A lot of noise from a small hold

London's Nuclear Ambitions: History and ModernityBack in August 1948, the British government signed an agreement with the United States to deploy American military bases in the eastern part of England.

Thus, for the first time in the history of the United Kingdom, foreign troops entered its territory in peacetime.

The American "flying fortresses" B-29, B-50 and B-36, which had both conventional and nuclear bombs on board, were based in England. In the 1950s, they were replaced by American B-47 and B-52 jet bombers.

On May 13, 1949, the House of Commons ratified a package of treaties on the establishment of four missile bases in the UK. Four squadrons of Thor missile systems with ammunition of 15 missiles each were based in the east of England (York, Lincoln, Norwich, Northampton). A total of 60 missiles were placed there.

Medium-range ballistic missiles "Tor" could hit most of the European territory of the USSR from England. However, in 1963, these missiles were withdrawn from England according to an unspoken agreement between Kennedy and Khrushchev during the Caribbean crisis.

THE FIRST EXPLOSIONSSince the Americans did not want to share the atomic secret with their British allies, in January 1947, full-scale work on the creation of nuclear weapons began in England.

The British made their first experimental plutonium charge in the second half of 1952. But the British Isles, due to the dense population and unpredictability of the consequences of the explosion, were not suitable for conducting nuclear tests. And the British turned to their closest allies and formal dominions – Canada and Australia. British experts considered that the vast sparsely populated territories of Canada are the best suited for conducting nuclear tests.

However, the Canadians categorically refused to carry out nuclear explosions. The Australian government agreed, and the British set out to detonate the first nuclear device in the state of Western Australia on the Montebello archipelago, which includes 79 islands.

The British Admiralty decided to make the first explosion underwater in order to assess the possible consequences of a nuclear explosion off the coast, including its impact on ships and coastal buildings.

On October 3, 1952, the first nuclear test was conducted under the code name "Hurricane". The power of the explosion was about 25 kt. The nuclear charge was suspended under the bottom of the decommissioned frigate HMS "Plim" (K271). The frigate was anchored 400 meters from the island of Timorien, part of the Montebello archipelago. Measuring devices were installed on the shore in protective structures. During the explosion, the frigate was destroyed, and at the bottom, in the epicenter, a funnel six meters deep and about 150 m in diameter was formed.

Two more British nuclear charges were detonated on the islands of Timorien and Alpha in 1956 during Operation Mosaic. The tests were carried out in order to work out elements and design solutions, which were then used in the creation of thermonuclear bombs.

Both special charges were placed on high metal towers. The power of the charge "Mosaic-1", blown up on May 16, 1956, turned out to be 15 kt, and the power of "Mosaic-2", blown up on June 19, 1956, reached 60 kt. In the latter case, a strong wind contributed to a large pollution of the area.

The islands where nuclear tests were conducted were closed to the public until 1992. According to the Australian media, the radiation background in these places was already within the normal range in 1980. But radioactive fragments of concrete and metal structures remained on the islands.

NEW POLYGONSIn general, the choice of an atomic test site in the Montebello archipelago turned out to be unsuccessful.

The size of the islands allowed for only one explosion on each. Personnel had to be placed on ships. And the prevailing winds in this area could contribute to the fallout of radioactive fallout on the settlements of the northern coast of Australia.

Already in 1952, the British began to look for a place where they could establish a permanent nuclear test site, and chose the Emu Field area, 450 km northwest of the city of Adelaide in the southern part of Australia.

In October 1953, during Operation Totem, two special charges mounted on steel towers with a height of 31 m were detonated at Emu Field. The task of the tests was to determine experimentally the minimum amount of plutonium required for a nuclear charge.

The first Totem-1 nuclear test was conducted on October 15, 1953. The power of the charge turned out to be 10 kt, that is, about 30% higher than planned.

The second Totem-2 nuclear test was conducted on October 27, 1953. The estimated power of the explosion was supposed to be 2-3 kt, but in fact it turned out to be 10 kt. The explosion cloud rose to 8.5 km and quickly dissipated due to strong winds at this altitude.

The Emu Field training ground was also disliked by British personnel, and in November-December 1953, this area was abandoned. A new large nuclear test site began to be built in May 1955, 180 km south of Emu Field - in the town of Maralinga.

