History and modernity. Why did the USSR abandon atomic bullets (1 photo) Problems of the project and ways to solve them

In Why the USSR abandoned atomic bullets

Atomic bullets have been described more than once in science fiction literature, but few people know that for the USSR such ammunition was not fantasy, but reality.

One such bullet melted armored tank, and several atomic bullets They destroyed a multi-story building. So why Soviet Union production of such powerful ammunition had to be curtailed.

It turns out that it was in our country, back in the days of the USSR, when we were seeking military parity (or even advantage) with the United States, that atomic bullets were created. And not only created, but also tested! It was about ammunition caliber 14.3 mm and 12.7 mm for heavy machine guns.

However, it was possible to create a 7.62 mm caliber bullet, but not for the Kalashnikov assault rifle, but for it heavy machine gun. This cartridge became the smallest nuclear ammunition in the world.

As is known, in any nuclear ammunition fissile material must be present. For bombs, they use uranium 235 or plutonium 239, but in order for them to work, the weight of the charge from these metals must at least exceed one kilogram - that is, have a critical mass.

When the transuranium element californium was discovered - more precisely, its isotope with atomic weight 252, it turned out that its critical mass was only 1.8 grams!

In addition, its main type of decay was very efficient fission, which produced 5-8 neutrons at once (for comparison: uranium and plutonium only have 2 or 3). That is, it was enough to just squeeze a tiny “pea” of this substance to cause an atomic explosion! This is why there was a temptation to use californium in atomic bullets.

It is known that there are two ways to produce californium. The first and simplest is the production of californium during powerful explosions thermonuclear bombs stuffed with plutonium. The second is the traditional production of its isotopes in a nuclear reactor.

Are climate weapons a myth?

However thermonuclear explosion more efficient, since with it the neutron flux density is many times higher than in an operating reactor. On the other hand - no nuclear tests, no, and California, since for bullets it is necessary to have it in significant quantities. Myself ammunition it is incredibly simple: a tiny part weighing 5-6 grams is made from californium, shaped like a dumbbell with two hemispheres on a thin leg.

A tiny explosive charge inside the bullet crushes it into a neat ball, which for a 7.62 mm caliber bullet has a diameter of 8 mm, and a supercritical state arises and... that’s it - a nuclear explosion is guaranteed! To detonate the charge, a contact fuse was used, which was placed inside the bullet - that’s the whole “bomb for a gun”! As a result, the bullet, however, turned out to be much heavier than usual, so in order to maintain the usual ballistic characteristics, it was necessary to place a charge of high-power gunpowder in the cartridge case.

However the main problem, which ultimately decided the fate of this unique ammunition is the heat generation caused by the continuous decay of californium. The fact is that all radioactive materials decay, which means they heat up, and the shorter their half-life, the stronger the heating. A bullet with a Californian core generated about 5 watts of heat. At the same time, due to its heating, the characteristics of the explosive and the fuse changed, and strong heating was simply dangerous, since the bullet could get stuck in the chamber or in the barrel, or, even worse, spontaneously explode when fired.

Therefore, to store such bullets, a special refrigerator was required, which looked like a copper plate about 15 cm thick with slots for 30 rounds. Between them there were channels through which a coolant—liquid ammonia—circulated under pressure, providing the bullets with a temperature of about -15°. This installation consumed about 200 watts of power and weighed about 110 kg, so it could only be transported in a specially equipped jeep.

In classic atomic bombs, the charge cooling system is an important part of the design, but it is located inside the bomb itself. And here, out of necessity, it had to be placed outside. Moreover, even a bullet frozen to -15° could be used within only 30 minutes after it was removed from the refrigerator, and during this time it was necessary to have time to load it into the magazine, occupy firing position, choose the desired goal and fire a shot at her.

If it was not possible to fire during this time, the cartridge should be returned to the refrigerator and cooled again. Well, what if the bullet was outside the refrigerator? more than an hour, then it was strictly forbidden to use it, and it itself was subject to disposal using special equipment.

