Anniversary of Tsar Bomba. Soviet Tsar Bomb

On October 30, 1961, the most powerful explosion in human history occurred at the Soviet nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya. The nuclear mushroom rose to a height of 67 kilometers, and the diameter of the “cap” of this mushroom was 95 kilometers. The shock wave circled three times Earth(and the blast wave demolished wooden buildings at a distance of several hundred kilometers from the test site). The flash of the explosion was visible from a distance of a thousand kilometers, despite the fact that thick clouds hung over Novaya Zemlya. For almost an hour there was no radio communication throughout the entire Arctic. The power of the explosion, according to various sources, ranged from 50 to 57 megatons (million tons of TNT).

However, as Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev joked, they did not increase the power of the bomb to 100 megatons, only because in this case all the windows in Moscow would have been broken. But every joke has its share of a joke - it was originally planned to detonate a 100 megaton bomb. And the explosion on Novaya Zemlya convincingly proved that creating a bomb with a capacity of at least 100 megatons, at least 200, is a completely feasible task. But 50 megatons is almost ten times the power of all the ammunition expended throughout the Second World War. World War all participating countries. Moreover, in the event of testing a product with a capacity of 100 megatons, only a melted crater would remain from the test site on Novaya Zemlya (and most of this island). In Moscow, the glass most likely would have survived, but in Murmansk they could have been blown out.

Layout hydrogen bomb. Historical and Memorial Museum nuclear weapons in Sarov

The device, detonated at an altitude of 4200 meters above sea level on October 30, 1961, went down in history under the name “Tsar Bomba”. One more not official name- “Kuzka’s Mother.” But the official name of this hydrogen bomb was not so loud - the modest product AN602. This miracle weapon had no military significance - not in tons of TNT equivalent, but in ordinary metric tons, the “product” weighed 26 tons and it would have been problematic to deliver it to the “addressee”. It was a show of force - clear proof that the Soviet Union was capable of creating weapons of mass destruction of any power. What made the leadership of our country take such an unprecedented step? Of course, nothing more than a worsening of relations with the United States. More recently, it seemed that the United States and the Soviet Union had reached mutual understanding on all issues - in September 1959, Khrushchev visited the United States on an official visit, and a return visit to Moscow by President Dwight Eisenhower was also planned. But on May 1, 1960, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down over Soviet territory. In April 1961, American intelligence agencies organized the landing of well-trained Cuban emigrants in the Bay of Playa Giron (this adventure ended in a convincing victory for Fidel Castro). In Europe, the great powers could not decide on the status of West Berlin. As a result, on August 13, 1961, the capital of Germany was blocked by the famous Berlin Wall. Finally, in 1961, the United States deployed PGM-19 Jupiter missiles in Turkey - European part Russia (including Moscow) was within range of these missiles (a year later the Soviet Union would place missiles in Cuba and the famous Cuban Missile Crisis would begin). This is not to mention the fact that there was no parity in the number of nuclear charges and their carriers between the Soviet Union and America at that time - we could counter 6 thousand American warheads with only three hundred. So, the demonstration of thermonuclear power was not at all superfluous in the current situation.

Soviet short film about the testing of the Tsar Bomba

There is a popular myth that the superbomb was developed on Khrushchev’s orders all in 1961, a record-breaking year. short time– in just 112 days. In fact, the development of the bomb began in 1954. And in 1961, the developers simply brought the existing “product” to the required power. At the same time, the Tupolev Design Bureau was modernizing Tu-16 and Tu-95 aircraft for new weapons. According to initial calculations, the weight of the bomb should have been at least 40 tons, but aircraft designers explained to nuclear scientists that this moment There are no carriers for a product with such weight and there cannot be. Nuclear scientists promised to reduce the weight of the bomb to a quite acceptable 20 tons. True, such weight and such dimensions required a complete rework of the bomb compartments, fastenings, and bomb bays.

Hydrogen bomb explosion

Work on the bomb was carried out by a group of young nuclear physicists under the leadership of I.V. Kurchatova. This group also included Andrei Sakharov, who at that time had not yet thought about dissent. Moreover, he was one of the leading developers of the product.

Such power was achieved thanks to the use of a multi-stage design - a uranium charge with a power of “only” one and a half megatons was launched nuclear reaction in the second stage charge, with a capacity of 50 megatons. Without changing the dimensions of the bomb, it was possible to make it three-stage (this is already 100 megatons). Theoretically, the number of stage charges could be unlimited. The design of the bomb was unique for its time.

