Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction

a complex of measures that may be adopted to protect a country’s troops, civilian population, and national economy from an enemy’s nuclear, chemical, or bacteriological weapons.

The protection of troops from weapons of mass destruction is organized by all commanders and their staffs with the following goals: to diminish as much as possible the effectiveness of an enemy’s use of nuclear, chemical, or bacteriological weapons, to restore quickly the fighting efficiency of troops who have come under attack by such weapons, and to ensure capability for action in regions where they have been used. The following measures are included among those de-signed to protect troops: their dispersal over an area, careful camouflage, regular changes at periodic intervals of the location of troops, airfields, and ship anchorages in order to make their discovery more difficult, the timely warning of troops of an area’s radioactive, chemical, or bacteriological contamination by sending special signals, and the use by personnel of individual means of protection, foxholes, trenches, dugouts, and shelters with specialized equipment. Various covering devices are used to protect weapons, equipment, and matéeriel.

In order to obtain data on the effects of an enemy’s use of weapons of mass destruction, radiation, chemical, and bacteriological reconnaissance is conducted in the regions where such attacks have occurred. By means of a forecast (theoretical calculations) of the results of an attack, a determination may be made of the approximate losses in personnel, weapons, equipment, and matériel and possible zones of contamination, destruction, fires, and floods. The nature and scope of operations necessary to eliminate the effects of such an attack may also be determined. Antiepidemic, sanitary and hygienic, special preventive, and other medical measures are carried out, radioactive irradiation of personnel is monitored, and the degree of the contamination of the civilian population is determined, as well as that of weapons, equipment, transport, materiel, and water. Measures to eliminate the consequences of an enemy’s use of a weapon of mass destruction include the following: rendering aid to contaminated and injured persons, rescue operations, special treatment of troop personnel and military equipment, the restoration of troop routes, the extinguishing and localization of fires, and the elimination of the pathogenic agents in the infected area.

Protection against weapons of mass destruction with regard to cities and economic objectives includes evacuating part of the population to safer regions from cities against which an enemy’s attacks are the most probable; assuring the population of places of refuge, shelters, and individual means of protection; implementing preventive, sanitary and hygienic, and other medical measures; establishing conditions for the stable operation of the economy; and adopting measures ensuring the maintenance of food supplies and water and the protection of plants and animals. The protection of cities and economic objectives is organized within the system of general state defense measures.