Another serious drawback was the spread of energy release values ​​during the explosion of each such bullet from 100 to 700 kilograms of TNT, which depended on both storage conditions and (and this is the main thing) on ​​the material of the target into which it hit.

The fact is that the explosion of ultra-small nuclear charge not at all like a subversion of the classic atomic bomb and at the same time it does not resemble the explosion of an ordinary chemical explosive charge. In both cases, tons of hot gases are formed (with the first more, with the second, of course, less), uniformly heated to temperatures of millions and thousands of degrees. And here is a tiny ball - “nine grams in the heart”, which simply physically cannot convey environment all the energy of its nuclear decay due to its very small volume and mass.

It is clear that 700 or even 100 kg of chemical explosives is a lot. But still, the shock wave from the explosion of an atomic bullet was many times weaker than from the same amount of explosives, but the radiation, on the contrary, was very strong. Because of this, she should only shoot at maximum range, but even then the shooter could receive a noticeable dose of radiation. So the longest burst that was allowed to be fired at the enemy with atomic bullets was limited to only three shots.

However, one shot with such a bullet was usually more than enough. Despite the fact that active armor modern tank did not allow it to penetrate through it, so much thermal energy was released at the point of impact that the armor simply evaporated, and the metal around it melted to such an extent that both the tracks and the turret were tightly welded to the hull. Once in brick wall, it vaporized about a cubic meter of masonry, and three bullets - as many as three, after which the building usually collapsed.

True, it was noticed that a nuclear explosion did not occur when a bullet hit a tank of water, since the water slowed down and reflected neutrons. They immediately tried to use the resulting effect to protect their own tanks from ammunition with californium, for which purpose they began to hang “water armor” on them in the form of containers with heavy water. So it turned out that even against such a superweapon, protection can be found.

In addition, it turned out that the reserve of California, “exhausted” during superpower nuclear explosions, quickly disappears. Well, after the introduction of a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons the problem became even more acute: californium from the reactor was much more expensive, and its production volumes were small. Of course, the military would not be stopped by any expenses if they had an urgent need for these weapons. However, they did not test it (potential enemy tanks could be destroyed with less exotic ammunition!), which was the reason for curtailing this program shortly before the death of L. I. Brezhnev.

Well, the shelf life of these unique bullets did not exceed six years, so none of them have simply survived since then. Of course, no one will undertake to argue that the improvement of such weapons is not being carried out at the present time. However, it is very difficult to circumvent the laws of physics, and the fact that bullets filled with transuranium elements heat up very much, require cooling, and do not give the proper effect when entering a tank with heavy water is proven scientific fact. All this limits the possibilities for their use, and in the most serious way.

On the other hand, who knows - after all, our domestic portable anti-aircraft missile systems"Strela" and "Igla" also use a homing system, which is cooled to -200° with liquid nitrogen and... nothing. We have to put up with this. So maybe here, sooner or later, portable cooling systems will be created for magazines with such cartridges, and then almost every soldier will be able to shoot them at tanks!

Atomic bullets have been described more than once in science fiction literature, but few people know that for the USSR such ammunition was not fantasy, but reality. One such bullet melted an armored tank, and several atomic bullets destroyed a multi-story building. So why did the Soviet Union have to curtail the production of such powerful ammunition.

It turns out that it was in our country, back in the days of the USSR, when we were seeking military parity (or even advantage) with the United States, that atomic bullets were created. And not only created, but also tested! It was about ammunition caliber 14.3 mm and 12.7 mm for heavy machine guns. However, it was possible to create a 7.62 mm caliber bullet, but not for the Kalashnikov assault rifle, but for his heavy machine gun. This cartridge became the smallest nuclear one ammunition in the world.