Khrushchev hurried the developers - in October, the XXII Congress of the CPSU took place in the newly built Kremlin Palace of Congresses and announced the news about the powerful explosion in the history of mankind it would be necessary precisely from the rostrum of the congress. And on October 30, October 30, 1961, Khrushchev received a long-awaited telegram signed by the Minister of Medium Engineering E.P. Slavsky and Marshal Soviet Union K. S. Moskalenko (test leaders):

"Moscow. The Kremlin. N.S. Khrushchev.

The test on Novaya Zemlya was successful. The safety of testers and the surrounding population is ensured. The training ground and all participants completed the task of the Motherland. We're going back to the convention."

The explosion of the Tsar Bomba almost immediately served as fertile ground for various kinds myths. Some of them were distributed ... by the official press. So, for example, Pravda called “Tsar Bomba” nothing more than yesterday atomic weapons and claimed that more powerful charges had already been created. There were also rumors about a self-sustaining thermonuclear reaction in the atmosphere. The reduction in the power of the explosion, according to some, was caused by the fear of splitting the earth's crust or...causing a thermonuclear reaction in the oceans.

But be that as it may, a year later, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States still had an overwhelming superiority in the number of nuclear warheads. But they never decided to use them.

In addition, the mega-explosion is believed to have helped move forward the three-medium nuclear test ban negotiations that had been going on in Geneva since the late fifties. In 1959-60 everything nuclear powers, with the exception of France, have accepted a unilateral refusal to test while these negotiations are ongoing. But we talked below about the reasons that forced the Soviet Union not to comply with its obligations. After the explosion on Novaya Zemlya, negotiations resumed. And on October 10, 1963, the Treaty Banning Atmospheric Tests of Nuclear Weapons was signed in Moscow. outer space and underwater." As long as this Treaty is respected, the Soviet Tsar Bomba will remain the most powerful explosive device in human history.

Modern computer reconstruction

The 20th century was oversaturated with events: it included two World Wars, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis (which almost led to a new global conflict), the fall of communist ideology and the rapid development of technology. During this period, the development of a wide variety of weapons was carried out, but the leading powers sought to develop weapons specifically mass destruction.

Many projects were canceled, but the Soviet Union managed to create weapons of unprecedented power. We are talking about the AN602, known to the general public as the “Tsar Bomba,” created during the arms race. Development took quite a long time, but the final tests were successful.

History of creation

“Tsar Bomba” became a natural result of the period of the arms race between America and the USSR, the confrontation between these two systems. The USSR received atomic weapons later than its competitor and wanted to level up its military potential through advanced, more powerful devices.

The choice logically fell on the development of thermonuclear weapons: hydrogen bombs were more powerful than conventional nuclear shells.

Even before World War II, scientists came to the conclusion that energy could be extracted using thermonuclear fusion. During the war, Germany, the USA and the USSR were developing thermonuclear weapons, and the Soviets and America already by the 50s. The first explosions began.

Post-war time and beginning cold war made the creation of weapons of mass destruction a priority task of the leading powers.

Initially, the idea was to create not a “Tsar Bomba”, but a “Tsar Torpedo” (the project received the abbreviation T-15). Due to the lack at that time of the necessary aircraft and rocket carriers for thermonuclear weapons, it had to be launched from a submarine.

Its explosion was supposed to cause a devastating tsunami on the US coast. After conducting a closer study, the project was canceled, recognizing it as doubtful from the standpoint of real combat effectiveness.

Name

“Tsar Bomba” had several abbreviations:

• AN 602 (“product 602”)
• RDS-202 and RN202 (both are erroneous).

Other names were in use (coming from the West):

• "Big Ivan"
• "Kuzka's mother."

The name “Kuzka’s Mother” takes its roots from Khrushchev’s statement: “We will show America Kuzka’s mother!”

Name it unofficially this weapon They became the “Tsar Bomba” because of its unprecedented power compared to all actually tested carriers.

An interesting fact: “Kuzka’s Mother” had a power comparable to the explosion of 3,800 Hiroshima, so in theory, the “Tsar Bomb” really brought the apocalypse to the enemies in the Soviet way.

Development

The bomb was developed in the USSR between 1954 and 1961. The order came personally from Khrushchev. A group of nuclear physicists, the best minds of that time, participated in the project:

• HELL. Sakharov;
• V.B. Adamsky;
• Yu.N. Babaev;
• S.G. Kocharyants;
• Yu.N. Smirnov;
• Yu.A. Trutnev et al.

The development was led by Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences I.V. Kurchatov. The entire team of scientists, in addition to creating a bomb, sought to identify the limits of the maximum power of thermonuclear weapons. AN 602 was developed as a smaller version of the RN202 explosive device. In comparison with the original idea (the mass reached 40 tons), it really lost weight.

