The Cold War saw the creation of some truly wild and destructive weapons systems. While the United States and the Soviet Union rushed to outdo each other in the nightmarish weapons department, one weapon may take the cake: the Soviet RDS-220 or AN602, better known as the Tsar Bomba. This true doomsday weapon was a response to the American high-yield nuclear weapon used in the infamous Castle Bravo test in 1954. 

Soviet weapons designers strove to surpass the Americans, both in yield and in the propaganda victory that a weapon larger than the one used at Castle Bravo would have. Andrei Sakharov, a Soviet physicist, conceived of the 100-megaton weapon. He ultimately reduced its yield to a lower (though still devastating) 50 megatons. Even with the reduced yield, it was still three times more potent than all the explosives deployed in World War II combined, including the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The Specs 

Tsar Bomba was a three-stage device, involving the fusion of hydrogen isotopes. A modified Tu-95 bomber codenamed “Bear” dropped it from the air. On the day the iconic bomb was dropped, Soviet Air Force Major Andrei Durnovtsev piloted. Since it was too large to fit in a conventional bomb bay, the Tsar Bomba was carried externally, prompting Soviet aircraft engineers to remove the bomb bay doors and fitting a special release mechanism on the “Bear” Tu-95 bomber.

The Tsar Bomba’s test was conducted over Severny Island in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Once detonated, the resulting explosion was truly the stuff of nightmares. With its awe-inspiring and terrifying mushroom cloud ballooning high into the atmosphere, the explosion reached just shy of 40 miles into the Earth’s atmosphere. The mushroom cloud’s stunning width was about 24 miles wide. Tsar Bomba’s shockwave was felt more than 500 miles away from the blast while windows in buildings more than 300 miles away shattered from the shockwave.

The Implications 

While there is no known functional unit of the Tsar Bomba today, the fact remains that Moscow built the system to push Russia’s military capabilities to the next level. More importantly, it was a signal to the Americans that Russia could keep up—even surpass the United States—in the doomsday race. Tsar Bomba’s resulting destruction was significant. Today, there remains a lasting scar on the area where it was detonated. Radiation spread across a vast distance as well.

As a strategic weapon, the Tsar Bomba left much to be desired. Thanks to the modification made to the Tu-95 “Bear” bomber, and the sheer weight and size of the Tsar Bomba, there was no way that the weapon would have ever been used against the United States. The Soviet plane simply would not have had the fuel range to make it from the USSR to the United States with the bomb strapped to its fuselage. Nevertheless, some remained fearful that the Soviets might place the warhead on one of their intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Thankfully, it never happened. 

Russia’s detonation of the Tsar Bomba during the Cold War became a focal point of arms reduction and limitation talks. Today, as the Ukraine war rages, the world appears again on the brink of some kind of nuclear disaster. Fighting has broken out at nuclear power plants in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Moscow beats the nuclear drum against Ukraine. The Tsar Bomba was a warning to avoid this brutal, fate not an inducement to embrace it. 

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is available for purchase wherever books are sold. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.