DEFENCE SPHERE

Platforms that carry the nuclear weapons designed at VNIIA

The most important defense areas of VNIIA are developments of:

• Nuclear weapons for the strategic and tactical platforms;
• Firing and neutron initiation systems for the nuclear weapons;
• Non-nuclear components and automatics for the nuclear weapons;
• Nuclear explosion monitoring equipment;
• Unified test & measurement equipment;
• Hardware and methods for measurement of the nuclear charge parameters during the experimenting activities.

According to the State Armament Program, VNIIA together with the other Rosatom facilities of the nuclear weapons complex is providing the scientific and technical support of the National nuclear stockpile, first of all, maintaining the safety and reliability of the weapons.

Due to continuously toughening requirements to the weapons safety both in the normal operation and in the emergency situations, the Institute is studying the behavior of the weapons and its components in the modeled environments. The operational documentation is being improved, the weapons lifetime is prolonged based on the comprehensive analysis of the weapons components reliability. Whenever needed, the upgrades of the specific products are made.

Nuclear weapon for torpedo

VNIIA is the only designer of the firing and neutron initiation systems for the nuclear charges. This system is meant for initiating the charge and has a number of functions:

• Firing the highly explosive component, which gives the energy sufficient to turn the fissile material of the nuclear charge into the condition, when the chain reaction can be started;
• Initiating the chain fission reaction by irradiating the material with the pulsed neutron flux.

The system is the most critical and the most complicated of all the non-nuclear components of a nuclear weapon. Its design requires the knowledge in a number of the fundamental sciences, the application of various materials, the special elemental base, the maintenance of the numerous technologies and the unique equipment, and high-precision measurements.

The Institute has designed and prepared the serial production of several generations of the firing and initiation systems that reflect the progress of the weapons design. The weight and overall dimensions of the modern firing and initiation systems are over one hundred times less compared to the first models, but the functionality, reliability and lifetime are much better. Taking into account the reduction of the production quantity of these systems in the recent years and the unprofitability of their manufacturing at the existing serial production facilities, VNIIA has turned its pilot production capabilities into the serial production for the firing and initiation systems of the new generations.

Computer system for inspector training

The Institute produces a wide range of devices that are used as the sensors of altitude, depth, velocity, acceleration, time and travel. Their design is based on using the physical factors of weapon movement: barometric, hydrostatic, aero-dynamical and hydrodynamical pressure, inertial overload, time intervals of the weapon movement, succession of the weapon from the platform (dropping from the aircraft, start of the weapon from the launcher or from the torpedo tube, etc.). A number of the devices are switching, i.e. have electric circuits that close or open on the trajectory according the weapons operational algorithm. VNIIA designs the sensors for various radiations that accompany a nuclear explosion (electromagnetic, optical, gamma, X-rays, neutron) and for the seismic waves, as well as the equipment for rapid transformation of different electrical signals. This equipment was used to develop the on-board and ground instruments for the nuclear explosion detection to enhance the survivability of the strategic arms complexes.

The national global system of nuclear test monitoring "Materik" is developed at the Institute and operated by the Special monitoring service of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The system is based on the reliable automatic complexes of the nuclear explosion detection applied at the 14 Russian monitoring stations operated in the framework of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). A computer-aided training system for the personnel of the international inspections at the CTBT monitoring points has been developed and implemented.

The monitoring of all the nuclear weapons in the operation is done using the unified programmable measurement equipment. To ensure the reproducibility of the measurement results at the production facilities and in the operating sites of the Ministry of Defense, the weapon testing at the Rosatom production plants is performed with the same equipment using the same programs. VNIIA has developed several generations of the unified measurement equipment. The fifth generation incorporates the modern electronic components, the functional and diagnostic capabilities are expanded. VNIIA is serially producing this equipment, supplying the hardware and the operational documentation, training the operators of the measurement and control equipment, and maintaining & supporting the park of the supplied equipment during the whole period of operating life.

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