The idea of ​​delivering a 40-ton bomb was rejected by A.N. Tupolev due to inconsistency and inapplicability in practice. Not a single Soviet aircraft of those times could have lifted it.

In the final stages of development, the bomb changed:

1. They changed the shell material and reduced the dimensions of “Mother Kuzma”: it was a cylindrical body 8 m long and about 2 m in diameter, which had a streamlined shape and tail stabilizers.
2. They reduced the power of the explosion, thereby slightly reducing the weight (the uranium shell began to weigh 2,800 kg, and the total mass of the bomb decreased to 24 tons).
3. Its descent was carried out using parachute system. It slowed down the fall of the ammunition, which allowed the bomber to leave the epicenter of the explosion in a timely manner.

Tests

The mass of the thermonuclear device was 15% of the take-off mass of the bomber. To ensure that it was freely located in the ejection compartment, the fuselage fuel tanks were removed from it. A new, more load-bearing beam holder (BD-242), equipped with three bomber locks, was responsible for holding the projectile in the bomb bay. Electric automation was responsible for dropping the bomb, thanks to which all three locks opened simultaneously.

Khrushchev announced the planned weapons tests already at the XXII Congress of the CPSU in 1961, as well as during meetings with foreign diplomats. On October 30, 1961, AN602 was delivered from the Olenya airfield to the Novaya Zemlya training ground.

The bomber's flight took 2 hours, the shell was dropped from an altitude of 10,500 m.

The explosion took place at 11:33 Moscow time after being dropped from a height of 4,000 m above the target. The bomb's flight time was 188 seconds. During this time, the plane delivering the bomb flew 39 km from the drop zone, and the laboratory plane (Tu-95A) accompanying the carrier flew 53 km.

The shock wave caught up with the car at a distance of 115 km from the target: significant vibration was felt, about 800 meters of altitude was lost, but this did not affect the further flight. The reflective paint was faded in some places, and parts of the aircraft were damaged (some even melted).

The final power of the “Tsar Bomba” explosion (58.6 megatons) exceeded the planned one (51.5 megatons).

After the operation we summed up the results:

1. The fireball resulting from the explosion had a diameter of about 4.6 km. In theory, it could have grown to the surface of the earth, but thanks to the reflected shock wave this did not happen.
2. The light emission would cause 3rd degree burns to anyone within 100 km of the target.
3. The resulting mushroom reached 67 km. in height, and its diameter at the upper tier reached 95 km.
4. Wave atmospheric pressure after the explosion, circled the ground three times, moving with average speed at 303 m/s (9.9 degrees of arc per hour).
5. People who were 1000 km away. from the explosion, we felt it.
6. The sound wave reached a distance of approximately 800 km, but no destruction or damage was officially detected in nearby areas.
7. Ionization of the atmosphere led to radio interference at a distance of several hundred kilometers from the explosion and lasted 40 minutes.
8. Nuclear pollution at the epicenter (2-3 km) from the explosion was about 1 milliroentgen per hour. 2 hours after the operation, the contamination was practically harmless. According to the official version, no dead were found.
9. The crater created by the Kuzkina Mother explosion was not huge for a bomb with a yield of 58,000 kilotons. It exploded in the air, over rocky ground. The location of the “Tsar Bomb” explosion on the map showed that it was about 200 m in diameter.
10. After the release, due to the thermonuclear fusion reaction (which leaves virtually no radioactive contamination), relative purity was present - more than 97%.

Consequences of the test

Traces from the explosion of the Tsar Bomba are still preserved on Novaya Zemlya. We were talking about the most powerful explosive device in the entire history of mankind. The Soviet Union demonstrated to other powers that it possessed advanced weapons of mass destruction.

Science in general also benefited from the AN 602 test. The experiment made it possible to test the then existing principles of calculation and design of multistage thermonuclear charges. It has been experimentally proven that:

1. The power of a thermonuclear charge, in fact, is not limited by anything (theoretically, the Americans concluded this 3 years before the bomb exploded).
2. The cost of increasing the charge power can be calculated. At 1950 prices, one kiloton of TNT cost 60 cents (for example, an explosion comparable to the bombing of Hiroshima cost $10).

Prospects for practical use

AN602 is not ready for use in combat. In conditions of fire on the carrier aircraft, the bomb (comparable in size to a small whale) would not have been able to be delivered to the target. Rather, its creation and testing was an attempt to demonstrate the technology.

Later, in 1962, at “Novaya Zemlya” (a test site in the Arkhangelsk region) they tested a new weapon, a manufactured thermonuclear charge in the AN602 housing, tests were carried out several times:

1. Its mass was 18 tons and its power was 20 megatons.
2. Delivery was carried out from heavy strategic bombers 3M and Tu-95.

