Sonic Boom As A Weapon - Russian Top Secret M-25 Hell Reaper

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Sonic Boom as a weapon!
In 1969. The USSR led a small, yet potentially devastating conflict in the far east, with it’s a communist ally - China,
Soviet high command came up with the idea of a completely new type of weapon - an aircraft that could kill without any munitions at all and leave no contamination to the area where it strikes.
M-25 was to be the first and only aircraft designed to use the sonic boom to devastate enemy troops in an open terrain battlefield.
But was this the real background of the story and why did the project never come to life?
Hold your color as we investigate the M-25 - Hell Reaper.
The story of the M-25 actually starts with the end of the strategic nuclear bomber - or rather, the launch of sputnik.
With rockets able to leave the atmosphere, cross the planet, and perhaps deliver an unstoppable nuclear payload, the Russian government at the time saw that the age of large lumbering bombers was over and it was time to go to space.
Stalin, who had been obsessed with expanding the Airforce, was out and his replacement Khrushchev saw that rockets were the future. Any new aircraft would need to be missile carriers, called Raketonosets!
The age of intercontinental ballistic missiles was here, and beating this drum was Vladimir Vasilyevich Struminsky. He would see that all research and effort be moved from aircraft to rockets at a moments notice.
Many sources state that the idea for this project came into life after the Sino-Soviet conflict in 1969, but the actual idea was actually conceived a year before, in 1968.
However, in 1969. a crucial meeting occurred, between the aforementioned Struminsky and the famous Soviet aircraft constructor -
Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev. The one responsible for so many of the soviet unions most famous aircraft. Where the M-25 was born, or should we say, could’ve been born.
This plane design wouldn't need any onboard weapons or bombs, it would be impossible to stop the wave and unlike nukes, there wouldn't be any radiation to clean.
With the old guard and the new onboard, and the backing on the USSR military, the two got to work.
they started with existing supersonic aircraft, like the MiG-21. Several test flight were conducted at Lipetsk air base with the MiGs flying at around 25m with the speed of over Mach 1. These trails were used to see how fast an aircraft would need to go, what problems might arise and where extra research was needed. The hope was a simple plane already in the USSR arsenal would be sufficient.
But the experiments with the MiG-21 sonic boom only generated enough pressure to shatter glass - not concrete, steel or human bones. They would need to build a custom airframe that could dial up the boom to earth-decimating levels. As with all top secret soviet projects, it would have the simple name of Theme 25.
The reason that they had to return to the drawing board was because of normal aircraft design. A typical plane wants as little drag as possible to preserve fuel. Low drag means a lower sonic boom.
Thus this new design would need to be radical. At 110 tons, 39 meters and a wingspan of 25 meters, it would have the appearance and aerodynamics of a flying brick. Flat surfaces would replace a round cross-section, and there would be two tails either side of the rear.
To push through the air at the speeds needed to go supersonic, the plane would need four vast engines mounted above the fuselage - engines which would be ungodly powerful and guzzle fuel.
Other alternative considerations were considered, such as having the engines under the wings to, and i can’t believe I’m saying this on a plane video, IMPROVE the drag.
There would be a single pilot situated at the front of the plane, riding the sonic boom like a surfer riding a record-breaking tusnami.
Under the bottom of the plane there would be a special fulage protrusion described as a 'ledge'. It would extend when the plane was lining up for an attack and increase the drag by up to 60%. The ledge itself would have several little 'ribs' that could be controlled to better focus the assalt.
The plane would fly low to the ground, meer meters, at mach 1.4. Deploy the ledge and wreck havok.
The final result? A sonic boom shockwave that would reach up to six PSI, enough to collapse buildings, suffocate tanks and burst heads. Gruesome stuff indeed.

[@FoundAndExplained]

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[@ArchimedesDaVinci]

My question is this, how far away in terms of _"feet in altitude"_ can a sonic boom no longer be heard by the human ear before the sound attenuates to a decibel level which is no longer detectable even within the boom carpet?