As is known, in any nuclear ammunition fissile material must be present. For bombs, they use uranium 235 or plutonium 239, but in order for them to work, the weight of the charge from these metals must at least exceed one kilogram - that is, have a critical mass. When the transuranium element californium was discovered - more precisely, its isotope with atomic weight 252, it turned out that its critical mass was only 1.8 grams! In addition, its main type of decay was very efficient fission, which produced 5-8 neutrons at once (for comparison: uranium and plutonium only have 2 or 3). That is, it was enough to just squeeze a tiny “pea” of this substance to cause an atomic explosion! This is why there was a temptation to use californium in atomic bullets.

It is known that there are two ways to produce californium. The first and simplest is the production of californium during the explosions of powerful thermonuclear bombs filled with plutonium. The second is the traditional production of its isotopes in a nuclear reactor.

However, a thermonuclear explosion is more effective, since in it the neutron flux density is many times higher than in an operating reactor. On the other hand, there are no nuclear tests, and there is no California, since for bullets it is necessary to have it in significant quantities. Myself ammunition it is incredibly simple: a tiny part weighing 5-6 grams is made from californium, shaped like a dumbbell with two hemispheres on a thin leg. A tiny explosive charge inside the bullet crushes it into a neat ball, which for a 7.62 mm caliber bullet has a diameter of 8 mm, and a supercritical state arises and... that’s it - a nuclear explosion is guaranteed! To detonate the charge, a contact fuse was used, which was placed inside the bullet - that’s the whole “bomb for a gun”! As a result, the bullet, however, turned out to be much heavier than a regular one, so in order to maintain the usual ballistic characteristics, it was necessary to place a charge of high-power gunpowder in the cartridge case.

However, the main problem, which ultimately decided the fate of this unique ammunition is the heat generation caused by the continuous decay of californium. The fact is that all radioactive materials decay, which means they heat up, and the shorter their half-life, the stronger the heating. A bullet with a Californian core generated about 5 watts of heat. At the same time, due to its heating, the characteristics of the explosive and the fuse changed, and strong heating was simply dangerous, since the bullet could get stuck in the chamber or in the barrel, or, even worse, spontaneously explode when fired.

Therefore, to store such bullets, a special refrigerator was required, which looked like a copper plate about 15 cm thick with slots for 30 rounds. Between them there were channels through which a coolant—liquid ammonia—circulated under pressure, providing the bullets with a temperature of about -15°. This installation consumed about 200 watts of power and weighed about 110 kg, so it could only be transported in a specially equipped jeep. In classic atomic bombs, the charge cooling system is an important part of the design, but it is located inside the bomb itself. And here, out of necessity, it had to be placed outside. Moreover, even a bullet frozen to -15° could be used within only 30 minutes after it was removed from the refrigerator, and during this time it was necessary to load it into the magazine, take a firing position, select the desired target and fire at it.

If it was not possible to fire during this time, the cartridge should be returned to the refrigerator and cooled again. Well, if the bullet was outside the refrigerator for more than an hour, then it was strictly forbidden to use it, and it itself had to be disposed of using special equipment.

Another serious drawback was the spread of energy release values ​​during the explosion of each such bullet from 100 to 700 kilograms of TNT, which depended on both storage conditions and (and this is the main thing) on ​​the material of the target into which it hit.

The fact is that the explosion of an ultra-small nuclear charge is not at all similar to the explosion of a classical atomic bomb and at the same time it is not similar to the explosion of an ordinary chemical explosive charge. In both cases, tons of hot gases are formed (with the first more, with the second, of course, less), uniformly heated to temperatures of millions and thousands of degrees. And here is a tiny ball - “nine grams in the heart”, which simply physically cannot transfer all the energy of its nuclear decay to the environment due to its very small volume and mass.

It is clear that 700 or even 100 kg of chemical explosives is a lot. But still, the shock wave from the explosion of an atomic bullet was many times weaker than from the same amount of explosives, but the radiation, on the contrary, was very strong. Because of this, she should only shoot at the maximum range, but even then the shooter could receive a noticeable dose of radiation. So the longest burst that was allowed to be fired at the enemy with atomic bullets was limited to only three shots.