The reset confirmed that thermonuclear aerial bombs less weight and power are easier to produce and use in combat conditions. The new ammunition was still more destructive than those dropped on Hiroshima (20 kilotons) and Nagasaki (18 kilotons).

Using the experience of creating the AN602, the Soviets developed warheads of even greater power, installed on super-heavy combat missiles:

1. Global: UR-500 (could be sold under the name "Proton").
2. Orbital: N-1 (on its basis they later tried to create a launch vehicle that would deliver the Soviet expedition to the Moon).

As a result, the Russian bomb was not developed, but indirectly influenced the course of the arms race. Later, the creation of “Kuzka’s Mother” formed part of the concept for the development of strategic nuclear forces USSR – “Malenkov-Khrushchev Nuclear Doctrine.”

Device and technical characteristics

The bomb was similar to the RN202 model, but had a number of design changes:

1. A different alignment.
2. 2-stage explosion initiation system. The 1st stage nuclear charge (1.5 megatons of the total explosion power) triggered a thermonuclear reaction in the 2nd stage (with lead components).

The detonation of the charge occurred as follows:

First, there is an explosion of a low-power initiator charge, closed inside the NV shell (essentially a miniature atomic bomb capacity 1.5 megatons). As a result of a powerful emission of neutrons and high temperature thermonuclear fusion begins in the main charge.

Neutrons destroy the deuterium-lithium insert (a compound of deuterium and the isotope lithium-6). As a result of a chain reaction, lithium-6 splits into tritium and helium. As a result, the atomic fuse contributes to the onset of thermonuclear fusion in the detonated charge.

Tritium and deuterium are mixed, a thermonuclear reaction is triggered: inside the bomb the temperature and pressure rapidly increase, the kinetic energy of the nuclei increases, promoting mutual penetration with the formation of new, heavier elements. The main products of the reaction are free helium and fast neurons.

Fast neutrons capable of splitting atoms from the uranium shell, which also generate enormous energy (approx. 18 Mt). The fission process of uranium-238 nuclei is activated. All of the above contributes to the formation of a blast wave and the release of a huge amount of heat, due to which the fireball grows.

Each uranium atom upon decay gives 2 radioactive parts, resulting in up to 36 different chemical elements and about 200 radioactive isotopes. And because of this, radioactive fallout appears, which, after the explosion of the Tsar Bomba, was recorded at a distance of hundreds of kilometers from the test site.

The charge and decomposition scheme of the elements are created in such a way that all these processes occur instantly.

The design allows you to increase power with virtually no restrictions, and, compared to standard atomic bombs, saving money and time.

At first, a 3-stage system was planned (as planned, the second stage activated nuclear fission in blocks from the 3rd stage, which had a component of uranium-238), initiating a nuclear “Jekyll-Hyde reaction”, but it was removed due to the potentially high level of radioactive pollution. This resulted in half the estimated explosion yield (from 101.5 megatons to 51.5).

The final version differed from the original version by a lower level of radioactive contamination after the explosion. As a result, the bomb lost more than half of its planned charge power, but this was justified by scientists. They were afraid that the earth's crust might not withstand such a powerful impact. It was for this reason that they cried out not on the ground but in the air.

It was necessary to prepare not only the bomb, but also the aircraft responsible for delivering and dropping it. This was beyond the capabilities of a conventional bomber. The aircraft must have:

• Reinforced suspension;
• Appropriate bomb bay design;
• Reset device;
• Coated with reflective paint.

These problems were solved after revising the dimensions of the bomb itself and making it a carrier of nuclear bombs of enormous power (at the end this model was adopted by the Soviets and was named Tu-95V).

Rumors and hoaxes related to AN 602

It was rumored that the final power of the explosion was 120 megatons. Such projects took place (for example, a combat version of the UR-500 global missile, the planned capacity of which is 150 megatons), but were not implemented.

There was a rumor that the initial charge power was 2 times higher than the final one.

It was reduced (except for what was described above) due to the fear of the emergence of a self-sustaining thermonuclear reaction in the atmosphere. It is curious that similar warnings previously came from the scientists who developed the first atomic bomb (the Manhattan Project).

The last misconception is about the occurrence of “geological” consequences of weapons. It was believed that the detonation of the original version of the Ivan Bomb could have pierced the earth's crust to the mantle if it had exploded on the ground and not in the air. This is incorrect - the diameter of the crater after a ground detonation of a bomb, say, one megaton is approximately 400 m, and its depth is up to 60 m.

