Tsar Bomba, detonated on October 30, 1961, is the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested. Developed by the Soviet Union, it had an estimated yield of 50–58 megatons of TNT, which is over 3,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The bomb was designed by Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov as a three-stage hydrogen bomb, with the yield intentionally reduced to mitigate fallout.
The bomb was delivered by a modified Tupolev Tu-95V bomber, which had its bomb bay enlarged to accommodate the 27-ton device. The explosion produced a fireball visible from over 1,000 kilometers away and generated a shockwave that circled the Earth three times. Although it demonstrated the extreme destructive power of nuclear weapons, the Tsar Bomba's massive size and impracticality for use in combat made it a symbol rather than a strategic weapon.
Its detonation underscored the nuclear arms race during the Cold War.