[@apersunthathasaridiculousl1890]

ook

[@matthewslee910]

Hello, I have an idea, would you like to make fictional and AU (alternate universe) aircraft and trains just to change things up a bit? Just a fun little idea I just brought up. 😉

[@peekaboopeekaboo1165]

Another overt anti-Chinese bashing, propaganda.

[@holeshotshane6344]

Wow they developed an entirely new aircraft just to play off of a loophole in the rules of warfare?? Nice lol thats some Formula 1 level rule navigation 👍

[@V8_screw_electric_cars]

Satan missile: ethical Sonic boom plane: too much

[@SarionKerman]

Real XD

[@memespeech]

minuteman could carry 3 warheads, poseidon could carry - 10

[@xiro6]

Blind soldiers: too much vaporize and radiate entire cities: self-defense. Bombing dams and hospitals: liberate a country. Revenge: Liberty

[@alexandermendeyev35]

@@arsenijearsen3041 Not everyone Pinguins in Argentina will be good!

[@KlaxontheImpailr]

Ironically the main reason no one wants to use nukes is BECAUSE they are so horrible. But like the video says, a plane like this would leave no fallout so it would be so much more tempting to use.

[@captain_commenter8796]

Russians went and took “Kaboom” to a whole other level

[@petro3366]

"Kaboom?" "Yes Rikowskyi, kaboom"

[@OnxGrid]

@Legalize Raping Russian Broads In America hello I'm 100 meter from you location and approaching rapidly Start running

[@اااعجاز]

Not Russians Soviet

[@jacklondon6716]

@Legalize Raping Russian Broads In America You spelled the Crumbling americant empire wrong tho Trollstoy 🤗

[@matthewtuckman4447]

@@اااعجاز same thing

[@someone._.5333]

*"Comrade,we ran out of amunition!"* *"we still have fuels right?"* *"what do you.. oh ok"* **wind go boom boom**

[@huslethal]

Soldiers below: *eardrums explode* AAARRRGHHHH AAAAAHHHH

[@noobplayer_23]

@@huslethal *heads explode

[@34ccsn]

The Russian scientists inventiveness and creativity always impressed me.

[@racelkatyusha403]

Soviet*

[@shvabzee]

Yeah this is so true if we're talking about ways to kill people

[@Kumar-xu1gz]

@@racelkatyusha403 most of them are Russians

[@THESLlCK]

that's what happens when you steal the kraut's research

[@grunt9131]

@@THESLlCK no doubt...we know where the brains were.

[@bigblue6917]

Sonic booms can be used as an ersatz weapon. I did come across a reference to and incidence in the one of the Gulf Wars were a US pilot used a sonic boom to help some British Special Air Service (SAS) troopers who were in close contact with a force of Iraqis. The firefight was at night and with low cloud the US pilot was finding it very difficult to launch an attack in support of the SAS. It was obvious from the radio that things were getting extremely deadly but though he felt he knew where the Iraqis where he did not feel he could attack them without putting the SAS troopers in danger. So out of desperation he came up with a plan. He dived his aircraft towards the ground where he believed the Iraqis were, going supersonic as he did so. At last minute he pulled up but the sonic boom traveled on, as he knew it would, and hit the ground sounding like an explosion. The Iraqis knowing that there was an aircraft above them believed they were being attacked by the aircraft and withdrew. It was not until sometime later that the US pilot was told that his plan had worked and it had allowed the troopers to withdraw.

[@waynesimpson2074]

@NighthawkAquila SBS, in a sand-storm, with a National guard part-time pilot as well??iirc.

[@Misha-dr9rh]

@NighthawkAquila of course it was a F16, they always do the sickest shit

[@EDGAR15ish]

I read about that or saw a video i forgot but yeah

[@bigzach7778]

That was me thank you bro

[@bigblue6917]

@@waynesimpson2074 Thanks for setting the record straight👍

[@mrcrunchies8688]

This is lowkey the coolest thing I've ever seen

[@BorbzYT]

Are you sure it's not high key zoomer?