However, one shot with such a bullet was usually more than enough. Despite the fact that the active armor of a modern tank did not allow it to penetrate through it, so much thermal energy was released at the point of impact that the armor simply evaporated, and the metal around it melted to such an extent that both the tracks and the turret were tightly welded to the hull. Once it hit a brick wall, it vaporized about a cubic meter of masonry, and three bullets - as many as three, after which the building usually collapsed.

True, it was noticed that a nuclear explosion did not occur when a bullet hit a tank of water, since the water slowed down and reflected neutrons. They immediately tried to use the resulting effect to protect their own tanks from ammunition with californium, for which purpose they began to hang “water armor” on them in the form of containers with heavy water. So it turned out that even against such a superweapon, protection can be found.

In addition, it turned out that the supply of californium, “exhausted” during super-powerful nuclear explosions, is quickly disappearing. Well, after the introduction of a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, the problem became even more acute: californium from the reactor was much more expensive, and its production volumes were small. Of course, the military would not be stopped by any expenses if they had an urgent need for these weapons. However, they did not test it (potential enemy tanks could be destroyed with less exotic ammunition!), which was the reason for curtailing this program shortly before the death of L. I. Brezhnev.

Well, the shelf life of these unique bullets did not exceed six years, so none of them have simply survived since then. Of course, no one will undertake to argue that the improvement of such weapons is not being carried out at the present time. However, it is very difficult to circumvent the laws of physics, and the fact that bullets filled with transuranium elements heat up very much, require cooling, and do not give the desired effect when they fall into a tank of heavy water is a proven scientific fact. All this limits the possibilities for their use, and in the most serious way.

On the other hand, who knows - after all, our domestic man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems "Strela" and "Igla" also use a homing system that is cooled to -200° with liquid nitrogen and... nothing. We have to put up with this. So maybe here, sooner or later, portable cooling systems will be created for magazines with such cartridges, and then almost every soldier will be able to shoot them at tanks!

One such bullet melted an armored tank, and several atomic bullets destroyed a multi-story building

Atomic bullets have been described more than once in science fiction literature, but few people know that for the USSR such ammunition was not fantasy, but reality. One such bullet melted an armored tank, and several atomic bullets destroyed a multi-story building. So why did the Soviet Union have to curtail the production of such powerful ammunition.

It turns out that it was in our country, back in the days of the USSR, when we were seeking military parity (or even advantage) with the United States, that atomic bullets were created. And not only created, but also tested! It was about ammunition caliber 14.3 mm and 12.7 mm for heavy machine guns. However, it was possible to create a 7.62 mm caliber bullet, but not for the Kalashnikov assault rifle, but for his heavy machine gun. This cartridge became the smallest nuclear one ammunition in the world.

As is known, in any nuclear ammunition fissile material must be present. For bombs, they use uranium 235 or plutonium 239, but in order for them to work, the weight of the charge from these metals must at least exceed one kilogram - that is, have a critical mass. When the transuranium element californium was discovered - more precisely, its isotope with atomic weight 252, it turned out that its critical mass was only 1.8 grams! In addition, its main type of decay was very efficient fission, which produced 5-8 neutrons at once (for comparison: uranium and plutonium only have 2 or 3). That is, it was enough to just squeeze a tiny “pea” of this substance to cause an atomic explosion! This is why there was a temptation to use californium in atomic bullets.

It is known that there are two ways to produce californium. The first and simplest is the production of californium during the explosions of powerful thermonuclear bombs filled with plutonium. The second is the traditional production of its isotopes in a nuclear reactor.

