Russia possesses an estimated 5,977 nuclear warheads as of 2022, the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world; the second-largest stockpile is the United States' 5,428 warheads. Russia's deployed missiles (those actually ready to be launched) number about 1,588, second to the United States' 1,644.
The device weighed 60,000 pounds. It was 26-feet long and nearly seven feet in diameter. Nothing like that could fit in an airplane's bomb bay. It took a specially-made bomber to carry it.
Russia's most powerful nuclear weapon was produced during the Soviet era called the Tsar Bomba. It is believed the bomb was the most powerful weapon of mass destruction which was developed in 1961 during the Cold War.
As far as we know, nobody currently has a Tsar Bomba. The Soviets only built the one that was detonated in 1961. Other countries do have weapons of a similar nature, however.
Depending on its impact radius, even a Tsar bomb cannot destroy a whole country. Only a small country such as Vatican City or Monaco with land areas of 44 ha and 202 ha respectively can be completely destroyed using a nuclear weapon.
1. Tsar Bomba (50 Megatons) The RDS-220 Hydrogen Bomb (Affectionately dubbed the “Tsar Bomba”) was the most powerful nuclear bomb ever built and was detonated by the Soviet Union on 30 October 1961 over Novaya Zemlya, just north of the Matochkin Strait.
Russia possesses an estimated 5,977 nuclear warheads as of 2022, the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world; the second-largest stockpile is the United States' 5,428 warheads. Russia's deployed missiles (those actually ready to be launched) number about 1,588, second to the United States' 1,644.
The declassified study from the scientists at the Los Alamos laboratory, published in 1947 had first shed light on the question that how many nuclear bombs it would take to destroy the world. According to the study, it would take about ten to a hundred 'super nukes' to end humanity, a publication reported.
As of 2022, there were estimated to be approximately 4,178 nuclear warheads belonging to three NATO allies, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom.
The UK could not withstand a single large blast, and certainly not multiple strikes on British soil, he warned. Professor Futter described a horrifying future in which, if nuclear deterrence failed, the UK would be “destroyed” as a “functioning state”.
The US only has a limited ability to destroy an incoming nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile, a study released last month by the American Physical Society concluded.
While nobody was killed in the test, which was held in one of the most remote regions of the Soviet Union, if Tsar Bomba fell on Washington, D.C., it would've killed 2.2 million people and spread dangerous levels of radioactivity as far away as Pennsylvania, according to NUKEMAP.
The cities that would most likely be attacked are Washington, New York City and Los Angeles. Using a van or SUV, the device could easily be delivered to the heart of a city and detonated. The effects and response planning from a nuclear blast are determined using statics from Washington, the most likely target.
In 2022, China had the largest armed forces in the world by active duty military personnel, with about 2 million active soldiers. India, the United States, North Korea, and Russia rounded out the top five largest armies respectively, each with over one million active military personnel.
Andrei Yegorovich Durnovtsev (Russian: Андрей Егорович Дурновцев; 14 January 1923 – 24 October 1976) was a pilot of the Soviet Air Force. He dropped the Tsar Bomba on 30 October 1961 at Cape Sukhoi Nos, 15 km (9.3 mi) from Mityushikha Bay, north of Matochkin Strait.
Thus, Tsar Bomba was viewed as a propaganda weapon. Following the 1961 blast, Sakharov became increasingly involved in efforts to limit nuclear tests to underground. Such a ban was signed by the United States, Britain, and the U.S.S.R. in 1963, and numerous other countries later joined the treaty.
The volume the weapon's energy spreads into varies as the cube of the distance, but the destroyed area varies at the square of the distance. Thus 1 bomb with a yield of 1 megaton would destroy 80 square miles. While 8 bombs, each with a yield of 125 kilotons, would destroy 160 square miles.
However, the Soviet Union developed three AN602 physics packages at 101.5 megatons (Mt) and these are more powerful than the Tsar Bomba, which was downscaled to 51 Mt before being used RDS-220 Vanya.
Halting an atomic weapon is theoretically possible, say experts, but in reality is an enormous challenge. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has raised the fear of nuclear weapons to a level not seen since the Cold War.