Stalin and the Bomb

by David Holloway

There was very little discussion in the Soviet press of the military implications of the atomic bomb. The most substantial analysis was given by Major-General G.I. Pokrovskii, the explosives expert whom Balezin had consulted in 1942 about the feasibility of a uranium bomb. In a pamphlet published in 1946 Pokrovskii wrote that atomic aviation bombs will be effective in destroying deep underground installations, large dams and hydroelectric plants, heavy naval vessels (especially when concentrated in narrow waters), and the most important transport junctions. On the other hand, against armies deployed over a wide area and dispersed and camouflaged in the appropriate way it will be more effective to use less concentrated forms of energy, i.e. conventional explosives.93