Perhaps there is no such area on the planet that can compare with the American state of Nevada in terms of the number and area of various kinds of military training grounds and test centers. In the past, in the days of the USSR, the "Soviet Nevada" was the Kazakh SSR, but now most of the polygons in Kazakhstan have been eliminated.
The state of Nevada is located in the southwestern part of the United States, with an area of 286,367 km². It borders California in the west, Oregon and Idaho in the north, Utah and Arizona in the east. The main part of Nevada is desert and mountains. The climate is sharply continental and arid - the average annual rainfall is about 180 mm. In the summer of 1994, the thermometer in the south of the state reached + 52 ° C. Winters are quite cold, in 1972 in the mountains in the northeast of the state the temperature dropped below -47 ° C. It is very difficult to carry out agricultural activities in such conditions, therefore more than 87% of the land belongs to the federal government.
The population density is low; as of mid-2004, there were only 10 cities in Nevada, where the population did not exceed 10,000 people. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in the population, this trend is especially noticeable in the "gaming capital of the United States" - Las Vegas. The population of the city for 40 years has increased 25 times and now is more than 2.5 million people. At the same time, the total population of the state is about 2, 8 million people. The population growth in Nevada is largely due to illegal migration. In 2012, the US Immigration Service estimated that illegal migrants (mostly Mexicans) accounted for almost 9% of the state's population (the highest in the United States).
The use of the arid lands of Nevada as military training grounds began in the 1930s. Artillery fire and training bombing were conducted here, but this was of an episodic nature. After the outbreak of World War II, the armies required vast areas for combat training and test firing. Beginning in mid-1941, the military used the area to conduct artillery control exercises and test new explosives and high-yield ammunition.
Shortly after the July 16, 1945 operation Trinity, the first ever nuclear test explosion at the White Sands test site in the desert near the city of Alamogordo, New Mexico, the question arose of creating a permanent nuclear test site with the appropriate infrastructure. The White Sands test site was not very suitable for this, since it was located close to densely populated areas, in addition, ballistic missiles created in the United States were tested there since July 1945. For this purpose, there were built test benches, hangars for assembling missiles, launching facilities and radars for trajectory measurements of missile flight.
While nuclear weapons were "piece goods", they were tested in different parts of the United States and in the Pacific atolls of Bikini and Eniwetok. However, atmospheric nuclear tests outside the United States with severe fallout emissions have sparked massive protests in other countries. The public in the states of the Asia-Pacific region reacted especially sharply to this. In addition, on the relatively small islands, it was not possible to create a good scientific and testing base. Maintaining the necessary infrastructure in a humid monsoon climate, delivering essential cargo to remote areas and protecting the marine area was very expensive.
In 1951, it was decided to create the Nevada Test Site (Nevada Test Site) 100 km north of Los Vegas, in Nye County, in southern Nevada. As subsequent events showed, the location for the landfill was very well chosen. It is located at a considerable distance from densely populated areas, and the climate is dry. On the landfill with an area of about 3500 km², there were both absolutely flat areas and mountains. The soil structure proved to be very suitable for underground testing in adits and boreholes. Delivery of goods to this area did not cause any difficulties. The territory of the test site is divided into 28 sectors, where about 1000 buildings and structures were built at different times, there are 2 runways and 10 helipads.
Scheme of the Nevada nuclear test site
The first atmospheric nuclear test of a 1 kt tactical charge took place on January 27, 1951. Soon, explosions here began to thunder regularly, as part of testing new models of strategic and tactical nuclear weapons and studying their damaging factors on equipment and structures.
A shot taken with an ultra-high-speed camera - the destruction of a residential building during the passage of a shock wave of a nuclear explosion.
It will not be an exaggeration to say that in the 1950s and 1960s, at the Nevada test site, there was the world's largest and most equipped center for the study of the damaging factors of nuclear weapons. For this, units of the US Army Corps of Engineers erected entire residential areas corresponding to the typical development of American and European cities. In addition to residential buildings, various fortifications were built, equipment and weapons were installed at different distances from the epicenter of the explosion, where experimental animals were placed. In addition, thousands of American troops have participated in large-scale nuclear exercises, essentially becoming guinea pigs.
For example, during the operation Buster-Jangle (Buster-Jungle), which took place from October 22 to November 29, 1951, more than 6,500 troops were involved. In a series of 7 tests, 5 bombs were dropped from B-50 and B-45 bombers. At the same time, one, the very first bomb, did not explode. The power of the explosions ranged from 3.5 to 31 kt. Two more charges of 1, 2 kt were tested on the surface of the earth. During the test with a capacity of 21 kt, which took place on November 1, 1951, the military personnel were openly located on the ground at a distance of 8-10 km from the epicenter.
