The VV-86 missile or the "Vera Bomb" is the deadliest bomb in history ever manufactured. It was known as a Cobalt missile, meaning that the resulting radioactive fallout is deadlier than the blast itself. A cobalt bomb deposits intense fallout causing a dose rate of 10 Sv per hour. At this dose rate, any unsheltered person exposed to the fallout would receive a lethal dose in about 30 minutes.
History
It was designed by scientist Vladmir Krasyliv in 1985, with his goal of designing a nuclear weapon that caused more fatalities from fallout and radiation rather than collateral blast damage. Over 900 were produced by 1988. After the Tovokian Union fell, Vera Cobalt bombs were deemed as illegal and forbidden in warfare.
Trivia
- Cobalt bombs in real life do not exist, however there were American, British and Soviet plans conceptualised for such a weapon.