Z Machine

Pulsed power technology begins rapid development, supported by the Atomic Energy Commission and Defense Nuclear Agency for radiation source testing.

Russian MTF program at weapons lab. Communist Party decree. Same dual-use pattern as US.

The Beriev A-60 airborne laser laboratory made its first flight. Based on the Il-76MD transport, it carried a 1MW-class CW laser for ASAT operations. The A-60 is the foreign equivalent of the US ABL Y

Professor Yakov Krasik moves from the Soviet Union to the Weizmann Institute of Science, facilitating the transfer of Soviet pulsed power expertise to the West.

LANL and VNIIEF begin joint magnetized target fusion experiments using explosive pulsed power.

SSP created via PDD/NSC 15. ICF is 'major component.' NIF, Z Machine, Atlas PRIMARY=weapons, SECONDARY=fusion. Provides alternative explanation for fusion-weapons dual-use.

LANL-VNIIEF joint magnetized target fusion experiment using explosive pulsed power.

Professor Krasik establishes the Plasma and Pulsed Power (P4) Laboratory at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

Atlas commissioned at LANL. Received Shiva Star technology (capacitors, rail-gap switches). Supports SSP. Turchi liner experiments. Later relocated to Nevada Test Site.

Sandia and Los Alamos sign a Memorandum of Understanding for Plutonium Isentropic Compression Experiments (Pu-ICE) to be conducted in the Z machine using LANL-provided plutonium.