72265 AN602 (RDS220) "TSAR BOMBA"

AN602 or RDS-220 (colloquial name: Tsar bomb) was a Soviet 50-58 Megaton (Mt.) thermonuclear bomb detonated on October 30, 1961. It was the most powerful detonated nuclear nuclear bomb in history to date. Work on AN602 started from the late 1940s. Such outstanding scientists and engineers as Yulia Charatin or Andrei Sakharov were involved in it. They accelerated significantly around 1960. Originally, the conversion power of the Tsar bomb was supposed to be 100 megatons, but later - for safety reasons - it was reduced to 50-58 Mt. The Tu-95 bomber was selected as the carrier of this powerful weapon, and it was specially adapted to its transport. The detonation took place in the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. The atomic mushroom formed during the detonation was about 60 kilometers high and about 30-40 kilometers in diameter, and was visible from a distance of about 900 kilometers. For comparison - the distance between Gdańsk and Kraków in a straight line is approx. 480 kilometers ... Despite the enormous power of the Tsar, the bomb was completely useless for military purposes (too much mass, easy to destroy) and only fulfilled a psychological and propaganda role.