RDS-2

The RDS-2 was a nuclear weapon created and tested by the Soviet Union as an upgraded version of the RDS-1. (See Soviet atomic bomb project.) It included new explosive lenses along with a new core design to decrease the probability of pre-detonation or 'fizzle'. The RDS-2 was tested on September 24, 1951. In its test it produced a 38.3 kiloton yield. It was detonated from the top of a tower thirty meters high. The detonation was controlled by a bomber flying over the testing site instead of the detonation being controlled by a ground control center.