| Operation Argus | |
|---|---|
 X-17 with nuclear warhead launched from aboard the USS Norton Sound | |
| Information | |
| Country | United States |
| Test site | South Atlantic Ocean |
| Period | 1958 |
| Number of tests | 3 |
| Test type | space rocket (> 80 km) |
| Max. yield | 1.7 kilotonnes of TNT (7.1 TJ) |
| Test series chronology | |
Operation Argus was a series of United States low-yield, high-altitude nuclear weapons tests and missile tests secretly conducted from 27 August to 9 September 1958 over the South Atlantic Ocean.[1][2] The tests were performed by the Defense Nuclear Agency.
The tests were to study the Christofilos effect, which suggested it was possible to defend against Soviet nuclear missiles by exploding a small number of nuclear bombs high over the South Pacific. This would create a disk of electrons over the United States that would overload the electronics on the Soviet warheads as they descended. It was also possible to use the effect to blind Soviet radars, meaning that any Soviet missile-based ABM system would be unable to attack the US counterstrike.
The tests demonstrated that the effect did occur, but that it dissipated too rapidly to be very effective. Papers concerning the topic were published the next year, emphasizing the events as purely scientific endeavors.
- ^ Mundey, Lisa (2012). "The Civilianization of a Nuclear Weapons Effects Test: Operation ARGUS". Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences. 42 (4): 283–321. doi:10.1525/hsns.2012.42.4.283.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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