Scientists at the Khrulev Russian Military Logistics Academy have developed a new simulator that will replace an older one to test the effects of nuclear explosions.
According to the patent cited by the Tass agency, the aim is to provide “a clear simulation of the visual characteristics such as impact effect, flash of light and mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion on the ground”. . The new equipment, Tass adds, will be used for “exercises and practical training of military units and to improve the quality of preparation of ground forces for combat operations related to the use of nuclear weapons, as well as units for the control of radiation” around “the epicenter to locate a nuclear explosion.”
Scientists said the new system will replace the previously used IU-59 system, which is now considered obsolete. Another simulator previously used to assess explosions from aircraft-dropped nuclear weapons, the IAB-500, has been out of service since 1984.
Meanwhile, the FT revealed online, after viewing some secret Russian military files, that Russia has in the past conducted exercises in the use of tactical nuclear weapons in the early stages of a conflict with a major world power. The 29 files, created between 2008 and 2014, include both “war games” and presentations to naval officers and, according to some experts interviewed by the newspaper, describe a threshold for the use of tactical nuclear weapons that is lower than what Russia has previously publicly acknowledged has .
The documents, which contain training scenarios for an invasion of China, discuss operating principles for the use of nuclear weapons. The criteria for a possible nuclear response range from a hostile invasion of Russian territory to more specific triggers such as the destruction of 20% of Russia's strategic ballistic missile submarines.
“This is the first time that documents like this have been made publicly available,” Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told the newspaper. “They show that the threshold for using nuclear weapons is quite low if the desired result cannot be achieved using conventional means.”
Russia's tactical nuclear weapons, which can be launched from land- or sea-based missiles or from aircraft, are designed for limited use on battlefields in Europe and Asia, as opposed to larger “strategic” weapons aimed at the United States, it reminds Ft.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA