warhead may have lacked power relative to that of the Titan II, the Minuteman more than made up for this in terms of numbers and readiness to launch—making it the ultimate ICBM. Minuteman offers a fascinating look at the technological breakthroughs necessary to field this weapon system that has served as a powerful component of the strategic nuclear triad for more than half a century. With exacting detail, Stumpf examines the construction of launch and launch control facilities; innovations in solid propellant, lightweight inertial guidance systems, and lightweight reentry vehicle development; and key flight tests and operational flight programs—all while situating the Minuteman program in the context of world events. In doing so, the author reveals how the historic missile has adapted to changing defense strategies—from counterforce to mutually assured destruction to sufficiency.
Book Synopsis Restricted Data by : Alex Wellerstein
Download or read book Restricted Data written by Alex Wellerstein and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2021-04-09 with total page 558 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Nuclear weapons, since their conception, have been the subject of secrecy. In the months after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the American scientific establishment, the American government, and the American public all wrestled with what was called the "problem of secrecy," wondering not only whether secrecy was appropriate and effective as a means of controlling this new technology but also whether it was compatible with the country's core values. Out of a messy context of propaganda, confusion, spy scares, and the grave counsel of competing groups of scientists, what historian Alex Wellerstein calls a "new regime of secrecy" was put into place. It was unlike any other previous or since. Nuclear secrets were given their own unique legal designation in American law ("restricted data"), one that operates differently than all other forms of national security classification and exists to this day. Drawing on massive amounts of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time at the author's request, Restricted Data is a narrative account of nuclear secrecy and the tensions and uncertainty that built as the Cold War continued. In the US, both science and democracy are pitted against nuclear secrecy, and this makes its history uniquely compelling and timely"--
Book Synopsis Nuclear Weapons (Two Book Set with Video and Audio CD by : William Lambers
Download or read book Nuclear Weapons (Two Book Set with Video and Audio CD written by William Lambers and published by William K Lambers. This book was released on 2003-05-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This shrink wrapped set contains the book Nuclear Weapons (ISBN: 0965652076) and its study supplement (ISBN: 0972462902). The study supplement includes an audio and video CD-ROM. Inside you will find a concise history of nuclear weapons from World War II, through the Cold War and into the 21st century. You will read about issues such as the Soviet-American nuclear arms race, the proliferation of nuclear weapons to nations such as China, India and Pakistan, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), nuclear terrorism and missile defense. A number of government documents are reprinted in this set including "The Effects of the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," which was prepared by the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey. Documents related to nuclear test ban negotiations during the 1950's and 1960's are also included as well as the text of Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms For Peace speech. The study supplement tells the story of Eisenhower and Kennedy's pursuit of a nuclear test ban. In addition, a reprint of the Gilpatric Committee's report on nuclear proliferation is also reprinted. The Gilpatric Committee was a task force created by President Johnson in 1964. Information on nuclear weapon free zones and statements for and against the CTBT are also contained in the study supplement. The video CD-ROM contains clips of nuclear weapons tests and President Kennedy's signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty. Excerpts from Dwight D. Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace speech are also on the video CD-ROM. The audio CD-ROM is highlighted by statements and speeches by President Eisenhower and President Kennedy, President Johnson's remarks on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and President Reagan's and General Secretary Gorbachev's statements at the INF Treaty ceremony.
Download or read book United States Nuclear Tests written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This document lists chronologically and alphabetically by name all nuclear tests and simultaneous detonations conducted by the United States from July 1945 through September 1992. Two nuclear weapons that the United States exploded over Japan ending World War II are not listed. These detonations were not "tests" in the sense that they were conducted to prove that the weapon would work as designed (as was the first test near Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945), or to advance nuclear weapon design, or to determine weapons effects, or to verify weapon safety as were the more than one thousand tests that have taken place since June 30,1946. The nuclear weapon (nicknamed "Little Boy") dropped August 6,1945 from a United States Army Air Force B-29 bomber (the Enola Gay) and detonated over Hiroshima, Japan had an energy yield equivalent to that of 15,000 tons of TNT. The nuclear weapon (virtually identical to "Fat Man") exploded in a similar fashion August 9, 1945 over Nagaski, Japan had a yield of 21,000 tons of TNT. Both detonations were intended to end World War II as quickly as possible. Data on United States tests were obtained from, and verified by, the U.S. Department of Energy's three weapons laboratories -- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; and Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Additionally, data were obtained from public announcements issued by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and its successors, the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, and the U.S. Department of Energy, respectively.
