On October 12, 1960, the head of the Soviet state Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, speaking from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly with an angry speech, threatened the imperialists, and in particular the United States, "to show Kuzka's mother." And he showed. True, the imperialists had to wait almost two and a half years for the moment of its demonstration. "Kuzkina's mother" appeared to the world in the form of the most terrible nuclear bomb in the history of mankind with a capacity of more than 50 megatons. Now, after half a century, when the veil of secrecy has been lifted over the events of those already distant years, we can talk about how it was.
OBJECT-700
It is known that at the beginning of the atomic race, the USA was in the lead, the USSR was in the role of catch-up. However, already in the mid-50s of the last century, the rivals became close, and the struggle for the championship continued with varying success. The Cold War was gaining momentum. During these years, the Soviet Union at an accelerated pace created the so-called Object-700, which is still operating today as the Central nuclear test site. It is located far from prying eyes on the South Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, not far from Belushya Guba, the "capital" of the archipelago. In September 1955, the first underwater nuclear explosion was carried out here in Black Guba. Gradually, the center of Soviet nuclear tests moved from Kazakhstan to the North. Test explosions were carried out both near the surface of the Earth and high in the atmosphere and under water. In total, about 150 explosions of various types and power were carried out.
The nuclear warheads being adopted took on sizes and shapes that were quite acceptable for bombers: 2.5-megaton nuclear bombs did not differ much from ordinary 500-kilogram bombs and were quietly placed in the bomb bays of Soviet Tu-16 bombers. Aircraft of this type from the separate long-range bomber corps stationed near Poltava were also used for Novaya Zemlya tests. When it was necessary to produce an air explosion with a capacity of 2.5 megatons (in TNT equivalent), the carrier aircraft was launched from the Olenya airbase on the Kola Peninsula.
SPOLISH GLADIOLUS
The corps commander, General V. V. Reshetnikov, managed to achieve the consent of the high command, so that when testing the carrier, he would accompany a whole regiment of the same bombers. He believed that combat pilots should learn in practice what a real nuclear explosion is. 27 aircraft, taking off from near Novgorod, met at a given point with the bomb carrier and accompanied him at a sufficient distance, being at an altitude of 9 to 12 km. The leading vehicle of this group was driven by General Reshetnikov himself. He later talked about his impressions of that flight. When the bomb exploded, a giant white ball crawled out from under the clouds, pulling a pillar of smoke behind it. The nuclear mushroom stretches up to 30 km. The escort aircraft made a kind of a circle of honor around him, keeping at a sufficient distance. Some desperate pilots asked for the general's good,wanting to fly under the mushroom cap, but received a resolute refusal. The mushroom, according to the general, was unusually colorful: in pink and blue pastel tones, it resembled a gigantic gladiolus. Everything in the sky glowed and luminesced. But it did not take long to admire this extravaganza - a shock wave hit the planes, they began to swing menacingly in all planes. Nevertheless, the pilots managed to cope with the controls, and all the machines, including the carrier aircraft, safely reached their airfields. The carrier, which, of course, was closest to the epicenter of the explosion, did not receive mechanical damage, but all the paint on its fuselage was burnt. The car, just in case, was written off from the regiment's staff and transferred to the museum of the Kiev Air Force Engineering School.was unusually colorful: in pink and blue pastel tones, he resembled a gigantic gladiolus. Everything in the sky glowed and luminesced. But it did not take long to admire this extravaganza - a shock wave hit the planes, they began to swing menacingly in all planes. Nevertheless, the pilots managed to cope with the controls, and all the machines, including the carrier aircraft, safely reached their airfields. The carrier, which, of course, was closest to the epicenter of the explosion, did not receive mechanical damage, but all the paint on its fuselage was burnt. The car, just in case, was written off from the regiment's staff and transferred to the museum of the Kiev Air Force Engineering School.was unusually colorful: in pink and blue pastel tones, he resembled a gigantic gladiolus. Everything in the sky glowed and luminesced. But it did not take long to admire this extravaganza - a shock wave hit the planes, they began to swing menacingly in all planes. Nevertheless, the pilots managed to cope with the controls, and all the machines, including the carrier aircraft, safely reached their airfields. The carrier, which, of course, was closest to the epicenter of the explosion, did not receive mechanical damage, but all the paint on its fuselage was burnt. The car, just in case, was written off from the regiment's staff and transferred to the museum of the Kiev Air Force Engineering School. But it did not take long to admire this extravaganza - a shock wave hit the planes, they began to swing menacingly in all planes. Nevertheless, the pilots managed to cope with the controls, and all the machines, including the carrier aircraft, safely reached their airfields. The carrier, which, of course, was closest to the epicenter of the explosion, did not receive mechanical damage, but all the paint on its fuselage was burnt. The car, just in case, was written off from the regiment's staff and transferred to the museum of the Kiev Air Force Engineering School. But it did not take long to admire this extravaganza - a shock wave hit the planes, they began to swing menacingly in all planes. Nevertheless, the pilots managed to cope with the controls, and all the machines, including the carrier aircraft, safely reached their airfields. The carrier, which, of course, was closest to the epicenter of the explosion, did not receive mechanical damage, but all the paint on its fuselage was burnt. The car, just in case, was written off from the regiment's staff and transferred to the museum of the Kiev Air Force Engineering School. The car, just in case, was written off from the regiment's staff and transferred to the museum of the Kiev Air Force Engineering School. The car, just in case, was written off from the regiment's staff and transferred to the museum of the Kiev Air Force Engineering School.