However, a thermonuclear explosion is more effective, since in it the neutron flux density is many times higher than in an operating reactor. On the other hand, there are no nuclear tests, and there is no California, since for bullets it is necessary to have it in significant quantities. Myself ammunition it is incredibly simple: a tiny part weighing 5-6 grams is made from californium, shaped like a dumbbell with two hemispheres on a thin leg. A tiny explosive charge inside the bullet crushes it into a neat ball, which for a 7.62 mm caliber bullet has a diameter of 8 mm, and a supercritical state arises and... that's it - a nuclear explosion is guaranteed! To detonate the charge, a contact fuse was used, which was placed inside the bullet - that’s the whole “bomb for a gun”! As a result, the bullet, however, turned out to be much heavier than a regular one, so in order to maintain the usual ballistic characteristics, it was necessary to place a charge of high-power gunpowder in the cartridge case.

However, the main problem, which ultimately decided the fate of this unique ammunition is the heat generation caused by the continuous decay of californium. The fact is that all radioactive materials decay, which means they heat up, and the shorter their half-life, the stronger the heating. A bullet with a Californian core generated about 5 watts of heat. At the same time, due to its heating, the characteristics of the explosive and the fuse changed, and strong heating was simply dangerous, since the bullet could get stuck in the chamber or in the barrel, or, even worse, spontaneously explode when fired.

Therefore, to store such bullets, a special refrigerator was required, which looked like a copper plate about 15 cm thick with slots for 30 rounds. Between them there were channels through which a coolant circulated under pressure - liquid ammonia, which provided the bullets with a temperature of about -15°. This installation consumed about 200 watts of power and weighed about 110 kg, so it could only be transported in a specially equipped jeep. In classic atomic bombs, the charge cooling system is an important part of the design, but it is located inside the bomb itself. And here, out of necessity, it had to be placed outside. Moreover, even a bullet frozen to -15° could be used within only 30 minutes after it was removed from the refrigerator, and during this time it was necessary to load it into the magazine, take a firing position, select the desired target and fire at it.

If it was not possible to fire during this time, the cartridge should be returned to the refrigerator and cooled again. Well, if the bullet was outside the refrigerator for more than an hour, then it was strictly forbidden to use it, and it itself had to be disposed of using special equipment.

Another serious drawback was the spread of energy release values ​​during the explosion of each such bullet from 100 to 700 kilograms of TNT, which depended on both storage conditions and (and this is the main thing) on ​​the material of the target into which it hit.

The fact is that the explosion of an ultra-small nuclear charge is not at all similar to the explosion of a classical atomic bomb and at the same time it is not similar to the explosion of an ordinary chemical explosive charge. In both cases, tons of hot gases are formed (with the first more, with the second, of course, less), uniformly heated to temperatures of millions and thousands of degrees. And here is a tiny ball - “nine grams in the heart”, which simply physically cannot transfer all the energy of its nuclear decay to the environment due to its very small volume and mass.

It is clear that 700 or even 100 kg of chemical explosives is a lot. But still, the shock wave from the explosion of an atomic bullet was many times weaker than from the same amount of explosives, but the radiation, on the contrary, was very strong. Because of this, she should only shoot at the maximum range, but even then the shooter could receive a noticeable dose of radiation. So the longest burst that was allowed to be fired at the enemy with atomic bullets was limited to only three shots.

However, one shot with such a bullet was usually more than enough. Despite the fact that the active armor of a modern tank did not allow it to penetrate through it, so much thermal energy was released at the point of impact that the armor simply evaporated, and the metal around it melted to such an extent that both the tracks and the turret were tightly welded to the hull. Once it hit a brick wall, it vaporized about a cubic meter of masonry, and three bullets - as many as three, after which the building usually collapsed.

True, it was noticed that a nuclear explosion did not occur when a bullet hit a tank of water, since the water slowed down and reflected neutrons. They immediately tried to use the resulting effect to protect their own tanks from ammunition with californium, for which purpose they began to hang “water armor” on them in the form of containers with heavy water. So it turned out that even against such a superweapon, protection can be found.

