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During The Cold War, The USA and USSR Built Unique Structures To Test Weapons and Planes Against Extreme Effects of Nuclear Explosions
During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union created impressive structures to test the limits of their military equipment. On one side, the Soviets erected the UT-5000, a tunnel used to test vehicles in nuclear destruction situations.
On the other, the Americans built the ATLAS-I, a wooden structure without any metal elements, aimed at assessing whether their aircraft would withstand the electromagnetic pulse generated by a nuclear bomb.
The Largest Wood Structure In The World
The ATLAS-I was built between 1972 and 1980, on the outskirts of Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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The project was officially named Aircraft Transmission Simulator of the Air Force Weapons Laboratory.
Even after operations ceased in 1991, the structure remains standing and can be located using satellite images.
At 180 meters tall and 305 meters long, the ATLAS-I is comparable to a 12-story building.
The largest part of the installation is the platform where the planes were positioned for testing. Everything was made of wood, without the use of nails or metal screws, which already makes it a unique structure in the world.
Why Not Use Metals In The ATLAS-I?
The choice of dry, treated wood was not just aesthetic or economical. The main reason was technical: any metal piece could distort the results of tests with electromagnetic pulses, also known as EMPs.
This is because metals interfere with the propagation of these waves, making it impossible to know whether the pulse effect was reaching the aircraft or being altered by the structure.
Therefore, engineers had to avoid even glues and varnishes that contained conductive components.
The entire structure was built with laminated wood and glued with special materials, while the fastening elements were replaced with fiber screws.
The location in a desert region with low humidity also helped, as damp wood can conduct electricity.
Tests With Military Aircraft
Between 1980 and 1991, the ATLAS-I was used to test the resilience of different aircraft from the Navy and the Air Force.
Among the models subjected to electromagnetic pulses were the massive B-52 and B-1B bombers.
The goal was to simulate the conditions of a nuclear detonation and verify whether the aircraft’s electronic systems would continue to function.
To facilitate this, the military installed two Marx generators designed by the Maxwell Laboratories. They were positioned on wooden pedestals and aimed at the platform where the aircraft were located.
Each generator had 50 trays with capacitors and special switches, capable of generating up to 5 megavolts each.
The Force Of An Electromagnetic Pulse
The generators created a combined pulse of 10 megavolts and up to 200 gigawatts of electromagnetic power.
This value was sufficient to simulate the pulse generated by a real nuclear bomb, especially in the initial phase of the explosion, when radiation releases a powerful wave in fractions of a second.
This is precisely the phase that poses the greatest risk to the electronic systems of the aircraft.
Most importantly, these tests could be conducted without the use of a real bomb, avoiding risks to the population and exorbitant costs.
For comparison, the Trinity test, conducted by Oppenheimer during World War II, cost up to US$ 20 million at the time.
Trestle And Machine Z
The complete system was named Trestle. It also inspired the development of the so-called Machine Z, an even more powerful equipment.
Capable of generating pulses of up to 40 megavolts and 50 thousand gigawatts, Machine Z was not used directly on the ATLAS-I but has been applied in research on nuclear fusion, high-intensity X-rays, and tests with modern weapons.
This evolution shows how the Trestle served as a basis for significant advancements in science and military technology, even after the end of the Cold War.
Abandonment And Preservation Of The ATLAS-I
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the USA ceased testing on the ATLAS-I. The structure was never dismantled and remains in the desert, near the military base where it was built.
Despite the abandonment, it draws attention due to its size and complexity.
Today, the site is considered high risk for fires due to the large amount of dry wood exposed to the desert sun.
Therefore, since 2011, there has been a movement to transform the ATLAS-I into a national monument, ensuring its preservation.
The process, however, is slow. The structure is within a restricted military area, making protection and restoration actions difficult.
Even so, the history of the ATLAS-I remains alive as a symbol of extreme engineering and nuclear paranoia during one of the tensest periods of the 20th century.
The information in this report was based on technical and historical records from recognized institutions:
- Wikipedia – ATLAS-I: page dedicated to the structure built by the United States Air Force, with data about the tests conducted during the Cold War, the use of the Marx generators, and the reasons for building it in wood.
- SAH Archipedia – Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator (ATLAS-I): repository of historical architecture and engineering that details the dimensions, materials used, and strategic importance of the structure.
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