Ion cannon. Beam weapons - how real are they? The main weapon of anonymous

The impact of electrons and ions on a surface is carried out using devices called electron guns (EG) and ion guns (IP), respectively. These devices generate beams of charged particles with specified parameters. The basic general requirements for the parameters of electron and ion beams intended to impact a surface for the purpose of its analysis are as follows:

• 1) minimum energy spread;
• 2) minimal divergence in space;
• 3) maximum stability of the current in the beam over time. Structurally, the EP and IP can be divided into two main blocks:

emission block(in electron guns) or ion source(in ion guns), designed to create the charged particles themselves (cathodes in the EP, ionization chambers in the IP), and beam formation unit, consisting of elements of electronic (ion) optics, designed to accelerate and focus particles. In Fig. Figure 2.4 shows the simplest diagram of an electron gun.

Rice. 2.4.

Electrons emitted from the cathode are focused depending on their initial emission velocities, but all their trajectories intersect near the cathode. The lens effect created by the first and second anodes produces an image of the point of this intersection at another distant point. Changing the potential at the control electrode changes the total current in the beam by changing the depth of the minimum space charge potential near the cathode). Refractory metals and oxides of rare earth metals (working on the principles of obtaining electrons by thermionic and field emission) are used as cathodes of low-power electron guns; To obtain powerful electron beams, the phenomena of field emission and explosive emission are used. For surface diagnostics, PIs with the following methods for obtaining ions are used: electron impact", vacuum spark method, photoionization", using strong electric fields", ion-ion emission; interaction of laser radiation with a solid body; as a result of electron attachment to atoms and molecules (to produce negative ions); due to ion-molecular reactions due to surface ionization.

In addition to sources with the listed ionization methods, arc and plasma ion sources are sometimes used. Sources that combine ionization by field and electron impact are often used. The diagram of such a source is shown in Fig. 2.5. Gas enters the source through the inlet tube. The current leads of the emitter and ionization chamber are mounted on a ceramic washer. In the electron impact ionization mode, the cathode is heated and electrons are accelerated into the ionization chamber due to the potential difference between the cathode and the chamber.

Rice. 2.5. Diagram of an ion source with field ionization and electron impact:1 - current leads;2 - gas inlet tube;

• 3 - ceramic washer; 4 - emitter;
• 5 - cathode; b - ionization chamber;
• 7 - pulling electrode;8 - focusing electrode; 9, 10 - correction plates;11 - collimating plates;12 - reflective electrode; 13 - electron collector

Ions are drawn out of the ionization chamber using a pulling electrode. A focusing electrode is used to focus the ion beam. The beam is collimated by collimating electrodes, and its correction in the horizontal and vertical directions is carried out by correction electrodes. The accelerating potential will be applied to the ionization chamber. During ionization by a high-voltage field, an accelerating potential is applied to the emitter. Three types of emitters can be used in the source: tip, comb, thread. As an example, we give specific voltage values ​​​​used in a working power supply. When working with a thread, typical potentials on the electrodes are: emitter +4 kV; ionization chamber 6-10 kV; pulling electrode from -2.8 to +3.8 kV; correction plates from -200 to +200 V and from -600 to +600 V; 0 V slot diaphragms.

Some ion gun particles have potential practical applications, such as missile defense or meteorite defense. However, the vast majority of concepts for these weapons come from the world of science fiction, where these types of guns are present in great abundance. They are known by numerous names: phasers, particle cannons, ion cannons, proton beam cannons, ray guns, etc.

Concept

The concept of partial beam weapons comes from sound scientific principles and experiments currently being conducted around the world. One effective process for damaging or destroying a target is to simply overheat until it instantly disappears. However, after decades of research and development, partial beam weapons are still in the research stage, and we have yet to test in practice whether such guns can be used as an effective weapon. Many people dream of assembling an ion cannon with their own hands and testing its properties in practice.

