Editing Tsar Bomba (section)

== Development of the carrier aircraft ==

The initial three-stage design of Tsar Bomba was capable of yielding approximately 100 Mt (approximately 3,000&nbsp;times the power of the Hiroshima (15 kt) and Nagasaki (21 kt) bombs, combined);<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170816-the-monster-atomic-bomb-that-was-too-big-to-use |title=The monster atomic bomb that was too big to use |last=Dowling |first=Stephen |access-date=2017-11-10 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> however, it was thought that this would have resulted in too much [[nuclear fallout]], and the aircraft delivering the bomb would not have had enough time to escape the explosion. To limit the amount of fallout, uranium-238 in the [[Tamper (nuclear weapon)|tamper]] was replaced with [[lead]]. This eliminated [[fast fission]] reactions from the tamper by the fusion-stage neutrons, so that approximately 97% of the total yield resulted from [[thermonuclear fusion]] alone. As such, it was one of the "cleanest" nuclear bombs ever created, as most of the radioactive intensity of nuclear fallout is caused by the creation of [[fission products]].<ref name=bulletin>{{cite journal |title=The Khariton Version |journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]] |last1=Khariton |first1=Yuli |last2=Smirnov |first2=Yuri |url=http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/1993/may93/may93Khariton.html |date=May 1993 |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=20–31 |doi=10.1080/00963402.1993.11456341 |bibcode=1993BuAtS..49d..20K |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030221213340/http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/1993/may93/may93Khariton.html |archive-date=21 February 2003}}</ref> There was a strong incentive for this modification, since most of the fallout from a test of the bomb would probably have descended on populated Soviet territory.<ref name="Nuclearweaponarchive.com" /><ref name="Adamsky and Smirnov">{{cite journal|last=Adamsky|first=Viktor|author2=Yuri Smirnov |title=Moscow's Biggest Bomb: the 50 Megaton Test of October 1961 |url=http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2018/ph241/castandea1/docs/cwihp-bull-4.pdf#page=3 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2018/ph241/castandea1/docs/cwihp-bull-4.pdf#page=3 |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |journal=Cold War International History Project Bulletin |issue=4 |pages=3, 19–21 |date=Fall 1994}}</ref>

The first studies on "Topic&nbsp;242" began immediately after [[Igor Kurchatov]] talked with [[Andrei Tupolev]], then held in late 1954) Tupolev appointed his deputy for weapon systems, Aleksandr Nadashkevich, as the head of the topic. Subsequent analysis indicated that to carry such a heavy, concentrated load, the Tu-95 bomber carrying the Tsar Bomba needed to have its engines, [[bomb bay]], suspension and release mechanisms extensively redesigned. The Tsar Bomba's dimensional and weight drawings were passed in the first half of 1955, together with its placement layout drawing. The Tsar Bomba's weight accounted for 15% of the weight of its Tu-95 carrier as expected. The carrier, aside from having its fuel tanks and bomb bay doors removed, had its BD-206 bomb-holder replaced by a new, heavier beam-type BD7-95-242 (or BD-242) holder attached directly to the longitudinal weight-bearing beams. The problem of how to release the bomb was also solved; the bomb-holder would release all three of its locks in a synchronous fashion via electro-automatic mechanisms as required by safety protocols.

A Joint Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers (Nr. 357-28ss) was issued on 17 March 1956, which mandated that OKB-156 begin conversion of a Tu-95 bomber into a high-yield nuclear bomb carrier. These works were carried out in the [[Gromov Flight Research Institute]] from May to September&nbsp;1956. The converted bomber, designated the '''Tu-95V''', was accepted for duty and was handed over for flight tests, which including a release of a mock-up "superbomb", were conducted under the command of Colonel S.&nbsp;M.&nbsp;Kulikov until 1959, and passed without major issues.

Despite the creation of the Tu-95V bomb-carrier aircraft, the test of the Tsar Bomba was postponed for political reasons: namely, Khrushchev's visit to the United States and a pause in the Cold War. The Tu-95V during this period was flown to [[Uzyn (air base)|Uzyn]], in today's Ukraine, and was used as a training aircraft; therefore, it was no longer listed as a combat aircraft. With the beginning of a new round of the Cold War in 1961, the test was resumed. The Tu-95V had all connectors in its automatic release mechanism replaced, the bomb bay doors removed and the aircraft itself covered with a [[anti-flash white|special, reflective white paint]].

In late 1961, the aircraft was modified for testing Tsar Bomba at the Kuibyshev aircraft plant.<ref name=Chernyshev/>