In addition, it turned out that the supply of californium, “exhausted” during super-powerful nuclear explosions, quickly disappears. Well, after the introduction of a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, the problem became even more acute: californium from the reactor was much more expensive, and its production volumes were small. Of course, the military would not be stopped by any expenses if they had an urgent need for these weapons. However, they did not test it (potential enemy tanks could be destroyed with less exotic ammunition!), which was the reason for curtailing this program shortly before the death of L. I. Brezhnev.

Well, the shelf life of these unique bullets did not exceed six years, so none of them have simply survived since then. Of course, no one will undertake to argue that the improvement of such weapons is not being carried out at the present time. However, the laws of physics are very difficult to circumvent, and the fact that bullets filled with transuranium elements heat up very much, require cooling, and do not give the desired effect when they fall into a tank of heavy water is a proven scientific fact. All this limits the possibilities for their use, and in the most serious way.

On the other hand, who knows - after all, our domestic man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems “Strela” and “Igla” also use a homing system that is cooled to -200° with liquid nitrogen and... nothing. We have to put up with this. So maybe here, sooner or later, portable cooling systems will be created for magazines with such cartridges, and then almost every soldier will be able to shoot them at tanks!

VL / Articles / Interesting

1-04-2016, 10:13

Atomic bullets have been described more than once in science fiction literature, but few people know that for the USSR such ammunition was not fantasy, but reality. One such bullet melted an armored tank, and several atomic bullets destroyed a multi-story building. So why did the Soviet Union have to curtail the production of such powerful ammunition.

It turns out that it was in our country, back in the days of the USSR, when we were seeking military parity (or even advantage) with the United States, that atomic bullets were created. And not only created, but also tested! We were talking about 14.3 mm and 12.7 mm ammunition for heavy machine guns. However, it was possible to create a 7.62 mm caliber bullet, but not for the Kalashnikov assault rifle, but for his heavy machine gun. This cartridge became the smallest nuclear weapon in the world.

As is known, any nuclear weapon must contain fissile material. For bombs, they use uranium 235 or plutonium 239, but in order for them to work, the weight of the charge from these metals must at least exceed one kilogram - that is, have a critical mass. When the transuranium element californium was discovered - more precisely, its isotope with atomic weight 252, it turned out that its critical mass was only 1.8 grams! In addition, its main type of decay was very efficient fission, which produced 5-8 neutrons at once (for comparison: uranium and plutonium only have 2 or 3). That is, it was enough to just squeeze a tiny “pea” of this substance to cause an atomic explosion! This is why there was a temptation to use californium in atomic bullets.

It is known that there are two ways to produce californium. The first and simplest is the production of californium during the explosions of powerful thermonuclear bombs filled with plutonium. The second is the traditional production of its isotopes in a nuclear reactor.

However, a thermonuclear explosion is more effective, since in it the neutron flux density is many times higher than in an operating reactor. On the other hand, there are no nuclear tests, and there is no California, since for bullets it is necessary to have it in significant quantities. The ammunition itself is incredibly simple: a tiny part weighing 5-6 grams is made from californium, shaped like a dumbbell with two hemispheres on a thin leg. A tiny explosive charge inside the bullet crushes it into a neat ball, which for a 7.62 mm caliber bullet has a diameter of 8 mm, and a supercritical state arises and... that's it - a nuclear explosion is guaranteed! To detonate the charge, a contact fuse was used, which was placed inside the bullet - that’s the whole “gun bomb”! As a result, the bullet, however, turned out to be much heavier than a regular one, so in order to maintain the usual ballistic characteristics, it was necessary to place a charge of high-power gunpowder in the case.

However, the main problem, which ultimately decided the fate of this unique ammunition, was the heat generation caused by the continuous decay of californium. The fact is that all radioactive materials decay, which means they heat up, and the shorter their half-life, the stronger the heating. A bullet with a Californian core produced about 5 watts of heat. At the same time, due to its heating, the characteristics of the explosive and the fuse changed, and strong heating was simply dangerous, since the bullet could get stuck in the chamber or in the barrel, or, even worse, spontaneously explode when fired.

