No matter how pacifist the world leader may have, worrying about the safety of his citizens is considered one of his most important duties. Peace can only be achieved by skillfully containing potential opponents. The leader of only that state, which has the most powerful weapon in the world, can guarantee the safety of citizens. Its mere presence inspires respect for potential aggressors. Therefore, today large countries acquire the most powerful weapons. In the world, the most dangerous weapon is nuclear. Today, there are ten states with nuclear stockpiles on the planet. As the current situation has shown, their leaders are always listened to. The desire to be friends with them, or at least not to quarrel, is an understandable line of behavior for the heads of countries that do not have such an advantage.
How did people fight in antiquity?
Throughout the history of its development, mankind has constantly invented more and more new ways to kill each other. Already during the Middle Ages, considerable success was achieved in this area. Before the invention of gunpowder, weapons were cold. But already in those days, people had samples aimed at mass destruction.
"Claw of Archimedes"
In ancient centuries, it was the most powerful edged weapon. The principle of its action was to raise the enemy ram as high as possible and throw it down. For this purpose, special hooks were provided in the design of the gun to capture the enemy. At some point, the hooks opened, enemy soldiers fell to the ground and broke. "Claw of Archimedes" was used to raise and throw logs at the enemy, as well as as a lever for turning over enemy ships.
Scientific progress has left the "Claw of Archimedes" in the distant past, in return providing humanity with much more effective ways of mass destruction of each other.
Weapons of mass destruction
Throughout its history, mankind has often wondered: what is the most powerful weapon that can be used to massively defeat the enemy? It is generally accepted that the most powerful is a nuclear weapon. But those who are interested should be aware that today the following types of means of killing a person with a person belong to the category of “weapons of mass destruction”:
- Nuclear weapon.
- Hydrogen bombs.
- Chemical weapon.
- Laser
- Neutron bomb
- Biological weapons.
Each species differs from the others in the principle of action and characteristic features. What unites them is unconditional effectiveness and powerful impact.
"Tsar bomb"
Surely many who wondered what the most powerful weapon in the world would say that a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb contains a very terrible and destructive force. For the first time, such weapons were officially discussed in 1963.
Power show
The Tsar bomb, or as it was also called Kuzkina’s mother, was tested on Novaya Zemlya a year and a half before Nikita Khrushchev’s official announcement that such a powerful weapon was available in the USSR. Compared to the American thermonuclear bomb, the Soviet was four times more powerful. Testing it, scientists noted that the “Tsar bomb” exploded three minutes after it was dropped from a bomber. The height of the nuclear fungus was 67 km, and the fireball had a radius of 5.6 km. The shock wave tripled around the globe. The ionization created over thirty minutes interfered with radio communications over several hundred kilometers. At the epicenter of the explosion, heat turned stones to ash. At the end of the test, the experts concluded: the “Tsar bomb” is a “clean” weapon, since its power in 97% came from the reaction of thermonuclear fusion, without creating any radioactive contamination.
Gadget Atomic Bomb
In 1945, in July, the Americans near Alamogordo tested the first atomic bomb, Gadget, created on the basis of plutonium. In the same year, in August, she was thrown over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This event demonstrated to the whole world the fact that the United States has powerful weapons. Five years later, the leadership of the USSR also officially announced the presence of such atomic weapons, which in their destructive power is not inferior to the American.
Chemical weapon
In the history of mankind, it was first used in 1915 by German troops against Russian soldiers. A huge cloud of chlorine was released from special cylinders, as a result of which five thousand people were killed, another 15 thousand were severely poisoned.
During the Second World War, Japan also used chemical weapons. Carrying out the bombing of Chinese cities, Japanese troops fired about a thousand chemical shells. As a result of poisoning, 50 thousand people died.
Chemical weapons were also used by the Americans during the Vietnam War. The use of American toxic substances left no chance for salvation to either the military or civilians. During the period of the military conflict, US troops sprayed 72 million liters of defoliants. American chemical weapons contained dioxin mixtures, which resulted in diseases of the blood, liver and malformations in newborns. The chemical weapons used by the States in this war affected about five million people. Complications and health problems remained after its completion.
