RDS-3 () was the third
atomic bomb
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...
developed by the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in 1951, after the
RDS-1
The RDS-1 (), also known as Izdeliye 501 (device 501) and First Lightning (), was the nuclear bomb used in the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test. The United States assigned it the code-name Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin. It was de ...
and
RDS-2. It was called ''Marya'' in the military. The bomb had a composite design with a
plutonium
Plutonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is a silvery-gray actinide metal that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four ...
core inside a
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
shell, providing an explosive power of 41.2 kilotons.
The RDS-3T () was a modernized version and the first mass-produced
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
by the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. It was assigned to
Long Range Aviation in 1953.
[
]
Testing
RDS-3 was tested on October 18, 1951, being air-dropped from a Tupolev Tu-4. It was the first such test of a nuclear device by the Soviets, known as Joe-3 in the West. It was detonated at an altitude of four hundred meters. The resulting flash could be seen from away, and the sound heard from around the same distance.
See also
*Soviet atomic bomb project
The Soviet atomic bomb project was authorized by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union to develop nuclear weapons during and after World War II.
Russian physicist Georgy Flyorov suspected that the Allied powers were secretly developing a " superwea ...
*RDS-1
The RDS-1 (), also known as Izdeliye 501 (device 501) and First Lightning (), was the nuclear bomb used in the Soviet Union's first nuclear weapon test. The United States assigned it the code-name Joe-1, in reference to Joseph Stalin. It was de ...
* RDS-2
* RDS-4
* RDS-37
* RDS-220 (Tsar Bomba)
References
Soviet nuclear weapons testing
Nuclear bombs of the Soviet Union
Cold War aerial bombs of the Soviet Union
1951 in the Soviet Union
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