Therefore, to store such bullets, a special refrigerator was required, which looked like a copper plate about 15 cm thick with slots for 30 rounds. Between them there were channels through which a coolant circulated under pressure - liquid ammonia, which provided the bullets with a temperature of about -15°. This installation consumed about 200 watts of power and weighed about 110 kg, so it could only be transported in a specially equipped jeep. In classic atomic bombs, the charge cooling system is an important part of the design, but it is located inside the bomb itself. And here, out of necessity, it had to be placed outside. Moreover, even a bullet frozen to -15° could be used within only 30 minutes after it was removed from the refrigerator, and during this time it was necessary to load it into the magazine, take a firing position, select the desired target and fire at it.

If it was not possible to fire during this time, the cartridge should be returned to the refrigerator and cooled again. Well, if the bullet was outside the refrigerator for more than an hour, then it was strictly forbidden to use it, and it itself had to be disposed of using special equipment.

Another serious drawback was the spread of energy release values ​​during the explosion of each such bullet from 100 to 700 kilograms of TNT, which depended on both storage conditions and (and this is the main thing) on ​​the material of the target into which it hit.

The fact is that the explosion of an ultra-small nuclear charge is not at all similar to the explosion of a classical atomic bomb and at the same time it is not similar to the explosion of an ordinary chemical explosive charge. In both cases, tons of hot gases are formed (with the first more, with the second, of course, less), uniformly heated to temperatures of millions and thousands of degrees. And here is a tiny ball - “nine grams in the heart”, which simply physically cannot transfer all the energy of its nuclear decay to the environment due to its very small volume and mass.

It is clear that 700 or even 100 kg of chemical explosives is a lot. But still, the shock wave from the explosion of an atomic bullet was many times weaker than from the same amount of explosives, but the radiation, on the contrary, was very strong. Because of this, she should only shoot at the maximum range, but even then the shooter could receive a noticeable dose of radiation. So the longest burst that was allowed to be fired at the enemy with atomic bullets was limited to only three shots.

However, one shot with such a bullet was usually more than enough. Despite the fact that the active armor of a modern tank did not allow it to penetrate through it, so much thermal energy was released at the point of impact that the armor simply evaporated, and the metal around it melted to such an extent that both the tracks and the turret were tightly welded to the hull. Once it hit a brick wall, it vaporized about a cubic meter of masonry, and three bullets - as many as three, after which the building usually collapsed.

True, it was noticed that a nuclear explosion did not occur when a bullet hit a tank of water, since the water slowed down and reflected neutrons. They immediately tried to use the resulting effect to protect their own tanks from ammunition with californium, for which purpose they began to hang “water armor” on them in the form of containers with heavy water. So it turned out that even against such a superweapon, protection can be found.

In addition, it turned out that the supply of californium, “exhausted” during super-powerful nuclear explosions, is quickly disappearing. Well, after the introduction of a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, the problem became even more acute: californium from the reactor was much more expensive, and its production volumes were small. Of course, the military would not be stopped by any expenses if they had an urgent need for these weapons. However, they did not test it (potential enemy tanks could be destroyed with less exotic ammunition!), which was the reason for curtailing this program shortly before the death of L. I. Brezhnev.

Well, the shelf life of these unique bullets did not exceed six years, so none of them have simply survived since then. Of course, no one will undertake to argue that the improvement of such weapons is not being carried out at the present time. However, the laws of physics are very difficult to circumvent, and the fact that bullets filled with transuranium elements heat up very much, require cooling, and do not give the desired effect when they fall into a tank of heavy water is a proven scientific fact. All this limits the possibilities for their use, and in the most serious way.

On the other hand, who knows - after all, our domestic man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems “Strela” and “Igla” also use a homing system, which is cooled to -200° with liquid nitrogen and... nothing. We have to put up with this. So maybe here, sooner or later, portable cooling systems will be created for magazines with such cartridges, and then almost every soldier will be able to shoot them at tanks!