Great Power Technology

Chapter 431 378,000 square kilometers, how many nuclear bombs are needed?

After hanging up the phone from Lin Ling, Ye Zhou picked up a pen and crossed out a "recent task" in his notebook, and then updated a new task:

Regularly track the progress of the quantum perturbation monitoring project.

On top of this task, there is also a dense list of things he has to do, including "assist Sanchi Laboratory in solving the problem of photon darkening materials", "complete the first coherent coupling experiment", "complete a new type of fusion" "Target pill design", "tracking AES technology application experiments", "tracking nuclear-powered aircraft engine aerial test runs", etc. Most of these tasks were marked with a completion time limit by him, and those without deadlines were not unurgent. But do it every day.

After reading his mission, Ye Zhou sighed deeply.

There was too little time and too many things to do. Now he wished he could finish all the simulations of "Mystery of Life" at once, then clone himself and let him share part of the work for him.

Unfortunately, this idea can only remain a fantasy. In fact, judging from the current situation, the difficulty of realizing biology and advanced artificial intelligence is only higher than that of nuclear fusion.

We haven't even figured out nuclear fusion yet, let alone expect what will happen next.

The most important thing now is to put the technologies at hand into practical use one by one, further expand the advantages of technology and strength, and completely distance ourselves from the ugly country.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhou dialed Chen Hao's phone and started asking him about the progress of several current projects.

"You are familiar with the Nantianmen project, so I won't go into details with you. In the near future, we have mainly made two breakthroughs."

"The first is the successful test run of the nuclear-powered aviation engine, and the second is the comprehensive replacement of the H-20. After that, the number of H-20 engines will be reduced from four to two, and the space saved will be divided into two Partly, one part was changed into a magazine to increase the bomb load, and part was changed into a fuel tank to increase the range.”

"After the engine replacement is completed, the maximum range of the H-20 is expected to reach 29,000 kilometers, exceeding the range of the B-2 by more than 50%."

"At the same time, the number of nuclear missiles that the H-20 can carry will also increase by one level. The specific number is hard to say yet, but the current news is that it can probably carry 16 nuclear bombs with a million-yield."

"Apart from the Nantianmen project, the one that has made the most progress so far is..."

"Wait a moment!"

Ye Zhou interrupted Chen Hao's words and then asked:

"Tell me again, how many nuclear bombs can the H-20 carry? What is its yield?"

"Sixteen million-equivalent bombs, what's wrong?"

Hearing this data again, Ye Zhou couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

In fact, the B-2 bomber currently in service in the United States can also carry a million-yield nuclear bomb, and the B-83 nuclear bomb it carries is known as the most powerful nuclear bomb in the world. It is only more than three meters long and explodes The power is equivalent to nearly 50 Hiroshima atomic bombs.

However, the number of nuclear bombs the B-2 bomber can carry is limited. Considering the full load, the maximum number of nuclear bombs it can carry is 8, and now, the H-20 can carry 16.

It has doubled!

Such data may not seem very shocking, but if you give a small example, you will know the terrifying nuclear strike power of the H-20.

For example, there is a country with a land area of ​​378,000 square kilometers. It has launched a series of wars and threatened the security of people around the world. After discussions at the United Nations, it has been decided to carry out humanitarian destruction of this country. So, how much is needed? Nuclear bomb?

Historically, nuclear bombs have only been used in real combat twice. The first time was in an island country, where the nuclear bomb dropped had an explosive yield of 15,000 tons of TNT.

The second time was also in an island country. The nuclear bomb dropped had an explosive yield of 22,000 tons of TNT.

According to statistics, these two nuclear strikes wiped out a total of 296,000 people and left more than 800,000 locals homeless. The post-war reconstruction process lasted for decades - and this was not done in other parts of the country. In the case of a nuclear strike, productivity is not fundamentally destroyed.

Calculated based on the total area of ​​900 square kilometers in the second nuclear strike, does it mean that only 400 22,000-ton nuclear bombs are needed to destroy the entire country?

The answer is not that simple. In fact, the killing area of ​​a nuclear bomb gradually increases with the yield. When the explosion yield is 1 million tons, the killing area of ​​a nuclear explosion can reach 150 square kilometers, which is equivalent to a large circle close to 6 kilometers.

According to this data, if we want to carry out a full-coverage strike on 378,000 square kilometers of land, we will need more than 3,000 million-yield nuclear bombs. This is a difficult task for any country in the world.

But what cannot be ignored is that the damage caused by nuclear bomb explosions definitely comes not only from light radiation, thermal radiation, and shock waves, but also from more terrifying radiation clouds and nuclear radiation pollution.

Therefore, after taking these factors into account, the calculation of nuclear bomb lethality should introduce the concept of "final lethality". Under this concept, relevant experts generally believe that only about 15 million-yield nuclear bombs are needed. Ensure that the number of survivors in the affected area is reduced to less than 20%.

Now, the number of million-yield nuclear bombs the H-20 can carry is 16.

This means that one flight of the H-20 can send this country of 378,000 square kilometers directly to hell.

This kind of nuclear deterrence capability has probably reached an extremely terrifying level throughout the world.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhou suddenly realized something.

No wonder they all behaved so honestly during this period. It turns out they really saw the messenger from heaven.

After a moment of silence, Ye Zhou continued:

"Will this information be made public in the future?"

"I have already guessed what you want to ask. It will definitely be made public. After all, the purpose of strategic bombers is not to kill, but to deter."

"The stronger what others see, the safer our situation is. However, out of an abundance of caution, we will keep the voyage data confidential - mainly to avoid offending some people's sensitivities."

Ye Zhou nodded slightly. He completely understood what Chen Hao meant by sensitive nerves.

It takes an H-20 to destroy 378,000 kilometers, but what about destroying 9.37 million square kilometers?

That’s just 30 aircraft.

The number of H-20s currently in service has reached 12.

If the quantity is further expanded in the future, this issue cannot be considered in detail.

Ye Zhou shook his head to dispel the slightly radical thoughts in his mind, and then said:

"You just said that apart from the Nantianmen project, what has made the most progress?"

"AES technology. Zhejiang University has completed the first phase of testing, and the AVS equipment will soon enter the practical testing phase."

Hearing this, Ye Zhou frowned.

His mind immediately recalled the torture he suffered during the AVS technology test in the simulator, which made him feel intensely uneasy.

Even he almost went insane under such torture. It has only been less than three months since he provided AVS technology to the General Technical Office. Is he really not afraid of problems if he conducts experiments in such a hasty manner?

"How was the first experiment arranged? How far has the technology progressed now? Can you postpone the experiment first and let me be the first tester?"

Chen Hao felt the worry in Ye Zhou's tone. He immediately understood that Ye Zhou's request was definitely not out of curiosity like the last exoskeleton, so he asked directly:

"Do you think AVS technology testing will be risky?"

Ye Zhou shook his head slightly and replied:

"I'm not sure. This technology is too new, and it is an area we have never been involved in. If we enter the test rashly, it may bring some uncontrollable consequences."

"But experiments always have to be carried out. Do you have any other ideas?"

"No."

Ye Zhou answered decisively, paused for a moment and then continued:

"That's right."

"The only solution is to let me go first. I am the proposer of this technology, and I should go to this mine."