Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Learn the history and background of Tsar Bomba (aka RDS-220, AN-602, etc.), the world's largest nuke to learn the story of the world's largest nuclear weapon, which produced the most powerful explosion in human history. Tsar Bomba was detonated on October 30 1961 by the Soviet government, and this video incorporates declassified Russian and Soviet footage of the Tsar Bomba nuclear explosion. Formally known as the AN-602 hydrogen bomb or RDS-220, it had an explosive yield of over 50 megatons of TNT equivalent. This video uses roughly 10 minutes out of a total of 40 minutes currently declassified by the Russian government in the early 2020s. It also incorporates contextual footage from the film Atlas: The ICBM. However, the vast majority of the footage is from the declassified Tsar Bomba explosion video.
Tsar Bomba, Tsar Bomba 1961, October 30 1961, Tsar Bomba explosion, Tsar Bomba thermonuclear, thermonuclear bomb, thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear explosion, hydrogen bomb, H-bomb, H bomb, nuclear explosion, nuclear bomb, nuke, nukes, nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons, RDS-220, AN-602, RDS-220 test, AN-602 bomb.
SOURCES USED:
youtube.com/watch?v=XJhZ3i-HXS0&t (English captions)
nuke.fas.org/cochran/nuc_88080001a_83.pdf
nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/TsarBomba.html
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/794729/pdf?casa_token=v-Nm4L0_s18AAAAA:Pki0AU7lSPpUVhJUe9N9W2_YbgvsZeh_zYqRa8mby1F4UK21_tDRIbgzVZFEHyJWz41EaUqPWw
Learn the history and background of Tsar Bomba (aka RDS-220, AN-602, etc.), the world's largest nuke to learn the story of the world's largest nuclear weapon, which produced the most powerful explosion in human history. Tsar Bomba was detonated on October 30 1961 by the Soviet government, and this video incorporates declassified Russian and Soviet footage of the Tsar Bomba nuclear explosion. Formally known as the AN-602 hydrogen bomb or RDS-220, it had an explosive yield of over 50 megatons of TNT equivalent. This video uses roughly 10 minutes out of a total of 40 minutes currently declassified by the Russian government in the early 2020s. It also incorporates contextual footage from the film Atlas: The ICBM. However, the vast majority of the footage is from the declassified Tsar Bomba explosion video.
Tsar Bomba, Tsar Bomba 1961, October 30 1961, Tsar Bomba explosion, Tsar Bomba thermonuclear, thermonuclear bomb, thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear explosion, hydrogen bomb, H-bomb, H bomb, nuclear explosion, nuclear bomb, nuke, nukes, nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons, RDS-220, AN-602, RDS-220 test, AN-602 bomb.
SOURCES USED:
youtube.com/watch?v=XJhZ3i-HXS0&t (English captions)
nuke.fas.org/cochran/nuc_88080001a_83.pdf
nuclearweaponarchive.org/Russia/TsarBomba.html
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/794729/pdf?casa_token=v-Nm4L0_s18AAAAA:Pki0AU7lSPpUVhJUe9N9W2_YbgvsZeh_zYqRa8mby1F4UK21_tDRIbgzVZFEHyJWz41EaUqPWw