Particle accelerators

Particle accelerators are a well-developed technology that has been used in scientific research for decades. They use electromagnetic fields to accelerate and direct charged particles along a predetermined path, and electrostatic “lenses” focus these flows into collisions. The cathode ray tube found in many 20th century televisions and computer monitors is a very simple type of particle accelerator. More powerful versions include synchrotrons and cyclotrons used in nuclear research. Electron beam weapons are an advanced version of this technology. It accelerates charged particles (in most cases electrons, positrons, protons or ionized atoms, but very advanced versions can accelerate other particles such as mercury nuclei) to almost the speed of light and then fires them at a target. These particles have enormous kinetic energy, with which they charge matter on the surface of the target, causing almost instantaneous and catastrophic overheating. This, in essence, is the basic principle of operation of the ion cannon.

Physical Features

The main capabilities of the ion cannon still boil down to instant and painless destruction of the target. Charged particle beams diverge quickly due to mutual repulsion, so neutral particle beams are most often proposed. Neutral particle beam weapons ionize atoms by stripping an electron from each atom or by allowing each atom to capture an additional electron. The charged particles are then accelerated and neutralized again by adding or removing electrons.

Cyclotron particle accelerators, linear particle accelerators, and synchrotron particle accelerators can accelerate positively charged hydrogen ions until their speed approaches the speed of light, and each individual ion has a kinetic energy of 100 MeV to 1000 MeV or more. The resulting high-energy protons can then capture electrons from those of the emitter electrodes and thus be electrically neutralized. This creates an electrically neutral, high-energy beam of hydrogen atoms that can flow in a straight line near the speed of light to smash and damage its target.

Breaking speed limits

The pulsating particle beam emitted by such a weapon can contain 1 gigajoule of kinetic energy or more. The beam's speed approaching the speed of light (299,792,458 m/s in a vacuum) combined with the energy created by the weapon negates any realistic means of protecting the target from the beam. Target hardening by shielding or selection of materials would be impractical or ineffective, especially if the beam could be maintained at full power and precisely focused on the target.

In the US Army

The US Defense Strategy Initiative has invested in the development of neutral particle beam technology for use as a weapon in outer space. Neutral beam accelerator technology was developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. A prototype neutral hydrogen beam weapon was launched aboard a suborbital sounding rocket from the White Sands Missile in July 1989 as part of the Beam Experiments Aboard Rocket (BEAR) project. It reached a maximum altitude of 124 miles and operated successfully in space for 4 minutes before returning to Earth. In 2006, the recovered experimental device was moved from Los Alamos to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. However, the full history of the development of the ion cannon is hidden from the general public. Who knows what other weapons the Americans have acquired recently. The wars of the future may greatly surprise us.

In the Star Wars universe

In Star Wars, ion air cannons are a form of weaponry that produces ionized particles that can destroy electronic systems and can even shut down a major capital ship. During the Battle of Sikka Island, continued fire from these cannons from multiple ships caused significant damage to the hull of at least one Arquitens-class light cruiser.

The Eta-2 class Light Interceptor used similar cannons that spewed plasma, which could cause temporary electrical failures in the mechanism upon impact.

Y-wing fighters were also equipped with these cannons, primarily those used by the Alliance's Gold Squadron. Although their field of fire was somewhat limited, the ion cannons were powerful enough that three explosions were enough to disable an Arquitens command cruiser, but only one to completely disable a TIE/D Defender fighter. This was demonstrated during the shootout in the Archaeon Nebula.

At the beginning of the Clone Wars, she equipped the massive heavy cruiser Sujugator with huge ion cannons. Under the command of General Grievous, the cruiser attacked dozens of Republic warships and gave them a taste of the destructive power of ion weapons. After the Battle of Abregado, the Republic learned of them.

The Fury's ion cannons were disabled by Republic Shadow Squadron during a battle near the Kaliida Nebula. The giant cruiser was later destroyed when Jedi General Anakin Skywalker captured the ship from within and forced it to crash into the Dead Moon of Antara.

During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire, Gold Squadron's bombers were equipped with ion cannons. The MC75 cruisers used by the Rebel Alliance were armed with heavy ion mounts.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Rebel Alliance used a fixed ion cannon to disable Death Squadron Star Destroyers during the evacuation of Echo Base.

Program for DDOS

Low Orbit Ion Cannon is an open source network utility and denial of service attack application written in C#. LOIC was originally developed by Praetox Technologies, but was later released for free public use and is now hosted on several open source platforms.

LOIC performs a DoS attack (or, when used by multiple parties, a DDoS attack) on a target site by targeting a server with TCP or UDP packets to disrupt the service of a specific host. People used LOIC to join voluntary botnets.