Book Synopsis The U.S. Nuclear Arsenal by : Norman Polmar
Download or read book The U.S. Nuclear Arsenal written by Norman Polmar and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Illustrated with more than 100 b & w photographs, this reference offers a complete, up-to-date history of the development of US nuclear weapons and detailed descriptions of the entire American nuclear arsenal, including the variety of systems capable of delivering them. It describes all of the nuclear weapons developed by the US, as well as the nuclear missiles and rockets carried by air-defense fighters within the US, and the nuclear-armed surface-to-air missiles surrounding major US cities and military bases. In addition to a history of weaponry, deployment, and dismantlement, the reference offers a history of American nuclear strategy, analyzes the various technical streams of research and the doctrinal evolution that led to the weapons, and assesses the impact of those developments on the larger history of the Cold War and its aftermath. Appendices give information on US nuclear stockpiles, effects of nuclear weapons, and US strategic offensive forces from 1945 to 2008.
Book Synopsis Command and Control by : Eric Schlosser
Download or read book Command and Control written by Eric Schlosser and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-09-17 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oscar-shortlisted documentary Command and Control, directed by Robert Kenner, finds its origins in Eric Schlosser's book and continues to explore the little-known history of the management and safety concerns of America's nuclear aresenal. “A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Fascinating.” —Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine “Perilous and gripping . . . Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety.” —San Francisco Chronicle A myth-shattering exposé of America’s nuclear weapons Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America’s nuclear arsenal. A groundbreaking account of accidents, near misses, extraordinary heroism, and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: How do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? That question has never been resolved—and Schlosser reveals how the combination of human fallibility and technological complexity still poses a grave risk to mankind. While the harms of global warming increasingly dominate the news, the equally dangerous yet more immediate threat of nuclear weapons has been largely forgotten. Written with the vibrancy of a first-rate thriller, Command and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a nuclear missile silo in rural Arkansas with a historical narrative that spans more than fifty years. It depicts the urgent effort by American scientists, policy makers, and military officers to ensure that nuclear weapons can’t be stolen, sabotaged, used without permission, or detonated inadvertently. Schlosser also looks at the Cold War from a new perspective, offering history from the ground up, telling the stories of bomber pilots, missile commanders, maintenance crews, and other ordinary servicemen who risked their lives to avert a nuclear holocaust. At the heart of the book lies the struggle, amid the rolling hills and small farms of Damascus, Arkansas, to prevent the explosion of a ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States. Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews with people who designed and routinely handled nuclear weapons, Command and Control takes readers into a terrifying but fascinating world that, until now, has been largely hidden from view. Through the details of a single accident, Schlosser illustrates how an unlikely event can become unavoidable, how small risks can have terrible consequences, and how the most brilliant minds in the nation can only provide us with an illusion of control. Audacious, gripping, and unforgettable, Command and Control is a tour de force of investigative journalism, an eye-opening look at the dangers of America’s nuclear age.
Book Synopsis The Development of Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force 1945-1960 by : Office of Air Force History
Download or read book The Development of Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force 1945-1960 written by Office of Air Force History and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-01-29 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following World War II, the onset of nuclear weapons, long-range jet bombers, and ballistic missiles radically changed American foreign policy and military strategy. The United States Air Force, led by men of far-sighted vision and uncommon dedication, accepted the challenge of organizing and leading a massive research and development effort to build ballistic missiles. In the quarter of a century since, these weapons have constituted one of the three legs of the strategic triad-the basis of America's strategy of deterring nuclear war-yet they have received less attention from the public and within the Air Force than the more glamorous manned bombers of the Strategic Air Command or the missile-launching submarines of the U.S. Navy. This volume attempts to correct the imbalance by telling the story of the development of Air Force ballistic missiles. It concentrates on the first generation of ballistic missiles: the intercontinental Atlas and Titan, and the intermediate range Thor. Although the effort to develop rockets has a longer history than commonly assumed, the modern history spans the relatively short era from 1945 to 1960. During this brief interval, missiles advanced from drawing board to alert status, where the next generation now remains poised to deter war. The author describes the difficulties involved in the technological competition with the Soviets to be first to develop and deploy a ballistic missile force. With innovative leadership, the Air Force succeeded also in overcoming conflict with the Army and Navy, budgetary constraints, administrative complications, and of course formidable engineering problems. Jacob (Jack) Neufeld has done a thoughtful, thorough job of research in an immense amount of documentation. He came to the task with broad experience in the subject matter. He first joined the history program at Eighth Air Force, Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts; his initial assignment was to cover the command's ICBMs, including the Titan II and Minuteman, in the annual history. When he came to Washington and joined the Office of Air Force History in 1970, he produced monographs on missiles and space. He also had other diverse assignments, usually in the area of the history of research, development, and technology generally. Before long he earned a well-deserved reputation as an expert in these fields. In the course of his extensive research, Mr. Neufeld also met and interviewed many of the leading people involved in Air Force science and technology. Although the development of ballistic missiles is largely an administrative history, it is also the story of the herculean efforts of several key individuals. The effort could not have succeeded as it did without the fortuitous appearance on the scene of Trevor Gardner, Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, and Dr. John von Neumann. How these men conceptualized, promoted, and directed the program forms the basis of the story. Additionally, the development of ballistic missiles revolutionized the way the Air Force conducted research and development, having a profound and longlasting effect on how the service acquired weapons of all types. Mr. Neufeld's fascinating history details these important changes in the process of relating how the service conceived, developed, and brought into the arsenal one of the most revolutionary weapons in the long history of warfare.