Calculations showed that the explosion of the Tsar Bomba on the surface would lead to the appearance of a crater with a diameter of 1.5 km and a depth of up to 200 m. The fireball that appeared after the explosion of the "Tsar Bomb" would have destroyed the city on which it fell, and in its place a large crater would have formed. The shock wave would have destroyed the suburb, and all survivors would have suffered 3rd and 4th degree burns. It might not have pierced the mantle, but earthquakes, all over the world, would have been guaranteed.

conclusions

The Tsar Bomba truly was a grandiose project and a symbol of that crazy era when the great powers sought to outstrip each other in the creation of weapons of mass destruction. A demonstration of the power of the new weapon of mass destruction was carried out.

For comparison, the United States, previously considered the leader in nuclear potential, the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in service, had a power (in TNT equivalent) 4 times less than AN 602.

The Tsar Bomba was dropped from the carrier, while the Americans detonated their shell in the hangar.

Due to a number of technical and military nuances, we switched to developing less spectacular, but more effective weapons. It is impractical to produce 50 and 100 megaton bombs: these are single products suitable exclusively for political pressure.

“Kuzka’s Mother” helped develop negotiations on a ban on testing weapons of mass destruction in 3 environments. As a result, the USA, USSR and Great Britain signed an agreement in 1963. The President of the USSR Academy of Sciences (the main “scientific center of the Soviets at that time”) Mstislav Keldysh said that Soviet science sees its goal as the further development and strengthening of peace.

Video

October 30, 1961 at the training ground New Earth The most powerful explosion in human history was detonated. The thermonuclear charge was delivered to the target on a Tu-95 carrier aircraft, piloted by a crew consisting of commander Andrei Durnovtsev and navigator Ivan Kleshch. They were warned that their safety was not guaranteed: they could protect themselves from the blinding flash, but the shock wave could bring down the plane.

The main purpose of detonating the bomb was to demonstrate the USSR's possession of unlimited weapons of mass destruction. At that time, the most powerful thermonuclear bomb tested in the United States was almost four times weaker.

The bomb, which received several nicknames (“Tsar Bomba” or “Kuzka’s Mother”), was developed in the USSR in 1954-1961. a group of nuclear physicists led by Academician Kurchatov. The bomb's yield was about 57 megatons of TNT. It was reported that the Tsar Bomba was constructed by order of N. S. Khrushchev in record time - 112 days, but only the final stage of development took that long.

The initial version of the “Tsar Bomba” had a three-stage design of the following form: the nuclear charge of the first stage with an estimated contribution to the explosion power of 1.5 megatons launched a thermonuclear reaction in the second stage (contribution to the explosion power - 50 megatons), and it, in turn, initiated a nuclear reaction in the third stage, adding another 50 megatons of power. However, this option was rejected due to the extremely high level of radioactive contamination. The tested Tsar Bomba had a modified third stage, where the uranium components were replaced with a lead equivalent. This reduced the estimated total yield of the explosion to 51.5 megatons.

The Tu-95 bomber took off from the Olenya airfield in the morning and two hours later reached its design point within the Sukhoi Nos nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya. The bomb was dropped from a height of 10,500 meters using a parachute system to give the pilots the opportunity to move as far as possible.

The Tsar Bomba exploded after 188 seconds at an altitude of 4,200 meters above sea level. The bomber managed to move 39 kilometers from the release point, and the accompanying laboratory aircraft - 53.5 kilometers. The power of the explosion exceeded the calculated one and ranged from 57 to 58.6 megatons.

The nuclear mushroom of the explosion rose to a height of 67 kilometers, the fireball of the explosion had a radius of 4.6 kilometers. The shock wave circled the globe three times, and the resulting ionization of the atmosphere caused interference with radio communications within a radius of hundreds of kilometers. The interference continued for 40 minutes. Witnesses felt the shock wave thousands of kilometers away, with radiation potentially causing third-degree burns up to 100 kilometers away. On the ground below the epicenter of the explosion, the temperature was so high that the stones turned to ash.

The main part of the cloud was carried aside North Pole, however, radiation fallout was observed in the deep territories of the USSR. It is curious that for a bomb of such power, “Kuzka’s Mother” was quite clean - 97% of the power was provided by the thermonuclear fusion reaction, which creates virtually no radioactive contamination.

Before the test of the Tsar Bomba, rumors began to appear in society, based on the science fiction of those years, that the explosion could initiate a thermonuclear reaction in sea ​​water and cause an explosion of the oceans that will split the planet into pieces. Another version said that the bomb would cause a self-sustaining nuclear fission reaction in the atmosphere.

The last test nuclear bomb in the history of the USSR took place on October 24, 1990 at the Novozmelsky training ground. About a year later, RSFSR President Boris Yeltsin announced a moratorium on nuclear tests.