The software inspired a standalone version of JavaScript called JS LOIC, as well as a web version of LOIC called Low Orbit Web Cannon. It allows you to perform a DoS attack directly from your web browser.

Method of protection

Security experts quoted by the BBC indicated that well-designed firewall settings can filter out much of the traffic from DDoS attacks via LOIC, thereby preventing the attacks from being fully effective. In at least one case, filtering all UDP and ICMP traffic blocked the LOIC attack. Because Internet service providers provide less bandwidth to each of their clients in order to provide guaranteed levels of service to all of their clients at the same time, these types of firewall rules are more effective if they are implemented at a point upstream of the application server's Internet uplink . In other words, it is easy to force a service provider to refuse traffic intended for a client by sending more traffic than it is allowed to, and any filtering that occurs on the client side after the traffic passes that link cannot prevent the service provider from refusing excess traffic. intended for this user. This is how the attack is carried out.

LOIC attacks are easily identified in system logs, and the attack can be traced back to the IP addresses used.

The main weapon of anonymous

LOIC was used by Anonymous during Project Chanology to attack Church of Scientology websites, and then successfully attacked the Recording Industry Association of America website in October 2010. The application was then used again by Anonymous during their Operation Occupy in December 2010 to attack the websites of companies and organizations that opposed WikiLeaks.

In response to the closure of the file-sharing service Megaupload and the arrest of four employees, members of the Anonymous group launched DDoS attacks on the websites of Universal Music Group (the company responsible for the lawsuit against Megaupload), the United States Department of Justice, and the United States Copyright Office , Federal Bureau of Investigation, MPAA, Warner Music Group and RIAA, as well as HADOPI, on the afternoon of January 19, 2012 - through the same “gun” that allows attacks on any server.

The LOIC app is named after the ion cannon, a fictional weapon from many science fiction works, video games, and in particular the Command & Conquer series of games. It's hard to name a game that doesn't have a weapon with that name. For example, in the game Stellaris, the ion cannon plays an important role, despite the fact that this game is an economic strategy, albeit with a space setting.

The invention relates to a technique for producing pulsed high-power ion beams. The ion gun makes it possible to obtain beams with a high ion current density on an external target. The gun cathode is made in the form of a coil with holes for ion beam output. Inside the cathode there is an anode with rounded ends and plasma-forming areas opposite the holes in the cathode. The surfaces of the anode and cathode on the side of the ion beam output are made in the form of a part of coaxial cylindrical surfaces. The cathode is made of two plates. The cathode plate, which has holes for beam output, is connected to the body at both ends by means of pin combs. The second cathode plate is connected at both ends to the terminals of two current sources of different polarities, also through pin combs opposite the pin combs of the first plate. The second terminals of the current sources are connected to the gun body, and the distance between adjacent pins in the pin combs is chosen to be smaller than the anode-cathode gap. This design of the ion gun makes it possible to significantly weaken the transverse magnetic field in the sunset space and obtain a ballistically converging powerful ion beam. 2 ill.