Laser weapon
It was first tested by the United States in 2010 at California landfills. Using a laser gun, whose power was 32 megawatts, the Americans managed to shoot down four drones from a distance of 3 thousand meters. The advantages of laser weapons include:
- The ability to strike at the speed of light.
- The ability to attack multiple targets simultaneously.
Biological
This weapon was known as far back as 1500 BC. His power was used by many armies. Often, soldiers overwhelmed enemy fortresses with infected corpses. It is believed that the ulcers mentioned in the Bible are nothing but the consequences of using biological weapons.
One of its modern varieties is the use of various viruses. In 2001, the most dangerous of them was the anthrax virus, which is extracted from the spores of the deadly bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Infection of a person occurs as a result of touching this spore or inhaling it. To date, 22 cases of human infection with anthrax are known. Five infected died.
Neutron bomb
Compared to other types of weapons of mass destruction, many experts consider this weapon invented by American scientists to be one of the most “moral” ones. The destruction of only living organisms is a characteristic feature of the neutron bomb. This is due to the fact that as a result of the explosion, only 20% of the energy is accounted for by the shock wave. While in nuclear weapons, 50% is allocated to the shock wave. Despite the proposal of the USSR leadership to consider such weapons prohibited, among the heads of Western countries, this appeal was left without support. They began to create neutron charges in America in 1981.
Scientific progress has given mankind many types of weapons of powerful destructive power. Among them, nuclear occupies a special place as the most powerful weapon in the world.
Top 10 states with a large nuclear stockpile
In the ranking of countries with nuclear potential:
- Canada is in tenth place. No official statements were made about the level of the country's nuclear stock by its government. This suggests that Canada is not a full-fledged nuclear power. Its weapons stocks are used primarily in trade.
- Israel is in ninth place in terms of nuclear potential. Although officially a state is not considered nuclear, in case of danger, according to rough estimates, it can use at least two hundred warheads.
- Eighth place is North Korea. Due to repeated high-profile statements by the head of state over the past few years, it may be believed that this country has the most powerful nuclear weapons in the world. However, it is not. North Korea is a novice in the industry. According to rough estimates, the number of its nuclear warheads does not exceed several tens.
- Seventh place belongs to Pakistan. By its nuclear potential, this state is almost the most powerful in the world. The country's weapons (the nuclear potential it possesses) are represented by one hundred and ten warheads. At the moment, they are in an active state and intensively replenished.
- India ranks sixth in terms of nuclear weapons. The state began to develop in this area to maintain peace. Today, there are over a hundred nuclear warheads.
- In fifth place is China. The decision to acquire the world's most powerful weapon was made by the government of this country in 1964. Today, the state owns two hundred and forty nuclear warheads.
- Fourth place belongs to France. Despite the fact that many people associate this country with romance, military issues were taken seriously here. Nuclear weapons first appeared in France in 1960. At the moment, it has three hundred warheads.
- England. The country began to buy nuclear warheads back in 1952. Other powers urged to do the same. In the UK, warheads are active. Their number is 225 pieces.
- The Russian Federation takes the second place. Nuclear experimentation began in 1949 and continues to this day. According to rough estimates, the number of nuclear warheads has already exceeded eight thousand.
- America became the leader in nuclear weapons. In this area, this state is the strongest in the world. The weapons of the United States, as is known, are not used for peaceful purposes. America uses its nuclear potential to interfere with the lives of states weaker.
Russian "Tornadoes"
According to many military experts and scientists, the Smerch multiple launch rocket system is Russia's second most powerful weapon after a nuclear bomb. In order to bring this MLRS into battle, no more than three minutes are enough.
Completing a full salvo takes half a minute. The 12-barrel "Tornado" is capable of hitting modern tanks and any other armored vehicles. Management of "Tornado" is carried out in two ways:
- From the cabin MLRS.
- Using the remote control.
