62 years ago, on October 30, 1961, the USSR tested the 57-megaton Tsar Bomb, the most powerful nuclear charge in history.
“RI98J7” was a thermonuclear aerial bomb. The bomb was dropped from a specially modified for this purpose Tu-95B plane over the island of Novaya Zemlya in Arctic.
Tu-95 plane.
The power of the explosion was 57,000 kilotons (57 megatons). The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II had a yield of 15 and 21 kilotons, respectively.
The Tsar Bomb was 10 times more powerful than all ordnance exploded during the whole of WWII.
A tractor with a special cart brought the bomb to the huge Tu-95 strategic bomber. The bomb was massive: 8 meters long, 2.1 meter in diameter, weighing 26 tons.
Life-size model of the Tsar Bomb.
Although Tu-95 was the largest aircraft of the Soviet Air Force, it had to be modified for such a massive load. And even then, the bomb did not fit inside the fuselage; it had to be secured under it.
The Tu-95 took off from Olenya airbase on the Kola Peninsula. The pilot, Major Andrei Durnovtsev, ascended to a height of 10 kilometers and headed for Novaya Zemlya.
Andrei Durnovtsev.
His plane was accompanied by a Tu-16 bomber, which was supposed to film the explosion.
The bomb bay was opened at an altitude of 11.5 kilometers. To give the plane time to retreat to a safe distance, the bomb was lowered by a giant parachute to the altitude of 4000 meters. Despite all precautions, the crew's chances of survival were estimated at only 50%.
After dropping the bomb, Tu-95 increased its speed to the maximum and hurried to take cover behind a mountain ridge — the aircraft would not have withstood the shock wave.
After the explosion, Tu-95 lost 1000 meters of altitude, communication with the aircraft crew was lost. But in the end, the pilots managed to maintain control of the aircraft and landed safely.
The explosion occurred at 11:32 Moscow time. The fireball, 8 km in diameter, incinerated the ground below the blast and created a flare that could be seen from Alaska, Greenland and Norway — 1,000 km away.
The seismic shockwave circled the globe 3 times, shattering glass windows in buildings more than 600 km away.
All buildings within a radius of 55 km at the Sukhoi Nos training ground were completely destroyed.
The epicenter was located 250 kilometers from the observation deck of the command centre, but the explosion was visible.
Those watching the explosion from the command centre in Belushaya Guba were ordered to wear protective glasses and not use binoculars. The personnel took refuge in specially prepared trenches, where they lay down.
First, everyone saw a bright flash in the air. Then everyone felt a light impulse: the exposed parts of the body were filled with heat, as if from a hot oven. The low fog instantly disappeared and visibility improved significantly. The flashes continued for several more seconds. A mushroom-shaped nuclear cloud had formed. The nuclear mushroom of the explosion rose to a height of 60–70 km — 10 times higher than the Everest.
The test site on Novaya Zemlya was created in September 1954 for testing nuclear weapons. Before the training ground was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, local residents were deported from the archipelago — mainly local Nenets people, who moved to the islands at the end of the 19th century. They were simply loaded onto a ship and sent to the mainland.
The USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev announced the upcoming test at the Communist Party Congress.
Nikita Khrushchev.
The announcement was greeted with enthusiasm. In response, the UN General Assembly on October 27 called on the USSR to refrain from testing a 50-megaton bomb. In Moscow they just laughed at that: who are they, to dictate to us what and where to blow up?
Sergeant Talgat Ayupov watched the explosion of the Tsar Bomb from command centre. He remembers watching the bubbling nuclear ball and the flashes.
“A seismic wave reached us, and immediately after it came an air shock wave. Followed by thunderous powerful sounds,” recalls Ayupov.
The explosion was the culmination of the Cold War and is still listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most powerful blast in history.
The leadership of the USSR rejoiced at the success of the test. Just 6 months after Yuri Gagarin's flight into space, they managed to show to the world that the USSR possessed super-powerful weapons.
According to Khrushchev, the explosion of the Tsar Bomb was supposed to sober up the American “hawks” by showing them the scientific and technical potential of the USSR.
At the beginning of 1962, when the radiation level at the epicenter was supposed to decrease, a special commission was sent to assess the damage caused by the Tsar Bomb test. The helicopter landed in the village of Severny near the Matochkin Shar Strait, about 50 kilometers from the place where it was dropped. According to Ayupov, what he saw shocked him.
“They were building a club there. Two wings remained of the building, the central part seemed to have been cut off with a knife. All residential buildings were destroyed."
All eyewitnesses to the explosion signed a non-disclosure agreement. Ayupov himself first shared his memories with his family only in the late 1990s.
The original plan was to detonate a 100-megaton bomb, but scientists convinced the leaders to half the charge. Khrushchev joked that the charge was reduced so as not to break all the windows in Moscow.
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