SERIAL TESTSAt the Maralinga training ground in 1956-1957, the British blew up six special charges.

But unlike the previous ones, these were not test explosions, but a test of the combat capability of serial bombs already adopted.

During the first atomic explosion on September 27, 1956, the Mk 1 bomb with a capacity of 15 kt, a length of 3.66 m and a weight of 800 kg was tested.

The second special charge "Marko" with a capacity of 1.4 kt on October 4, 1956 was buried a meter into the ground and overlaid with concrete blocks. As a result of the explosion, a crater with a diameter of about 40 m and a depth of 11 m was formed .

On October 11, 1956, during the Kite test, the Blue Danube atomic bomb was dropped from the Valiant B.1 strategic bomber. This was the first real drop of a British atomic bomb from an airplane. As with the tests of the Marko special charge, the British, for security reasons, did not risk testing the Blue Danube bomb with a capacity of 40 kt and reduced the charge power to 3 kt.

On October 22, 1956, tests were conducted under the code name "Separation". A tactical atomic bomb "Red Beard" Mk was detonated on a 34 m high metal tower.1. At the same time, the charge power from 15 kt was reduced to 10 kt.

On September 14, 1957, the Taji special charge was tested. He was also blown up on a metal tower.

Apparently, these were experienced special charges for tactical missiles and artillery systems. According to the British media, the last test was unsuccessful.

On September 25, 1957, during a test codenamed "Biak", an Indigo Hammer special charge was detonated, designed for Bloodhound anti-aircraft missiles and for use in thermonuclear warheads as a primary reaction source. A 6 kt charge was traditionally detonated on a metal tower.

The last explosion with the code designation "Taranaki" was the most powerful. An implosive-type nuclear explosive device based on a plutonium-uranium core was developed to initiate a thermonuclear reaction in megaton-class warheads. A charge with a capacity of 27 kt was suspended under a tethered balloon and detonated at an altitude of 300 m .

Further, all nuclear tests were conducted in the USA at the Nevada test site.

A total of 45 nuclear tests were conducted. The maximum power of the tested charges did not exceed 3 Mt. England became the only nuclear power in the world, on whose territory not a single nuclear explosion was made.

NUCLEAR CARRIERSThe first carrier of British nuclear weapons was to be a four-engine medium-range jet bomber.

In 1947, work began on the creation of three types of such bombers at once, called "Valiant", "Vulcan" and "Victor". They made their first flights on May 18, 1951, August 30, 1952 and December 24, 1952, respectively. In total, 104 "Valiants" and about 50 "Volcanoes" and "Viktors" were manufactured.

In October 1955, a British atomic bomb was dropped from a Valiant bomber at the Woomera test site (Australia). In the same year, the first squadron of "Valiants" was formed. In 1956, four squadrons of "Valiants" were transferred to Malta for the subsequent bombing of Egypt, but because of the decisive position of the USSR, they had to return home.

In the summer of 1957, the first squadron of Volcanoes took up combat duty, and the following year, 1958, the first squadron of Victorians.

The British generals understood that the rapid evolution of interceptor fighters and anti-aircraft missiles would make bombers extremely vulnerable. In this regard, in 1954, the company "Hawker Siddeley Dynamic" began to develop an aircraft missile "Blue Steel" with an inertial guidance system. The launch weight of the rocket is 6.8 tons. The warhead has a nuclear capacity of 4 Mt. The missile firing range is up to 240 km. The maximum speed of the rocket is 2M. The flight altitude is 24-25 km. The circular probable deviation is 600 m.

Tests of the Blue Steel rocket were conducted in 1959-1961 in Australia at the Woomera test site. The launches were carried out from the Valiant strategic bomber.

In 1962, the Blue Steel missile entered service with the British strategic bombers Victor and Vulcan. Each plane could carry only one missile. By 1969, these missiles were decommissioned.

TREACHEROUS ALLIESOn May 15, 1957, Britain detonated its first hydrogen bomb.

Strategic bombers and Blue Streak medium-range ballistic missiles were to be used as its carrier. These rockets, with a launch weight of 89.4 tons, had a flight range of 4,800 km . The Blue Streak missiles were to be placed in unprotected launch shafts. Flight tests of the Blue Streak were conducted at the Woomera test site in Australia.

Taking advantage of the financial difficulties of the British Ministry of Defense, the United States in 1960 invited them to participate in the joint development of a two-stage ballistic missile "Skybolt". The rocket was equipped with a solid-fuel engine. Its starting weight was 5125 kg, the firing range was 1500-1800 m, the warhead was thermonuclear. The missile was to be launched from the US strategic bombers B-52 Stratofortress and B-58 Hustler.

The Americans drew a blissful picture for the British: the carriers of the "Skybolt" were to be the British bombers "Victor" and "Vulcan" that were already in service. Thus, the British Air Force could hit most targets in the European part of the USSR, including Moscow, Gorky, Kazan, etc.

The British took the bait and in the same 1960 stopped all work on the medium-range missile "Blue Streak". Overjoyed, the "sons of Albion" allocated funds for the "Skybolt". And on June 1, 1960, the Conservative government signed an agreement with the United States to base American submarines with Polaris ballistic missiles in the Holy Loch Bay in Scotland.

However, the Americans once again cheated the former metropolis. In 1962, without any consultation with the Allies, work on the Skybolt missile was stopped. And the Yankees offered the British to wait a few years until the United States brought to mind and delivered the Polaris A-3 naval missiles to the British.

There was nothing to do, and London reluctantly in February 1963 issued an order to its shipyards for the construction of four nuclear submarines of the "R" type. The United States supplied Polaris A-3 missiles for them, and the atomic warheads were manufactured in England.

The first of the boats, Resolution, was laid down on February 26, 1964, and entered service on October 2, 1967. The last of the series – "Revenge" – entered service on November 15, 1968. These four submarines made up the strategic nuclear forces of Great Britain.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE UNITED STATESSince the late 1960s, V-type strategic bombers have been gradually scrapped or converted into tanker aircraft.

The British tried to use the last Vulcan bombers against the Argentines during the Falklands War of 1982. Their combat use was unsuccessful, and at the end of the same year they were withdrawn from service.

In 1986-1998, four nuclear submarines of the "V" type were built to replace four nuclear submarines of the "R" type. The first, Vanguard, entered service in 1993. Instead of Polaris A-3 missiles, the new boats carried 16 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles each. Their warhead contains up to eight nuclear warheads with a capacity of 100-150 kt and a device for overcoming missile defense.

In addition, by 2009, the British fleet consisted of 14 nuclear submarines – carriers of American Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Since 1998, V–type submarines have been in the following mode: one submarine is on combat duty, two are in the base in a high degree of readiness (they can get to Russia from the base), and one is under repair. The Yankees are in charge of the supply of equipment and maintenance of Trident missiles.

Thus, since 1962, Britain has been politically and militarily dependent on the United States. Although the British government can afford certain liberties with its patron.

In May 2015, it was decided to build four Successor-type submarines. The final decision on the approval of the program was made on July 18, 2016. Construction began at the end of 2016 at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard.

The first Dreadnought submarine was laid down on October 6, 2016, and the second – the Valiant - in September 2019. All four submarines should be commissioned in the early 2030s. The total cost of the program is expected to be 31 billion pounds.

The estimated service life of submarines is from 35 to 40 years, which is about 25% more than the previous type.

BLUE PEACOCK CHICKSIn November 1953, the first atomic bomb "Blue Danube" (Blue Danube) was placed at the disposal of the Royal Air Force.

A year later, "Danube" formed the basis of a new project called "Blue Peacock" (Blue Peacock). The aim of the project is to prevent enemy occupation of the territory due to its destruction, as well as nuclear (and not only) pollution.

The nuclear mine of the Blue Peacock project weighed about 7.2 tons and was an impressive steel cylinder, inside of which there was a plutonium core surrounded by detonating chemical explosives, as well as a rather complex electronic filling at that time.

The bomb's power was about 10 kt. The British planned to bury ten such mines near strategically important facilities in West Germany, where the British military contingent was located, and use them if the Soviet Union decided to invade.

The mines were supposed to explode eight days after the built-in timer was activated. In addition, they could be detonated remotely from a distance of up to 5 km.

The device was also equipped with a system that prevents mine clearance: any attempt to open or move an activated bomb led to an immediate explosion.

When creating a mine, the developers faced a rather unpleasant problem associated with the unstable operation of the bomb's electronic systems in low winter temperatures. To solve this problem, it was proposed to use a heat-insulating shell and... chickens. It was assumed that the chickens would be immured in a mine along with a supply of water and feed. In a few weeks, the chickens would have died, but their body heat would have been enough to warm the electronics of the mine.

It became known about the chickens after the declassification of the "Blue Peacock" documents. At first, everyone thought it was an April Fool's joke, but Tom O'Leary, head of the UK National Archives, said: "It looks like a joke, but it's definitely not a joke."

However, there was also a more traditional version using ordinary glass wool-based thermal insulation.

In the mid-1950s, the project culminated in the creation of two working prototypes, which were successfully tested, but not tested: not a single nuclear mine was detonated. However, in 1957, the British military ordered the construction of ten mines of the Blue Peacock project, planning to place them in Germany under the guise of small nuclear reactors designed to generate electricity.

But in the same year, the UK government decides to close the project. The very idea of secretly deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of another country was considered a political miscalculation by the army leadership. The discovery of these mines threatened England with very serious diplomatic complications. Therefore, as a result, the level of risk associated with the implementation of the Blue Peacock project was considered unacceptably high.

DESCENDANTS OF THE "RED BEARD"In 1961, the tactical nuclear bomb "Red Beard" with a capacity of 5 to 20 kt in various versions entered service with the Air Force and the Navy of England.

It was armed with V-type strategic bombers, Canberra medium-range bombers, as well as Buccaneer-type deck bombers.

The Red Beard bombs were stored in England, Singapore and Cyprus. The aircraft carrier was supposed to store five nuclear bombs. In total, 110 Red Beard nuclear bombs were manufactured. They were removed from service around 1971.

In 1973, the British nuclear bomb WE177, created on the basis of the American B61 bomb, was adopted. The weight of the product was 282 kg, power – from 10 to 450 kt (depending on the design). In total, about 300 units were manufactured. The bomb was in service with the Air Force and Navy. In 2002, WE177 was decommissioned.

By 2022, about 110 American B61 nuclear bombs were stored in England at the Lakenheath base, intended for American F-15E aircraft of the 48th Air Wing based in England. Unlike a number of NATO countries, the UK does not plan to allocate its aircraft to carry nuclear bombs in the air.

In 1998, the British government officially announced that it was abandoning tactical nuclear weapons and withdrawing them from service – that is, atomic warheads will remain only on Trident II boat missiles.

In the author's opinion, this is an outright lie. Simply, tactical nuclear warheads have been removed from the armament of units and ships, stored in secret vaults and are still ready for operational use.

BLACKMAIL BY APPLICATIONAt the beginning of the XXI century, the British government admitted that in 1982, during the Falklands War, it sent several destroyers equipped with WE-177 nuclear depth charges to the shores of Argentina.

One of them ("Sheffield") It was sunk on May 4, 1982 by Argentine aviation, so that at least one nuclear warhead ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the author, in 1982 Britain planned a nuclear bombing of Argentine troops or other facilities. To this end, two British strategic Vulcan bombers and refueling planes were sent to the British Ascension Island in the center of the Atlantic, where a large American air base is located.

The Volcanoes made five flights to the Falkland Islands and even bombed an Argentine runway there. At the same time, the flight range of the Vulcan in one direction was 7.5 thousand km.

Is it necessary to prove that the participation of "Volcanoes" in the conflict was a pinprick for Argentina. But it cost England two orders of magnitude more than the enemy. So sending "Volcanoes" to Ascension Island would have become a topic for satirists if nuclear bombs had not been delivered to the island. It is possible that Britain blackmailed Argentina through diplomatic channels with the use of nuclear weapons.

In January 2016, British Rear Admiral John Weale publicly announced the possibility of using British nuclear weapons on territories in Syria and Iraq controlled by ISIS (the organization is banned in the Russian Federation). The Admiral called Trident missiles a means of delivering nuclear warheads.

It is clear that the British would not have dared to bombard the city of Mosul. And a strike with 100-kiloton ammunition on the positions of ISIS would lead to the death of one or two battalions and the destruction of several field fortifications, no more. So using Trident against ISIS is similar to removing the glands through the anus.

If London can't wait to use nuclear weapons in the Middle East, then it's much easier to do it using tactical nuclear bombs from Tornado fighter bombers based in Cyprus.

Alexander ShirokoradAlexander Borisovich Shirokorad is a writer and historian.