Promotional video:
"Tsar Bomba" AN602.
PREGNANT MACHINE
The fact that 2.5 megatons was far from the limit of the Soviet Union's capabilities was not particularly hidden. On the contrary, the information leak was probably authorized. On October 8, 1961, the New York Times delighted the Americans with the news of the upcoming super-explosion and even named tentative dates. Soviet citizens learned about him after the fact. The test was timed to coincide with the XXII Congress of the CPSU. In his report, NS Khrushchev, once again attacking the imperialists, said: “Today we have the most powerful 100-megaton bomb in the world, but we will not detonate it now, because at the same time we ourselves have Moscow glasses can fly out. We will blow up the 50-megaton one for now.” The audience greeted this statement with "stormy, prolonged applause." When the time came to show the world "Kuz'kin's mother" (before its historical test, this is the brainchild of Academician A. D. Sakharov remained unnamed), the bomb was delivered to the Olenya airbase by a special train.
Despite the fact that the world already knew about the impending explosion, the delivery was carried out in strict secrecy. From Arzamas-16, 4 completely identical trains departed simultaneously in different directions. Only a narrow circle of initiates knew which of them was taking the bomb away.
The Tu-16 was unable to lift the Kuz'kina mother into the sky. The bomb, the length of which exceeded 8 m, did not climb into the compartments of the largest Soviet heavy bomber Tu-95V ("Bear") at that time. I had to literally rip the fuselage open, but even so, only part of the bomb body entered, the rest hung under the belly of the aircraft. Airfield wits immediately dubbed the plane "the pregnant car." The fuselage of the aircraft was painted white and carefully polished (this was to reduce the impact of the light radiation of the explosion). So he took off at 09:15 on October 30, 1961.
SUPERBLAST
The car with a crew of 9 was driven by Major Durnovtsev. At 11:30, after decoding and removing the blockages from the charge (the operation is carried out jointly by the crew and the ground command post), the bomb was dropped from a height of 4000 m by parachute, the dome area of which exceeded 1 sq. km. Meanwhile, the pilot, having given maximum revs to all four engines, took his car away from the upcoming explosion. When that happened, the plane had already retired at least 100 km. But you can't run away from the shock wave after such an explosion. Within minutes, she overtook the plane. The first saw (exactly saw!) It was placed in the tail of the gunner-radio operator and reported to the commander via internal communication: "A wave is coming." He did not believe right away - how can you see an air shock wave ?! But in a moment all doubts disappeared. The wave overtook the plane and, picking up a multi-ton car,like a splinter carried it on its ridge, chatting a fair amount, and then went ahead. At the leading edge of the wave, the air was so dense that you could actually see it. The wave circled the globe three times before calming down. The mushroom mushroom grew to 67 km, the flash at the moment of the explosion could be observed from a distance of more than 800 km. All parameters of the explosion were recorded and analyzed by the ground services of the test site. Calculations made from the results of measurements showed that the actual power of the explosion was 57 megatons, far exceeding the total power of all explosions of World War II, including the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.before calming down. The mushroom mushroom grew to 67 km, the flash at the moment of the explosion could be observed from a distance of more than 800 km. All parameters of the explosion were recorded and analyzed by the ground services of the test site. Calculations made from the results of measurements showed that the actual power of the explosion was 57 megatons, far exceeding the total power of all explosions of World War II, including the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.before calming down. The mushroom mushroom grew to 67 km, the flash at the moment of the explosion could be observed from a distance of more than 800 km. All parameters of the explosion were recorded and analyzed by the ground services of the test site. Calculations made from the results of measurements showed that the actual power of the explosion was 57 megatons, far exceeding the total power of all explosions of World War II, including the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mushroom after explosion.
STRONG IMPRESSION
In this extreme flight, "Bear" was accompanied at a considerable distance by the Tu-16, from which the explosion was filmed. Later, the film was shown to NS Khrushchev and members of the Politburo. Nikita Sergeevich invited the Shah of Iran and his wife, who is in the USSR on an official visit, to the screening. The film made a strong impression on everyone. The queen's nerves could not stand the sight, and she, covering her face with her hands, ran out of the hall. The event made an equally strong impression in the United States. After nearly two years of negotiations, on August 5, 1963, an agreement was signed to ban nuclear tests in three environments. The share of merit in this business, useful for all mankind, undoubtedly belongs to "Kuz'kina mother".
A. D, Sakharov received the third star of the Hero of Socialist Labor after completing the tests.
After the completion of the tests, the participants in the creation of the bomb and the testers received a rain of awards and various kinds of awards. AD Sakharov received his third Star of Hero of Socialist Labor. However, over time, he completely abandoned the development of nuclear weapons, becoming an active fighter for their complete ban.
Anatoly BUROVTSEV, Konstantin RISHES
