After 3-Year Ban On Nuclear Testing US Resurrects Gigantic Hydrogen Bombs

Operation Dominic.

In the early 1960s, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were coming to a head as the two nations developed greater weapons of war. A three-year moratorium on nuclear bombs had just ended and the United States and Russia were eager to test again. Russia got the ball rolling by unleashing Tsar Bomba, the biggest nuclear weapon ever used and the now the United States had to step up their game.

The results of Soviet bomb testing led the United States to Operation Dominic, a series of 31 nuclear detonations conducted at the Christmas in the Indian Ocean. These new bombings were done with much greater intensity than tests in the 1950s because now the United States was under great pressure from the Soviet Union.

The go-to jet used for these tests was, of course, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress which has remained arguably the most reliable bomber in the United States Air Force. These were high-altitude tests and air drops used to evaluate the effects of their powerful new powerful hydrogen bombs on the environment and atmosphere.

This archival film shows a B-52 Stratofortress conducting one of the 31 hydrogen bomb tests that made up Operation Dominic.