The invention relates to accelerator technology and can be used to generate powerful ion beams. The practical use of high-power ion beams for technological purposes often requires achieving the maximum possible density of the ion beam on the target surface. Such beams are necessary when removing coatings and cleaning the surface of parts from carbon deposits, applying films of target material, etc. In this case, it is necessary to ensure a long service life of the ion gun and stability of the parameters of the generated beam. A device is known designed to produce an axis-focused powerful ion beam (AS N 816316 “Ion gun for pumping lasers” Bystritsky V.M., Krasik Ya.E., Matvienko V.M. et al. “Magnetically isolated diode with B field", Plasma Physics, 1982, vol. 8, v. 5, pp. 915-917). This device consists of a cylindrical cathode, which has longitudinal slots along its generatrix and is designed to output the ion beam into the intracathode space. A current source is connected to the ends of the cathode, made in the form of a squirrel wheel, creating an insulating magnetic field. A cylindrical anode having a plasma-forming coating on its inner surface is located coaxially with the cathode. When the current source is triggered and a positive high-voltage pulse arrives at the anode, the ions formed from the anode coating material are accelerated in the anode-cathode gap and are ballistically fixed to the axis of the system. A high degree of focusing is achieved due to the absence of a transverse magnetic field in the sunset space and the propagation of the ion beam under conditions close to force-free drift. The disadvantage of this device is the impossibility of obtaining a focused ion beam emerging from the gun to irradiate targets located outside it. The device closest to the proposed one in terms of a. With. N 1102474 "Ion cannon" was chosen as the prototype. This ion gun contains a cathode made in the form of an open flat coil with holes for exiting the ion beam and a flat anode located inside the cathode and having roundings at its ends. On the anode, opposite the holes in the cathode, there are plasma-forming sections. A current source is connected to the open ends of the cathode, and between these same ends of the cathode there is a thin conducting screen made in the form of a half-cylinder and having electrical contact with both ends of the cathode. This thin screen sets the cylindrical geometry of the electric field distribution in this section of the ion gun, which reduces the local loss of electrons to the anode in this place. The low mechanical strength of the thin screen is a disadvantage of this device, which reduces the resource of continuous operation of the ion gun. A simple increase in the thickness of the screen is impossible, since in this case the screen begins to significantly shunt the current source and significantly distort the distribution of the magnetic field near itself. When the current source is triggered, an insulating transverse magnetic field for the electron flow is created in the anode-cathode gap. The ions cross the accelerating gap with only a slight deviation from the straight trajectory. Having passed through the cathode holes, the ion beam is neutralized by cold electrons drawn from the cathode walls. When leaving the cathode holes, the charge-neutralized beam begins to propagate in the region where a transverse magnetic field exists. The ion gun uses a fast magnetic field (tens of microseconds) and massive electrodes, “opaque” to such fields, which simplifies the geometric adjustment of the system and magnetic insulation (V.M. Bystritsky, A.N. Didenko “Powerful ion beams.” - M .: Energoatomizdat. 1984, pp. 57-58). Since the magnetic field lines are closed and cover the cathode without penetrating into the massive electrodes, the ion beam, when moving from the cathode slots to the grounded body (or target connected to it), crosses a magnetic flux that is close in magnitude to the flow in the anode-cathode gap. The presence of a transverse magnetic field in the cascade space sharply worsens transportation conditions, and the divergence angles of the ion beam reach 10 o in the cascade space. Thus, the task of creating an ion gun designed to produce a focused ion beam on an external target with high reliability and a long service life remains relevant. To solve this problem, the ion gun, like the prototype, contains a housing in which there is a cathode in the form of a coil with holes for ion beam output, an anode with rounded ends, located inside the cathode and having plasma-forming sections opposite the cathode holes. The open ends of the cathode are connected to a current source. On the side of the ion beam output, the surfaces of the anode and cathode are made in the form of a part of coaxial cylindrical surfaces. Unlike the prototype, the ion gun contains a second current source, and the cathode coil is made of two plates. In this case, the first cathode plate with holes for outputting the ion beam at both ends is connected to the ion gun body by means of pin combs. The second cathode plate, also through pin combs opposite the pin combs of the first plate, is connected at both ends to the terminals of two current sources of different polarities. The second terminals of the current sources are connected to the housing. This design of the cathode makes it possible to separate the region of the anode-cathode gap, where there is a fast insulating magnetic field, from the region of the ion beam drift, where there should be no transverse magnetic field. In this design, a cathode plate with holes for outputting a powerful ion beam is a kind of magnetic screen for a fast field. In fig. 1 shows the proposed ion gun. The device contains a cathode made in the form of two plates 1 and 2. Plate 1 has holes 3 for beam output and is connected on both sides to the ion gun body 4 by means of two pin combs 5. The second cathode plate 2 is connected to the terminals of two oppositely polarized current sources 6 by means of pin combs 7 counter-directed to the combs 5. The second terminals of the current sources 6 are connected to the body of the ion gun 4. The surface of the cathode plate 1 is curved in the form of a part of a cylindrical surface so that the cylinder axis is located in the region 8. Inside the composite cathode coil there is a flat anode 9, which has roundings at its ends and a plasma-forming coating 10, located opposite the holes 3 in the plate 1. The anode 10 is also curved in the form of a part of a cylindrical surface and has a common axis with the cathode, which in this case is the focus 8 of the system . In fig. Figure 2 shows the design of counter pin combs 5 and 7 connecting the cathode plates 1 and 2 with the housing 4 and current sources 6. The device operates as follows. Multi-polar current sources 6 are switched on, the terminals of which are connected to the gun body 4 and plate 2 through pin combs 7. Along the circuit - body 4, first current source 6, pin comb 7, cathode plate 2, second pin comb 7, second current source 6, housing 4 - current flows, creating an insulating field in the anode-cathode gap. The magnetic field created by the current flowing through the cathode plate 2 is limited by the cathode plate 1, connected at both ends to the body of the ion gun 4 by means of pin combs 5, counter-directed to the combs 7. In this case, the cathode plate 1 is a screen for the fast field, which does not penetrate into the post-anode region located from the slits 3 to the focal spot 8. In this case, an induced current flows along the surface of the electrode 1 facing the anode, the surface density of which is close to the surface current density along the plate 2, and in the region of counter-directional pin combs 5 and 7, the distance between adjacent pins of which is chosen to be less than the anode-cathode gap, creates a magnetic field close to the field in the area where the output holes 3 are located. The symmetry of the ion gun circuit leads to the fact that in the region of transport of the ion beam from slits 3 to the focal spot 8 there are only weak scattered fields compared to the magnetic fields in the anode-cathode gap. At the moment of maximum magnetic field in the anode-cathode gap, a pulse of positive polarity is supplied to anode 9 from a high-voltage pulse generator (not shown in the drawing). The dense plasma formed on the plasma-forming areas 10 of the anode surface serves as a source of accelerated ions. Ions, accelerating in the anode-cathode gap, pass through holes 3 in the cathode and are transported in the back-cathode space to the focal spot region 8. Compared to the prototype, where the magnitude of the transverse magnetic field near the cathode behind the slits reaches 40% of the field amplitude in the anode-cathode gap, in this device the residual field can be easily reduced to a fraction of a percent. In this case, a nearly force-free drift of the ion beam toward the target is realized. Since the surfaces of the anode 9 and cathode 1 on the side of the ion beam output have a cylindrical geometry, the ions emerging from the slits 3 will be ballistically focused onto axis 8. The degree of focusing will be mainly limited by beam aberrations at the cathode slits and the temperature of the anode plasma. Compared to the prototype, the achievable density of the ion beam on the target increases several times with the same parameters of the high-voltage generator.