Before the ban on nuclear tests in the atmosphere in 1962, about 100 charges were detonated in Nevada. The exact number of atmospheric tests in different sources is indicated in different ways. About a dozen tests in the atmosphere were unsuccessful, when, due to the failure of automation or errors in design, a nuclear reaction did not start, and charges with fissile radioactive substances were sprayed on the ground.
Atmospheric nuclear explosions have exerted a very significant radiation load on the US population. However, both in the USA and in the USSR in the 50s and 60s, radiation was treated quite lightly. Some atmospheric nuclear tests were announced in advance, and crowds of tourists came to the border of the test site to admire the rare sight and take pictures against the background of the "nuclear mushroom." The clouds formed after a particularly powerful test were visible even in Las Vegas.
After the United States developed sufficiently miniature nuclear charges, the American military began to prepare for their use directly on the battlefield. So, on May 25, 1953, for the first time in the history of mankind, an "atomic cannon" was fired at the test site. A nuclear 280-mm artillery shell T-124 with a capacity of 15 kt exploded at a height of 160 meters above the ground, 19 seconds after it left the barrel of the M65 gun, having flown more than 10 km.
Shot from the "atomic cannon" M65
Due to the excessive weight (weight in the stowed position 75 tons) and dimensions, the M65 gun was produced in single copies. Subsequently, after the creation of even smaller charges, the 280-mm gun was supplanted by 155 and 203-mm towed and self-propelled artillery systems.
The test known as the Storax Sedan stands apart from the series of American nuclear explosions. It was a "peaceful explosion" of a thermonuclear charge with a capacity of 104 kt in TNT equivalent, it was carried out as part of the Operation Plowshare research program. In the Soviet press, the program was known as Operation Lemekh. While both in the United States and in the USSR, they studied the possibility of creating, using nuclear charges, underground cavities for storing gas and oil, as well as reservoirs, laying canals, crushing rock and mining.
Explosion "Storax Sedan"
The thermonuclear charge was lowered into the well to a depth of about 190 meters. As a result of the explosion, about 12 million tons of soil were lifted into the air to a height of 100 meters. At the same time, a crater with a depth of 100 meters and a diameter of more than 390 meters was formed. The instruments recorded a seismic wave equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 4.7.
The Storax Sedan explosion became the "dirtiest" nuclear test ever carried out on the continental United States. As a result of the explosion, about 7% of the total volume of radioactive fallout that entered the atmosphere during nuclear tests at a test site in Nevada was thrown out. Radioactive emissions were divided into two clouds, rising to a height of 3 km and 5 km. They were blown by the wind to the north-east in parallel paths towards the Atlantic coast. Significant radioactive fallout occurred along the path of the clouds. In the states of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Illinois, it was necessary to carry out a partial evacuation of the population and introduce a regime of increased radiation hazard.
Satellite image of Google earth: crater "Storax Sedan"
The territory of the landfill was subjected to significant radiation contamination, it was deadly to be in this area immediately after the explosion. The radiation level near the crater an hour after the explosion was 500 R / h. A month after the short-lived isotopes, "hot" in terms of radioactivity, decayed, the radiation level dropped to 500 mR / h, and six months later at the bottom of the crater it was 35 mR / h. In 1990, the radiation level dropped to 50 μR / h.
Tourist group on the observation deck of the crater "Storax Sedan"
Now an observation deck has been built on the edge of the crater, and tourists are brought here for a lot of money. It was the largest "nuclear crater" in the United States, and it stands out for its size in satellite images of the Nevada nuclear test site, which in places resembles a "lunar landscape."
In order to visit the nuclear test site as part of an excursion group, you must submit an application to the site administration. The line for the excursion is scheduled for a long time ahead, and you will have to wait about a month. When visiting the landfill, tourists are given dosimeters. At the same time, any photo or video equipment, cell phones and binoculars are confiscated. Without the permission of the escorts, it is prohibited to get off the tour bus and take any objects and stones on the territory of the landfill.
Satellite image of Google earth: experimental field at the Nevada nuclear test site
After July 17, 1962, until September 23, 1992, 828 charges were detonated underground at the test site. Some of the explosions were emergency, with significant releases of radioactive substances.
The release of radioactive substances during the Baneberry underground nuclear test in 1970.
Until now, several emergency nuclear charges remained in underground wells at the test site, which did not explode for one reason or another. After a comprehensive ban on nuclear testing, the test site was not dismantled. Here, research is underway as part of the verification of existing types of nuclear warheads and the development of new ones without reaching a critical mass of charges and the beginning of a large-scale uncontrolled chain reaction. Ten years ago, preparations were underway for an experiment with the detonation of 1,100 tons of powerful explosives, but due to widespread criticism and fear that this test would lead to the start of similar experiments in other countries, the project was closed.