[@mrcrunchies8688]

@@BorbzYT are you trying to correct me for using a common saying while simultaneously trying to insult an entire generation of people? Grow up LMAO

[@BorbzYT]

@@mrcrunchies8688 yes because that's cringe

[@TakumisBizarreRacingAdventure]

This and maybe the Ekranoplan(caspian sea monster)...... imagine you're fishing on a small boat in peace on a misty day, and hear something as it is coming closer and closer and then see that huge big boy emerging from the mist

[@potatoradio]

SlAM Project Pluto nuke cruse missile was supposed to do the same things at Mach 2 - 3 for weeks if not months after dropping its Nukes. Then go as it was dying zoom to high altitude then lawn dart at high Mach spreading tons of reactor mass and radioactive COBALT steel in any remaining city.

[@densealloy]

The Soviet version of the thought process behind the F4 Phantom..."enough horsepower and you can make a brick fly".

[@quillmaurer6563]

I believe the First Law of Aeronautical/Aerospace Engineering is "With enough thrust, anything will fly." The F-4 isn't even as good an example of this law in action as the Saturn V - with powerful enough rocket engines, a large skyscraper can fly. All of this is an extension of the First Law of Mechanical Engineering, which is "with sufficient brute force, anything is possible."

[@jamesricker3997]

That is actually quote from Kelly Johnson about the F-104 " with enough thrust you can get a brick to fly"

[@malnutritionboy]

@@quillmaurer6563 i have never heard that from my diploma but sure

[@quillmaurer6563]

@@malnutritionboy There's a lot of realities they don't teach us in engineering school. They teach theory, not reality, not how to actually make things work or get stuff done. At least in the school I went to, it felt like they were more preparing us for grad school than the real world. Which is why it's damn near impossible in my experience to get a job with a Bachelor's degree and less than 3-5 years professional experience, even though I have quite a bit of engineering experience working on personal projects.

[@malnutritionboy]

@@quillmaurer6563 That's damn true. it's even worse during covid. i have barely any practical experience and most of my lessons are online lessons just cramping in formulas and memory stuff only to forget about it in 6 months.

[@muskreality]

The plane literally tears the enemy's fabric of the reality

[@magirktheone]

?

[@KlaxontheImpailr]

Your comment reminded me of scp 2337 aka dr spanko.

[@indycar1007]

The B1B has been used in Iran during both gulf wars as a sound weapon. They followed the USSR plan but NOT to kill. At 50-75 feet above the ground troops. It came in at well over Mach 1 from directly behind them! It was the fear factor the USAF was wanting to cause not kill. Yes the sound did tragically effect some troops ear drums. After single passes they gave up. It was very effective over things like tanks and armored vehicles. So we have used the B1B to attach the enemy and it’s still practiced as a tool in the tool box. They had plans to fly 3 B1Bs staggered by 1 min over areas where they knew or suspected Tunnel system housing troops or weapons. In practice some ammunition were set off doing this. I have no idea if the tunnel attack plan was ever used.

[@skorpion101382]

Iran or Iraq?

[@nickthompson9697]

Works with f16s as well. Had some go supersonic above me once and was duly impressed.

[@WilliamRWarrenJr]

I think I've seen some Afghanistan footage (Boeing or PBS?) of Allied troops being "astonished" by the sudden supersonic passage through a narrow mountain pass by a B1-B *below their altitude on the valley wall* and the continuous reverberations and avalanches for some time afterward ...

[@comatosed911]

You mean bombing an shooting kids women an men wasn't enough 🤔 seems the USA an NATO love killing kids over seas why else lock up Julian Assange ?

[@edwardfletcher7790]

@@comatosed911 Because Assange helped Russia screw up the US Presidential election.