CLAIM

An ion gun containing a cathode located in a housing, made in the form of a coil, connected to a current source and having holes for beam output, an anode with rounded ends located inside the cathode and having plasma-forming sections opposite the cathode holes, and the surfaces of the anode and cathode on the output side ion beam are bent in the form of a part of coaxial cylindrical surfaces, characterized in that it contains a second current source, the cathode coil is made up of two plates, while the cathode plate, which has holes for outputting the ion beam, is connected at both ends to the ion gun body by means of pins comb, and the second cathode plate is connected to the terminals of two current sources of different polarity through pin combs opposite the pin combs of the first plate, the second terminals of the current sources are connected to the gun body.

Homing particle accelerator. Bang! This thing will fry half the city.
Corporal Hicks, film "Aliens"

In science fiction literature and cinema, many types that do not yet exist are used. These include various blasters, lasers, rail guns, and much more. In some of these areas, work is currently underway in different laboratories, but no significant success has been observed yet, and mass practical use of such samples will begin at least in a couple of decades.

Among other fantastic classes of weapons, the so-called. ion cannons. They are also sometimes called beam, atomic or partial (this term is used much less frequently due to its specific sound). The essence of this weapon is to accelerate any particles to near-light speeds and then direct them towards the target. Such a beam of atoms, possessing colossal energy, can cause serious damage to the enemy even kinetically, not to mention ionizing radiation and other factors. Looks tempting, doesn't it, military gentlemen?

As part of the work on the Strategic Defense Initiative in the United States, several concepts for intercepting enemy missiles were considered. Among others, the possibility of using ion weapons was studied. The first work on the topic began in 1982-83 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory at the ATS accelerator. Later, other accelerators began to be used, and then the Livermore National Laboratory was also involved in research. In addition to direct research into the prospects of ion weapons, both laboratories also tried to increase the energy of particles, naturally with an eye to the military future of the systems.