At first it was planned to create a bomb weighing 40 tons. But the designers of the Tu-95 (which was supposed to deliver the bomb to the crash site) rejected this idea immediately. An airplane with such a load simply would not be able to fly to the test site. The target mass of the "superbomb" was reduced.

However, the large dimensions and enormous power of the bomb (originally planned to be eight meters long, two meters in diameter and weighing 26 tons) required significant modifications to the Tu-95. The result was, in fact, a new, and not just a modified version of the old aircraft, designated Tu-95-202 (Tu-95V). The Tu-95-202 aircraft was equipped with two additional control panels: one to control the automation of the “product”, the other to control its heating system. The problem of suspending the aerial bomb turned out to be very difficult, since due to its dimensions it did not fit into the bomb bay of the aircraft. For its suspension, a special device was designed that ensured the lifting of the “product” to the fuselage and securing it to three synchronously controlled locks.

All electrical connectors on the plane were replaced, and the wings and fuselage were covered with reflective paint.

To ensure the safety of the carrier aircraft, Moscow parachute equipment designers developed a special system of six parachutes (the area of ​​the largest was 1.6 thousand square meters). They were thrown out of the rear part of the bomb body one after another and slowed down the descent of the bomb, so that the plane had time to move to a safe distance by the time of the explosion.

By 1959, the carrier of the superbomb was created, but due to some warming of relations between the USSR and the USA, it did not come to practical tests. The Tu-95-202 was first used as a training aircraft at an airfield in the city of Engels, and then was written off as unnecessary.

However, in 1961, with the beginning of a new round of the Cold War, testing of the “superbomb” again became relevant. After the adoption of a decree of the USSR Government on the resumption of nuclear charge testing in July 1961, emergency work began at KB-11 (now the Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, RFNC-VNIIEF), which in 1960 was entrusted with the further development of a superbomb , where it was given the designation “product 602”. A large number of serious innovations were used in the design of the superbomb itself and its charge. Initially, the charge power was 100 megatons of TNT equivalent. On the initiative of Andrei Sakharov, the charge power was halved.

The carrier aircraft was returned to service after being written off. All connectors in the automatic reset system were urgently replaced, and the cargo compartment doors were removed because The real bomb turned out to be slightly larger in size and weight than the mock-up (the length of the bomb was 8.5 meters, its weight was 24 tons, the parachute system was 800 kilograms).

Particular attention was paid to the special training of the carrier aircraft crew. No one could give the pilots a guarantee of a safe return after dropping the bomb. Experts feared that after the explosion an uncontrolled thermonuclear reaction could occur in the atmosphere.

Nikita Khrushchev announced the upcoming bomb tests in his report on October 17, 1961 at the XXII Congress of the CPSU. The tests were supervised by the State Commission.

On October 30, 1961, a Tu-95B with a bomb on board took off from the Olenya airfield in Murmansk region, headed for the training ground located on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in Severny Arctic Ocean. Next, a Tu-16 laboratory aircraft took off to record the explosion phenomena and flew as a wingman behind the carrier aircraft. The entire course of the flight and the explosion itself were filmed from the Tu-95B, from the accompanying Tu-16 and from various points on Earth.

At 11:33 a.m., at the command of the barometric sensor, a bomb dropped from 10,500 meters exploded at an altitude of 4,000 meters. The fireball during the explosion exceeded a radius of four kilometers; it was prevented from reaching the surface of the earth by a powerful reflected shock wave, which threw the fireball off the ground.

The huge cloud formed as a result of the explosion reached a height of 67 kilometers, and the diameter of the dome of hot products was 20 kilometers.

The explosion was so powerful that the seismic wave in the earth's crust, generated by the shock wave, circled the Earth three times. The flash was visible at a distance of more than 1000 kilometers. In an abandoned village located 400 kilometers from the epicenter, trees were torn out, windows were broken and roofs of houses were demolished.

The shock wave threw the carrier aircraft, which by that time was 45 kilometers from the release point, to an altitude of 8000 meters, and for some time after the explosion the Tu-95B was uncontrollable. The crew received some dose of radiation. Due to ionization, communication with the Tu-95V and Tu-16 was lost for 40 minutes. All this time no one knew what happened to the planes and crews. After some time, both planes returned to base; marks were visible on the fuselage of the Tu-95V.

Unlike the American test of the Castro Bravo hydrogen bomb, the explosion of the Tsar Bomba on Novaya Zemlya turned out to be relatively “clean”. The test participants arrived at the point where the thermonuclear explosion occurred within two hours; The radiation level in this place did not pose a great danger. This affected design features Soviet bomb, and also that the explosion occurred at a fairly large distance from the surface.

