How does a Neutron bomb work ?
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These are called enhanced radiation weapons.
Neutrons are attenuated very rapidly in the atmosphere, so they make the blast effect as small as possible and allow as many neutrons to escape as they can. One method is to use certain fuel (deuterium/tritium) because it emits a lot of neutrons and it’s easy to fuse, so the blast energy produced is lower.
The point is mainly to kill tank crews (Russia had way more tanks than the west). Tanks are very good at protecting people from nuclear blasts, but radiation can still get through the armour. It also can make the armour itself radioactive, potentially harming crew who aren’t killed by the initial dose from the bomb.
Not much is known publicly about how they achieve this because warhead design is highly classified. It’s still just a nuclear bomb, they just maximize the neutron radiation and minimize the blast.
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