Despite the investment of time and effort, the Antigone beam weapon research project was withdrawn from the SDI program. On the one hand, this could be seen as a rejection of an unpromising direction, on the other hand, as a continuation of work on a project that has a future, regardless of the obviously provocative program. In addition, in the late 80s, Antigone was transferred from strategic missile defense to naval defense: the Pentagon did not specify why this was done.

In the course of research on the effects of beam and ion weapons on a target, it was found that a particle beam/laser beam with an energy of about 10 kilojoules is capable of burning anti-ship missile homing equipment. 100 kJ under appropriate conditions can already cause electrostatic detonation of a rocket charge, and a beam of 1 MJ literally turns a rocket into a nanosieve, which leads to the destruction of all electronics and detonation of the warhead. In the early 90s, an opinion emerged that ion cannons could still be used in strategic missile defense, but not as a means of destruction. It was proposed to shoot beams of particles with sufficient energy at a “cloud” consisting of warheads of strategic missiles and decoys. As conceived by the authors of this concept, the ions were supposed to burn out the electronics of the warheads and deprive them of the ability to maneuver and aim at the target. Accordingly, based on the sharp change in the behavior of the mark on the radar after a salvo, it was possible to calculate warheads.

However, during the course of their work, the researchers faced a problem: the accelerators used could only accelerate charged particles. And this “small fry” has one inconvenient feature - they did not want to fly in a friendly bunch. Due to the charge of the same name, the particles were repelled and instead of an accurate powerful shot, many much weaker and scattered ones were obtained. Another problem associated with firing ions was the curvature of their trajectory under the influence of the Earth's magnetic field. Perhaps this is why ion cannons were not allowed into the strategic missile defense system - they required firing at long distances, where the curvature of trajectories interfered with normal operation. In turn, the use of “ionomets” in the atmosphere was hampered by the interaction of fired particles with air molecules.

The first problem, with accuracy, was solved by introducing a special reloading chamber into the gun, located after the accelerating block. In it, the ions returned to a neutral state and no longer repelled each other after leaving the “barrel”. At the same time, the interaction of bullet particles with air particles decreased slightly. Later, during experiments with electrons, it was found that in order to achieve the least energy dissipation and ensure maximum firing range, the target must be illuminated with a special laser before firing. Thanks to this, an ionized channel is created in the atmosphere, through which electrons pass with less energy loss.

After the introduction of a reloading chamber into the gun, a slight increase in its combat qualities was noted. In this version of the gun, protons and deuterons (deuterium nuclei consisting of a proton and a neutron) were used as projectiles - in the recharging chamber they attached an electron to themselves and flew to the target in the form of hydrogen or deuterium atoms, respectively. When hitting a target, the atom loses an electron, dissipating the so-called. bremsstrahlung and continues to move inside the target in the form of a proton/deuteron. Also, under the influence of released electrons in a metal target, eddy currents can appear with all the consequences.

However, all the work of American scientists remained in the laboratories. Around 1993, preliminary designs for missile defense systems for ships were prepared, but things never went any further. Particle accelerators with a power acceptable for combat use were of such a size and required such an amount of electricity that a ship with a beam cannon had to be followed by a barge with a separate power plant. The reader familiar with physics can calculate for himself how many megawatts of electricity are required to impart at least 10 kJ to a proton. The American military could not afford such expenses. The Antigone program was suspended and then completely closed, although from time to time there are reports of varying degrees of reliability that talk about the resumption of work on the topic of ion weapons.

Soviet scientists did not lag behind in the field of particle acceleration, but for a long time they did not think about the military use of accelerators. The defense industry of the USSR was characterized by constant consideration of the cost of weapons, so the ideas for combat accelerators were abandoned without starting work on them.

At the moment, there are several dozen different charged particle accelerators in the world, but among them there is not a single combat one suitable for practical use. The Los Alamos accelerator with a recharging chamber has lost the latter and is now used in other research. As for the prospects for ion weapons, the idea itself will have to be shelved for now. Until humanity has new, compact and super-powerful sources of energy.

Science fiction films give us a clear idea of ​​the arsenals of the future - these are various blasters, lightsabers, infrasonic weapons and ion cannons. Meanwhile, modern armies, like three hundred years ago, mainly have to rely on bullets and gunpowder. Will there be a breakthrough in military affairs in the near future, should we expect the appearance of weapons operating on new physical principles?

