50 Megaton Tsar Bomba Declassified Ivan RDS 220 Hydrogen Bomb

Subscribe to Nuclear Vault 22:40 Countdown and detonation Credit: Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation The Soviet RDS220 hydrogen bomb (code name Ivan or Vanya), also known as Tsar Bomba (Russian: Царьбомба, tr. Tsar bómba, IPA: tsarʲ ˈbombə, lit. Tsar bomb ), was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. Tested on 30 October 1961 as an experimental verification of calculation principles and multistage thermonuclear weapon designs, it also remains the most powerful humanmade explosive ever detonated. The bomb was detonated 4000 m above the Sukhoy Nos ( Dry Nose ) cape of Severny Island, Novaya Zemlya, 15 km (9. 3 mi) from Mityushikha Bay, north of Matochkin Strait. The detonation was secret but was detected by US Intelligence agencies. The US apparently had an instrumented KC135R aircraft (Operation Spee br, br,