Based on the results of aircraft and ground measurements, the energy release of the explosion was estimated at 50 megatons of TNT equivalent, which coincided with the calculated value.

The test on October 30, 1961 showed that developments in nuclear weapons could quickly cross a critical limit. The main goal that was set and achieved by this test was to demonstrate the possibility of the USSR creating unlimited thermonuclear charges. This event played a key role in establishing nuclear parity in peace and preventing the use of atomic weapons.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

TASS DOSSIER. 55 years ago, on October 30, 1961, the Soviet Union tested at the Novaya Zemlya test site ( Arhangelsk region) the world's most powerful thermonuclear device - an experimental aircraft hydrogen bomb with a capacity of about 58 megatons of TNT ("product 602"; unofficial names: "Tsar Bomba", "Kuzka's Mother"). The thermonuclear charge was dropped from a converted Tu-95 strategic bomber and detonated at an altitude of 3.7 thousand meters above the ground.

Nuclear and thermonuclear weapons

Nuclear (atomic) weapons are based on an uncontrolled chain reaction of fission of heavy atomic nuclei.

To carry out the fission chain reaction, either uranium-235 or plutonium-239 (less commonly, uranium-233) is used. Thermonuclear weapons (hydrogen bombs) involve the use of energy from an uncontrolled nuclear fusion reaction, that is, the transformation of light elements into heavier ones (for example, two atoms of “heavy hydrogen”, deuterium, into one helium atom). Thermonuclear weapons have a greater possible explosion power compared to conventional nuclear bombs.

Development of thermonuclear weapons in the USSR

In the USSR, the development of thermonuclear weapons began in the late 1940s. Andrey Sakharov, Yuli Khariton, Igor Tamm and other scientists at Design Bureau No. 11 (KB-11, known as Arzamas-16; now - Russian Federal Nuclear Center - All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, RFNC-VNIIEF; city of Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod region) . In 1949, the first thermonuclear weapon project was developed. The first Soviet hydrogen bomb, RDS-6s, with a yield of 400 kilotons, was tested on August 12, 1953 at the Semipalatinsk test site (Kazakh SSR, now Kazakhstan). Unlike the United States, which tested the first thermonuclear explosive device, Ivy Mike, on November 1, 1952, the RDS-6s was a full-fledged bomb capable of being delivered by bomber. Ivy Mike weighed 73.8 tons and was more like a small factory in size, but the power of its explosion was a record 10.4 megatons at that time.

"Tsar Torpedo"

In the early 1950s, when it became clear that the thermonuclear charge was the most promising in terms of explosion energy power, a discussion began in the USSR about the method of its delivery. Missile weapons was imperfect at that time; The USSR Air Force did not have bombers capable of delivering heavy charges.

"Test of the Tsar Bomba (official chronicle)/YouTube"

Therefore, on September 12, 1952, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Joseph Stalin signed the decree “On the design and construction of object 627” - a nuclear submarine power plant. It was initially assumed that it would carry a torpedo with a T-15 thermonuclear charge with a power of up to 100 megatons, the main target of which would be enemy naval bases and port cities. The main developer of the torpedo was Andrei Sakharov.

Subsequently, in his book “Memoirs,” the scientist wrote that Rear Admiral Pyotr Fomin, who was responsible for Project 627 from the navy, was shocked by the “cannibalistic character” of the T-15. According to Sakharov, Fomin told him “that military sailors are used to fighting an armed enemy in open battle” and that for him “the very thought of such a thing is disgusting.” mass murder"Subsequently, this conversation influenced Sakharov’s decision to engage in human rights activities. The T-15 was never put into service due to unsuccessful tests in the mid-1950s, and Submarine Project 627 received conventional, non-nuclear torpedoes.

Heavy duty charge projects

The decision to create an aviation super-powerful thermonuclear charge was made by the USSR government in November 1955. Initially, the development of the bomb was carried out by the Scientific Research Institute No. 1011 (NII-1011; known as Chelyabinsk-70; now the Russian Federal Nuclear Center - the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute technical physics them. Academician E.I. Zababakhina, RFNC-VNIITF; the city of Snezhinsk, Chelyabinsk region).

Since the end of 1955, under the leadership of the chief designer of the institute, Kirill Shchelkin, work has been carried out on the “product 202” (estimated capacity - approximately 30 megatons). However, in 1958, the country's top leadership closed work in this area.

Two years later, on July 10, 1961, at a meeting with the developers and creators of nuclear weapons, the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev announced the decision of the country's leadership to begin developing and testing a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb. The work was entrusted to KB-11 employees. Under the leadership of Andrei Sakharov, a group of theoretical physicists developed “product 602” (AN-602). A body already manufactured at NII-1011 was used for it.