Book Synopsis Radiological Weapons by : Reid Kirby
Download or read book Radiological Weapons written by Reid Kirby and published by . This book was released on 2020-08-06 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the United States' experience with radiological weapons, from inception during the Second World War through the Cold War. A taxonomy of Radiological Warfare (RW) is presented, defining RW as a fringe of other forms of warfare. The history details an evolution from RW as a form of chemical warfare into an aspect of nuclear warfare. As a type of chemical weapon for area denial, there were successful field experiments, and logistical challenges to adoption. As a tactic of nuclear warfare, the base surge could be exploited for RW area denial. The RW effect was a bonus with the cratering for atomic barriers. The use of fallout for RW was more problematic, distinguishing between reliable RW effect and undesirable consequences. Salting and dirty strategic nuclear weapons were explore, with the later being adopted for war planning which ignored the contribution of fallout. The complexities of adopting tactical nuclear weapons resulted in a de facto RW doctrine, which led to emphasis of initial radiation in upgrading weapon systems, viz., Enhanced Radiation (ER) weapons. Public opposition to the neutron bomb prevented the deployment of ER weapons, and the end of the Cold War disestablished the America's RW doctrine.
Book Synopsis The Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program by : Charles River Editors
Download or read book The Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program written by Charles River Editors and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-06 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading Tens of millions died during World War II as the warring powers raced to create the best fighter planes, tanks, and guns, and eventually that race extended to bombs which carried enough power to destroy civilization itself. While the war raged in Europe and the Pacific, a dream team of Nobel Laureates was working on the Manhattan Project, a program kept so secret that Vice President Harry Truman didn't know about it until he took the presidency after FDR's death in April 1945. The Manhattan Project would ultimately yield the "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" bombs that released more than 100 Terajoules of energy at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but weeks earlier, on July 16, 1945, the first detonation of a nuclear device took place in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The first bomb was nicknamed the "gadget," to avoid espionage attempts to discover that it was, indeed, a bomb. In some sense, the device detonated in July was not really a "bomb" anyway; it was not a deployable device, though it was a detonatable one. With this success, word reached President Truman, who was then attending the Potsdam Conference, and while there, he presented the news to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin feigned surprise; in an ironic twist of fate, espionage missions had revealed American nuclear research to the Soviets before it had even reached Vice President Truman. The attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, along with the Cold War-era tests and their accompanying mushroom clouds, would demonstrate the true power and terror of nuclear weapons, but in the late 1930s these bombs were only vaguely being thought through, particularly after the successful first experiment to split the atom by a German scientist. Despite the fact the Nazis' quest for a nuclear weapon began in earnest in 1939, no one really had a handle on how important nuclear weapons would prove to war and geopolitics, so the Germans were hesitant to expend resources on it. Moreover, they were hampered by the fact their policies had compelled Jewish scientists like Liz Meitner and Albert Einstein to flee before the war. For their part, Stalin's regime had been working on a nuclear weapons program since 1942, relying greatly upon successful Soviet espionage to help lead the way. With intelligence sources connected to the Manhattan Project, Stalin was able to keep abreast of the Allies' progress toward creating an atomic bomb, so that by 1945, the Soviets already had a working blueprint of America's first atomic bombs. On August 29, 1949, the Soviets successfully tested an atomic bomb, and with that, the Soviet Union became the second nation after the U.S. to develop and possess nuclear weapons. The nuclear age itself was still in its infancy, but within a few short years the advent of nuclear war loomed over the world and the prospect of a malign dictatorship possessing nuclear superiority kept Western leaders awake at night. The Soviet Nuclear Weapons Program: The History and Legacy of the USSR's Efforts to Build the Atomic Bomb examines the Soviets' race to reach the ultimate goal during and after World War II, and how they went about their objectives. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Nazi Germany's nuclear weapons program like never before.
Book Synopsis Shooting Down a "Star": Program 437, the US Nuclear ASAT System and Present-Day Copycat Killers by : Clayton K. S. Chun
Download or read book Shooting Down a "Star": Program 437, the US Nuclear ASAT System and Present-Day Copycat Killers written by Clayton K. S. Chun and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