Story

Work on the creation of such systems is being carried out in laboratories all over the world, however, scientists and engineers cannot yet boast of any particular successes. Military experts believe that they will be able to take part in real combat operations no earlier than in several decades.

Among the most promising systems, authors often mention ion cannons or beam weapons. Its operating principle is simple: the kinetic energy of electrons, protons, ions or neutral atoms accelerated to enormous speeds is used to destroy objects. In essence, this system is a particle accelerator put into military service.

Beam weapons are a real creation of the Cold War, which, along with combat lasers and interceptor missiles, were intended to destroy Soviet warheads in space. The creation of ion cannons was carried out as part of the famous Reagan Star Wars program. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, such developments ceased, however, today interest in this topic is returning.

A little theory

The essence of how beam weapons work is that particles are accelerated in an accelerator to enormous speeds and turned into unique miniature “projectiles” with colossal penetrating ability.

Objects are damaged due to:

• electromagnetic pulse;
• exposure to hard radiation;
• mechanical destruction.

The powerful energy flow carried by the particles has a strong thermal effect on materials and structures. It can create significant mechanical loads in them and disrupt the molecular structure of living tissue. It is assumed that beam weapons will be capable of destroying aircraft hulls, disabling their electronics, remotely detonating a warhead, and even melting the nuclear “filling” of strategic missiles.

To increase the destructive effect, it is proposed to deliver not single blows, but whole series of pulses with high frequency. A serious advantage of beam weapons is their speed, which is due to the enormous speed of the emitted particles. To destroy objects at a considerable distance, an ion cannon requires a powerful energy source such as a nuclear reactor.

One of the main disadvantages of beam weapons is the limitation of their action in the earth's atmosphere. Particles interact with gas atoms, losing their energy. It is assumed that in such conditions the range of destruction of the ion cannon will not exceed several tens of kilometers, so for now there is no talk of shelling targets on the Earth’s surface from orbit.

A solution to this problem may be to use a rarefied air channel through which charged particles will move without loss of energy. However, all these are just theoretical calculations that no one has tested in practice.

Currently, the most promising area of ​​application of beam weapons is considered to be missile defense and the destruction of enemy spacecraft. Moreover, for orbital impact systems, the most interesting is the use not of charged particles, but of neutral atoms, which are previously accelerated in the form of ions. Typically, hydrogen nuclei or its isotope, deuterium, are used. In the recharging chamber they are converted into neutral atoms. When they hit a target, they are easily ionized, and the depth of penetration into the material increases many times over.

The creation of combat systems operating within the earth's atmosphere still looks unlikely. The Americans considered beam weapons as a possible means of destroying anti-ship missiles, but later abandoned this idea.

How the ion cannon was created

The emergence of nuclear weapons led to an unprecedented arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States. By the mid-60s, the number of nuclear warheads in the arsenals of superpowers amounted to tens of thousands, and intercontinental ballistic missiles became the main means of their delivery. A further increase in their number made no practical sense. To gain an advantage in this deadly race, rivals had to figure out how to protect their own facilities from enemy missile attacks. This is how the concept of missile defense emerged.

On March 23, 1983, American President Ronald Reagan announced the launch of the Strategic Defense Initiative program. Its goal was to be guaranteed protection of US territory from a Soviet missile strike, and its implementation tool was to gain complete dominance in space.

Most of the elements of this system were planned to be placed in orbit. A significant part of them were powerful weapons developed on new physical principles. To destroy Soviet missiles and warheads, they intended to use nuclear-pumped lasers, atomic grapeshot, conventional chemical lasers, railguns, as well as beam weapons installed on heavy orbital stations.

It must be said that the study of the damaging effects of high-energy protons, ions or neutral particles began even earlier - approximately in the mid-70s.

Initially, work in this direction was more of a preventive nature - American intelligence reported that similar experiments were actively being conducted in the Soviet Union. It was believed that the USSR had advanced much further in this matter, and could implement the concept of beam weapons in practice. American engineers and scientists themselves did not really believe in the possibility of creating guns that shoot particles.

Work in the field of creating beam weapons was supervised by the famous DARPA - the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency.