Characteristics of the Tsar Bomba

The bomb was a streamlined ballistic body with a tail unit.

The dimensions of “product 602” were the same as those of “product 202”. Length - 8 m, diameter - 2.1 m, weight - 26.5 tons.

The estimated charge power was 100 megatons of TNT. But after experts assessed the impact of such an explosion on the environment, it was decided to test a bomb with a reduced charge.

To transport the aerial bomb, the Tu-95 heavy strategic bomber was converted and received the index "B". Due to the impossibility of placing it in the bomb bay of the vehicle, a special device was developed on a suspension, which ensured that the bomb was lifted to the fuselage and secured to three synchronously controlled locks.

The safety of the crew of the carrier aircraft was ensured by a specially designed system of several parachutes near the bomb: exhaust, brake and main with an area of ​​1.6 thousand square meters. m. They were thrown out of the rear part of the hull one after another, slowing down the fall of the bomb (to a speed of approximately 20-25 m/s). During this time, the Tu-95V managed to fly away from the explosion site to a safe distance.

The leadership of the USSR did not hide its intention to test a powerful thermonuclear device. Nikita Khrushchev announced the upcoming test on October 17, 1961 at the opening of the 20th Congress of the CPSU: I want to say that our tests of new nuclear weapons are going very successfully. We will complete these tests soon. Apparently at the end of October. Finally, we will probably detonate a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 50 million tons of TNT. We said that we have a bomb of 100 million tons of TNT. And that's true. But we will not detonate such a bomb."

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on October 27, 1961, in which it called on the USSR to refrain from testing a super-powerful bomb.

Trial

The test of the experimental “product 602” took place on October 30, 1961 at the Novaya Zemlya test site. A Tu-95B with a crew of nine (lead pilot - Andrei Durnovtsev, lead navigator - Ivan Kleshch) took off from the Olenya military airfield on the Kola Peninsula. An aerial bomb was dropped from a height of 10.5 km onto the site of the Northern Island of the archipelago, in the area of ​​the Matochkin Shar Strait. The explosion occurred at an altitude of 3.7 km from the ground and 4.2 km above sea level, for 188 seconds. after the bomb was separated from the bomber.

The flash lasted 65-70 seconds. The “nuclear mushroom” rose to a height of 67 km, the diameter of the red-hot dome reached 20 km. The cloud retained its shape for a long time and was visible at a distance of several hundred kilometers. Despite the continuous cloud cover, the light flash was observed at a distance of more than 1 thousand km. The shock wave circled the globe three times, due to electromagnetic radiation for 40-50 minutes. Radio communication was interrupted for many hundreds of kilometers from the test site. Radioactive contamination in the area of ​​the epicenter turned out to be small (1 milliroentgen per hour), so research personnel were able to work there without danger to health 2 hours after the explosion.

According to experts, the power of the superbomb was about 58 megatons of TNT. This is approximately three thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima in 1945 (13 kilotons).

The test was filmed both from the ground and from the Tu-95V, which at the time of the explosion managed to move more than 45 km away, as well as from an Il-14 aircraft (at the time of the explosion it was at a distance of 55 km). At the latter, the tests were observed by Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Moskalenko and Minister of Medium Engineering of the USSR Efim Slavsky.

The demonstration by the Soviet Union of the possibility of creating thermonuclear charges of unlimited power pursued the goal of establishing parity in nuclear testing, primarily with the United States.

After lengthy negotiations, on August 5, 1963 in Moscow, representatives of the USA, USSR and Great Britain signed the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in Outer Space, Under Water and on the Surface of the Earth. Since its entry into force, the USSR has carried out only underground nuclear tests. The last explosion was carried out on October 24, 1990 on Novaya Zemlya, after which the Soviet Union announced a unilateral moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. Currently, Russia also adheres to this moratorium.

Creator Awards

In 1962, for the successful testing of the most powerful thermonuclear bomb, crew members of the carrier aircraft Andrei Durnovtsev and Ivan Kleshch were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Eight KB-11 employees were awarded the title of Hero Socialist Labor(of which Andrei Sakharov received it for the third time), 40 employees became laureates of the Lenin Prize.

"Tsar Bomba" in museums

Full-size models of the Tsar Bomba (without control systems and warheads) are stored in the museums of the RFNC-VNIIEF in Sarov (the first domestic museum of nuclear weapons; opened in 1992) and the RFNC-VNIITF in Snezhinsk.

In September 2015, the Sarov bomb was exhibited at the Moscow exhibition “70 years of the nuclear industry. Chain reaction of success” in the Central Manege.