America´s Atomic Bomb Tests - Operation Hardtack

This material formerly classified. Classification removed: 14 January 1997

Seventy-four nuclear bombs were detonated as part of the Operation Hardtack series of nuclear tests. One of the few operations ever to be conducted at both the Pacific Proving Grounds and the Nevada Test Site, Hardtack combined balloon, surface, barge, underwater, underground, tower and missile shots.
Some of the most dramatic – and certainly some of the most unusual – footage ever recorded during the nuclear testing years came out of these tests. Designed to test the effects of explosions on ships, underwater photography captured the pulsating explosion bubble as it raced toward the surface. Then massive columns of water rose up into the sky and came crashing down, engulfing ships as if they were toys.
ee balloon-launched nuclear warheads, high-altitude explosions and stunning blast effects footage, released now for the first time. Operation Hardtack: a priceless history of some of the most unusual nuclear weapons tests ever.