Russia has patented a new simulator of a ground nuclear explosion, which is used to train troops for combat operations in the use of nuclear weapons. This is reported by the Russian media with reference to the description of the patent.
The development was patented by scientists of the Military Academy of Logistics named after Army General A. V. Khrulov.
It is a bomb that simulates a nuclear explosion on a smaller scale. "The purpose of the utility model is to provide a visual imitation of visual signs – the shock effect, light flash and mushroom dust cloud of a ground nuclear explosion," the device description says.
The bomb will be used, among other things, in exercises and practical exercises of radiation, chemical, and biological ground reconnaissance units to determine the parameters and locate the epicenter of a nuclear explosion.
According to scientists, the Russian army used to use the IU-59 nuclear explosion simulator, but it is "morally obsolete" and is no longer in production. Another analog is the IAB-500 simulated air bomb, which has also been discontinued.
Against the backdrop of Russia's war against Ukraine, nuclear threats are periodically made at all levels of government. The day before, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) released a report in which it noted that the war in Ukraine has undermined the Russian leadership's confidence in conventional weapons and increased the importance of non-strategic nuclear weapons (NSNWs) for Moscow as a means of deterring and defeating NATO in a potential future conflict.
Russia's aggressive nuclear doctrine is fueled by the country's leadership's perception that Western countries lack the will to use nuclear weapons.
According to IISS analysts, Russia could use NSNWs to escalate the conflict in a controlled manner, or to prevent the United States and NATO from entering the conflict, or "to force them to end the war on Russian terms."
Background. As a reminder, the WSJ wrote that the United States deliberately did not give Ukraine enough weapons for a counteroffensive in order not to provoke Putin to use nuclear weapons.