[en] At the JINR U-300 heavy-ion cyclotron, a ⁴⁸Ca ion beam has been first produced. Compared with other ions, these ions have great advantages for the synthesis of transuranic and superheavy elements. The extreme neutron excess of the ⁴⁸Ca nucleus enables one to approach the double magic nucleus ²⁹⁸114 in fusion reactions. In addition, the ⁴⁸Ca nucleus itself being doubly magic, fusion reactions with it lead to the formation of compound nuclei with low excitation energies. This sharply increases the cross sections for reactions with a small number of neutrons emitted. The model experiments carried out to synthesize the isotope ²⁵²102 in reactions with different Pb isotopes have confirmed these advantages of ⁴⁸Ca ions. (Auth.)