They were carried out in two main directions:

1. Creation of ground-based strike installations designed to destroy enemy missiles (missile defense) and aircraft (air defense) within the atmosphere. The customer for these studies was the American army. To test the prototypes, a test site with a particle accelerator was built;
2. Development of space-based combat installations placed on Shuttle-type spacecraft to destroy objects in orbit. The plan was to create several prototype weapons and then test them in space, destroying one or more old satellites.

It is curious that in terrestrial conditions it was planned to use charged particles, and in orbit to shoot a beam of neutral hydrogen atoms.

The possibility of “space” use of beam weapons aroused genuine interest among the management of the SDI program. Several research studies have been carried out that have confirmed the theoretical ability of such installations to solve missile defense problems.

Project "Antigone"

It turned out that using a beam of charged particles is associated with certain difficulties. After leaving the installation, due to the action of Coulomb forces, they begin to repel each other, resulting in not one powerful shot, but many weakened impulses. In addition, the trajectories of charged particles are bent under the influence of the earth's magnetic field. These problems were solved by adding a so-called recharging chamber to the design, which was located after the upper stage. In it, the ions turned into neutral atoms, and subsequently no longer influenced each other.

The project to create beam weapons was withdrawn from the Star Wars program and received its own name - “Antigone”. This was probably done in order to preserve the developments even after the closure of the SDI, the provocative nature of which did not raise any particular doubts among the army leadership.

The overall project management was carried out by US Air Force specialists. Work on creating an orbital beam cannon proceeded quite briskly; several suborbital rockets with prototype accelerators were even launched. However, this idyll did not last long. In the mid-80s, new political winds blew: a period of detente began between the USSR and the USA. And when the developers approached the stage of creating experimental prototypes, the Soviet Union gave up on life, and further work on missile defense lost all meaning.

At the end of the 80s, Antigonus was transferred to the naval department, and the reasons for this decision remained unknown. Around 1993, the first preliminary designs for ship-based missile defense based on beam weapons were created. But when it became clear that enormous energy was needed to destroy air targets, the sailors quickly lost interest in such exoticism. Apparently, they didn’t really like the prospect of carrying additional barges with power plants behind the ships. And the cost of such installations clearly did not add to the enthusiasm.

Beam installations for Star Wars

It is curious how exactly they planned to use beam weapons in outer space. The main emphasis was placed on the radiation effect of a particle beam during sharp deceleration in the material of the object. It was believed that the resulting radiation was capable of guaranteed damage to the electronics of missiles and warheads. Physical destruction of targets was also considered possible, but it required a longer duration and power of impact. The developers proceeded from calculations that beam weapons in space are effective at distances of several thousand kilometers.

In addition to destroying electronics and physically destroying warheads, they wanted to use beam weapons to identify targets. The fact is that when entering orbit, the rocket launches dozens and hundreds of false targets, which on radar screens are no different from real warheads. If you irradiate such a cluster of objects with a particle beam of even low power, then by the emission you can determine which of the targets are false and which should be opened fire on.

Is it possible to create an ion cannon?

Theoretically, it is quite possible to create a beam weapon: the processes occurring in such installations have long been well known to physicists. Another thing is to create a prototype of such a device, suitable for real use on the battlefield. It is not for nothing that even the developers of the Star Wars program assumed the appearance of ion cannons no earlier than 2025.

The main problem of implementation is the energy source, which, on the one hand, must be quite powerful, on the other, have more or less reasonable dimensions and not cost too much. The above is especially relevant for systems designed to operate in space.

Until we have powerful and compact reactors, beam missile defense projects, like combat space lasers, are best shelved.

The prospects for ground or air use of beam weapons seem even less likely. The reason is the same - you cannot install a power plant on an airplane or tank. In addition, when using such installations in the atmosphere, it will be necessary to compensate for losses associated with the absorption of energy by air gases.

Materials often appear in the domestic media about the creation of Russian beam weapons, which supposedly have monstrous destructive power. Naturally, such developments are top secret, so they are not shown to anyone. As a rule, these are regular pseudo-scientific nonsense such as torsion radiation or psychotropic weapons.

It is possible that research in this area is still underway, but until fundamental questions are resolved, there is no hope for a breakthrough.

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