Landfill Territory in Nevada
In addition to the nuclear test site, Nevada also has several aviation test centers and test sites for testing and practicing the combat use of aircraft and missile weapons.
Signs on the border of the restricted area
The most mysterious place in Nevada is the so-called Area 51 ("Area 51"), adjacent to the dry salt lake Groom Lake. In the 70s, this name of the base appeared in a number of official documents, after which information was leaked to the media. Also, at different times the airbase had the following code designations: Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, Home Base, Groom Lake. Currently, the airfield is named Homey Airport in official American documents.
Satellite image of Google earth: "Horney Airport"
This military facility is a subsidiary of Edwards Air Force Base, home to the US Air Force Flight Test Center. The capital runway "Zone 51" with a length of more than 3.5 km smoothly passes to the dry salt lake adjacent to the airfield. Thus, the perfectly flat surface of the salt lake is an extension of the runway, the total length of which is about 8 km. In theory, even space shuttles could be planted on this strip.
Area 51 is adjacent to the nuclear test site and is located 130 kilometers northwest of Las Vegas. The security regime of this area is even tougher than at the nuclear test site. There are practically no high-quality photographs of the Zone 51 airfield in open sources. It is believed that in addition to the numerous above-ground structures, the base has extensive underground structures.
In the past, federal authorities generally refused to comment on the site at all, and in some cases even denied the existence of the site. This circumstance gave rise to many rumors and all sorts of legends. Conspiracy theorists believe that Area 51 is hiding the wreckage of an interstellar spacecraft and even aliens from the public. This was the reason for all sorts of rumors and speculation, which was reflected in many publications and science fiction films.
In reality, such strict measures of secrecy were associated with the testing of new types of aviation technology in this area. Objects identified as UFOs by outside observers have been repeatedly recorded in this area. So, the appearance of the so-called "Black Triangles" in time coincided with the tests of aircraft, created under the program of low radar signature. Extensive research into technology that allows American combat aircraft to be invisible in radar range began in the late 1970s. For more than fifteen years, all US military programs related to stealth technology have been classified as classified.
Satellite image of Google earth: "black triangle" - strategic bomber B-2 at Whiteman airbase
At various times, such "black" aircraft as U-2, SR-71, F-117 and B-2 were tested here. Now the Horney airfield does not look deserted; when it is studied in detail on satellite images, you can see numerous freshly painted large hangars and technical structures in good condition. In addition to passenger and military transport aircraft, there are F-16 fighters at the aircraft parking areas.
There is another legendary and very famous in certain circles Tonopah Test Range Airport 50 km southeast of the city of Tonopah. This airbase is located approximately 100 km northwest of Area 51 and 230 km from Las Vegas. The aerodrome has a runway with a length of 3658 m and a tire of 46 m, equipped with equipment for landing at night and in bad weather conditions. There is an extensive airfield infrastructure and more than 50 capital hangars.
After the end of World War II, the Tonopah airfield was transferred to the US Department of Energy and most of the time it was at the disposal of Lockheed-Martin Corporation's Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia National Laboratory), where work was carried out on nuclear weapons programs. As a result, the area was closed to civilians without proper clearance. In 1957, an extensive training ground with an area of more than 700 km² was created around the airfield, organizationally subordinate to the command of the Nellis Air Force Base (Nellis Air Base). Currently, aviation systems for the delivery of nuclear weapons are being tested here, and the reliability and safety of mechanisms for protecting nuclear weapons are being tested. In the 60s at the test site, four real nuclear warheads were destroyed as part of the experiments, which led to the contamination of soil and water with plutonium.
At the moment, a new modification of the American B61-12 thermonuclear bomb is being tested in this area. The purpose of creating the B61-12 is an attempt to reduce the financial costs of maintaining the arsenal of nuclear bombs of the B61 family and to increase the reliability and safety of nuclear bombs. Modification B61-12 should replace all nuclear bombs in the United States, with the exception of the anti-bunker B61-11. In addition, due to the application of trajectory correction, the possibility of reducing the explosion power to 10 kt and the minimum release of radionuclides, this ammunition should become "humane" in relation to its troops and reduce radioactive contamination of the terrain to a minimum.
Test discharge of inert version B61-12
The B61-12 will be the first guided nuclear bomb to be equipped with two independent targeting systems. Depending on the tactical situation and enemy countermeasures, an inertial or guidance system similar to JDAM can be used.
