EMP - an electromagnetic pulse that knocks out all electronics and automation - seriously puzzled the military. And in the 1970s, the Americans built a colossal testing laboratory …
You have probably heard about the electromagnetic pulse for a long time. This phenomenon was discovered due to the observation that cars, radios, and wristwatches temporarily stopped working in the area of the landing of an alien UFO.
We joked about UFOs, of course, although this does not contradict the essence of the matter. Electromagnetic impulse (EMP) arises due to large energy disturbances, it can be caused by lightning, electric arc, superpower short circuit. But usually we, mere mortals, associate EMP with nuclear / thermonuclear weapons. An electromagnetic pulse, like a thermal or shock pulse, is an indispensable attribute of an atomic explosion. It was first observed in 1962 during air tests of a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean, when all alarms on the inhabited Hawaiian Islands suddenly went off and the power supply was cut off. At the same time, Hawaii was located one and a half thousand kilometers from the landfill.
Most unpleasantly, over the next months, several LEO space satellites, whose orbits passed through that zone, went out of order. The Americans quickly figured out what was what and drew the following diagram for themselves.
Although EMP is practically harmless for humans, in war conditions its effect is extremely unpleasant, since even the military equipment that survived the explosion will be ineffective. And the planes caught in the zone of the impulse are practically doomed. Therefore, those combat vehicles that are likely to find themselves in the EMP affected area are equipped with special protection in such an event.
It was precisely in order to learn how to curb EMP that the Americans began researching this marvelous effect. And not only they, of course, the USSR was digging in the same direction (and successfully, I must say).
In the 60s of the last century, the Yankees built 18 test stands for EMP research at various air bases. They all corresponded to a single scenario: the plane was parked on the ground, after which a short but powerful stream of electromagnetic radiation was directed at it. However, the scientists said that these tests are incorrect, as part of the radiation the earth reflects under the belly of the aircraft, increasing the dose it received.
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The decision seemed logical to the military, and they gave the green light to the Atlas-1 project, which could simulate the defeat of an aircraft in conditions as close as possible to flight conditions. No, they did not hang the plane on strings, but built a gigantic platform capable of holding a B-52 bomber. Fully loaded!
The key engineering nuance was that the entire structure had to be erected without a single nail. Wood, wood and more wood! Bolts and nuts are also wooden (see photo below). To increase the strength, wooden elements were pressed under the influence of temperature and high pressure. It seems that in Albuquerque, where construction was carried out, at that moment the carpenter profession became the most popular and glorious.
To this day, the Atlas-1 test platform is said to remain the largest structure ever built of wood and plywood.
The equipment of the stand was not limited to overlappings and a bomber. An important part of it were two generators located on the sides of the platform; each of them produced a voltage of 5 megavolts, in total, a flow of energy of 200 gigawatts was created, which is comparable to the EMP of a nuclear explosion.
The B-52 bomber was the largest flying object of the US Air Force, but it was not only located on the stand. Fighters, transport aircraft and missiles were tested separately.
The timber frame of the Atlas-1 project has passed all the tests. The program was curtailed only after the end of the Cold War, in 1991, when the study of nuclear and electromagnetic bombs switched to the method of computer simulations.
However, the twelve-tier flyover itself is still not dismantled. Moreover, enthusiasts want to assign it the status of a national treasure and leave it to stand forever as a monument.
Oleg Bocharov