Word: icbms
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...five ten-millionths of a second), X rays traveling at the speed of light emanate from the center of the blast. Although their effect diminishes sharply at increasing distances even in the vacuum of space,* the X rays from a one-megaton blast are intense enough to destroy an ICBM caught within a sphere extending two miles from the exploding ABM warhead...
Striking the ICBM, X rays instantaneously ionize a thin layer of its outer casing, causing the formation of a sheath of hot gas, or plasma. But only a small portion of X-ray energy is used to form the plasma sheath. Most of the remainder is converted into a shock wave that races through the missile. At a distance of two miles, the impact of the shock wave on a 6½-ft. dia. 30-megaton warhead would be equivalent to the explosion of 2 or 3 Ibs. of TNT within the missile, which may be enough...
Slow Fission. Even if the shock wave fails to set off the warhead's conventional explosive, it can damage electronic components or cause sufficient changes in the critical shape of internal cavities within the warhead to prevent a nuclear explosion. In addition, the heating of the ICBM's exterior may so damage its heat shield that the missile would burn up upon entering the atmosphere...
Neutrons produced by the ABM blast could also cause crippling damage at a range of about two miles. Penetrating into the ICBM's outer shell of uranium 238, they can produce slow fission, causing heat that may deform the warhead or set off its lens charges. The neutrons may also whiz into the warhead's core of uranium 235, causing it to explode in a premature nuclear blast while still hundreds of miles from its target...
With a double heat shield on an ICBM warhead, for example, the outer shield can be made to take the brunt of X-ray damage, leaving the inner shield to protect the warhead as it descends through the atmosphere. A neutron-blocking layer of paraffin or liquid hydrogen can prevent the uranium trigger from fissioning prematurely. Installation of more rugged electrical components and addition of bypass circuits reduce the possibility of damage from the surge of current caused by an electromagnetic pulse...