Soviet Project K nuclear tests

The worst effects of a Soviet high altitude test were from the electromagnetic pulse of the nuclear test on 22 October 1962 (during the Cuban Missile Crisis). In that Operation K high altitude test, a 300 kiloton missile-warhead detonated west of Jezkazgan (also called Dzhezkazgan or Zhezqazghan) at an altitude of . The Soviet scientists instrumented a section of telephone line in the area that they expected to be affected by the nuclear detonation in order to measure the electromagnetic pulse effects. The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) fused all of the 570-kilometer monitored overhead telephone line with measured currents of 1500 to 3400 amperes during the 22 October 1962 test. The monitored telephone line was divided into sub-lines of in length, separated by repeaters. Each sub-line was protected by fuses and by gas-filled overvoltage protectors. The EMP from the 22 October (K-3) nuclear test caused all of the fuses to blow and all of the overvoltage protectors to fire in all of the sub-lines of the telephone line. The nuclear missiles were launched from the Kapustin Yar site east of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in the upper left part of the map. The red burst in the flight path west of Zhezqazghan is the detonation location of the K-3 nuclear test (Test 184). The detonation locations for the other tests have not been publicized, but from the published detonation altitudes and basic physics, it is known that the other K Project nuclear detonation locations were along the designated flight path between the K-3 detonation site and Saryshagan (at the eastern end of the designated flight path). The instrumented telephone line damaged in the K-3 test went from Zhezqazghan through Qaraghandy (Karaganda), northward to Aqmola (now called Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan) and ended at an unknown location just north of Aqmola. ==Aftereffects==

Although the weapons used in the K Project were much smaller (up to 300 kilotons) than the United States Starfish Prime test of 1962, the damage caused by the resulting EMP was much greater because the K Project tests were done over a large populated land mass, and at a location where the Earth's magnetic field was greater. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the level of this damage was communicated informally to scientists in the United States.  As a result, formal scientific documentation of some of the EMP damage in Kazakhstan exists but is still sparse in the open scientific literature. The 1998 IEEE article, }N/A + | rowspan="3" | space rocket (> 80 km),weapon effect | rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | | rowspan="2" | | First Soviet space test. Unknown where K2 detonated except it was along a line from K3 explosion to a point high above Sary Shagan, the missile target point. Effects on System A prototype ABM. |- ! 128 K1 (Joe 105) | N/A + | Unknown where K1 detonated except it was along a line from K3 explosion to a point high above Sary Shagan, the missile target point. Effects on System A prototype ABM. The CIA says Joe 105 was on 10/21, hence the number, but apparently is in error. |- ! 184 K3 (Joe 157) | 03:40:45|| Launch from Kapustin Yar, Astrakhan , elv: ;Detonation over Karagandy, Kazakhstan | N/A + | rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | | | Exploded short of target above Sary Shagan, west of Dzhezkazgan (or Zhezqazghan). EMP ran to thousands of amps, damaged at least 570 km of telephone lines, 1000 km of buried power lines, and caused the destruction of the Karaganda power plant. |- ! 187 K4 (Joe 160) | 04:41:20|| Launch from Kapustin Yar, Astrakhan , elv: ;Detonation over Karagandy, Kazakhstan | N/A + | space rocket (> 80 km),weapons development | | Unknown where K4 detonated except it was along a line from K3 explosion to a point high above Sary Shagan, the missile target point. |- ! 195 K5 (Joe 168) | 09:12:??|| Launch from Kapustin Yar, Astrakhan , elv: ;Detonation over Karagandy, Kazakhstan | N/A + | dry surface,weapons development | | Unknown where K5 detonated except it was along a line from K3 explosion to a point high above Sary Shagan, the missile target point. |} ==References==