[@roadwarrior1459]

That plane looks like somebody saw an XB-70 fly past and then tried to describe it to someone.

[@YaMuthasOnion]

My favorite thing about all these Cold War, Soviet (potential) super weapons has to be the names. And I don't mean 'Hell Reaper', either. Hell Reaper sounds like a super weapon. I'm talking 'Theme 25'. It's so stereotypically Soviet.

[@Stormidze]

all soviet stuff in development is something like object, model, device etc

[@alkatiawri3741]

just imagine how much damage this plane might cause if the plane accidentally flew over a city!!!!

[@DocWolph]

What do you mean "accidentally"?

[@hectoraccented5312]

@@DocWolph maybe as in "Reuters: Moscow says that the accidental fly-by over Frankfurt last friday by their supersonic plane was no more than a weird incident that they think won't happen again"

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

With modern glass towers, be raining shards on those stunned in the street

[@hectoraccented5312]

@@KOZMOuvBORG The problem being the taller the towers the higher the boom plane must fly, making it less effective

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

@@hectoraccented5312 The avalanche of glass would be enough of a problem in that case.

[@4701tthomp]

United States used the SR71 to “boom” Vietnam. The thought was a way to let captured air crews know we knew they were there and give them hope.

[@tobias5827]

"this aircraft would only be effective in the plains of Nebraska" Whelp, I'd be screwed. Thank god it was never made

[@shelbykingnfs7216]

This seems like the kind of thing Jeremy Clarkson would come up with. Engineer: so what is this aircrafts main weapon? Clarkson: SPEED AND POWER

[@StrangeTerror]

Thank you sir. I'm glad someone thought of it.

[@grunt9131]

Or the old Japanese fighters

[@nguyenmai4806]

Killing enemies using "noise". Sounds like an Emperor's Children' dream.

[@swordsmanshipguy]

YUP

[@swordsmanshipguy]

LIKE EXACTLY THO

[@JohnSmith-fd5un]

Noise marines, eh?

[@potatoradio]

The SLAM - Project Pluto nuke powered cruse missile was supposed to drop its bombs, then fly high Mach (3 +) on the deck as it's reactor degraded, then after several weeks - months as the reactor degraded zoom climb then go ballistic into the ground with tons of reactor an radioactive cobalt steel into any standing city as one last f you.

[@christainmarks106]

This Jet is so buildable now. We have the technology and anything available. If the Russians couldn’t make it work … i bet u Skunkworks or Northrop Grumman could

[@favesongslist]

@Legalize Raping Russian Broads In America A supersonic AI piloted drone could fly close to the terrain.

[@thenightmancometh7623]

@Legalize Raping Russian Broads In America we just gon skip over the fact that your @ is insane

[@christainmarks106]

@@thenightmancometh7623 Exactly

[@christainmarks106]

@@favesongslist exactly why I said Northrup Grumman or Skunkworks could make this work

[@potatoradio]

They almost built SLAM - project Pluto that was supposed to do the same with a dash of radioactive exhaust for weeks - months after dropping its Nukes then zoom and Kamakazi any remaining city with radioactive bobalt steel body and ceramic reactor mass. At the end in 62 or 63 till it cot canceled after basic engine testing and early prototyping.

[@hotrodmobile]

5:08 "ГОСТ 4543-71" - LOL ))) It's means "State standart for structural alloy steel bars." "This standard applies to hot-rolled and forged steel with a diameter or thickness up to 250 mm, calibrated and with a special surface finish from alloy structural steel, used in a heat-treated state. "

[@gustavgnoettgen]

Fascinating how much energy the thin surface of a plane can direct at the ground, causing so much damage.

[@micahh9351]

Remember, the flat profile is just to get it up to mach. Once it's at speed, the ledge drops and makes the aircraft less aerodynamic, resulting in the boom.

[@gustavgnoettgen]

@@micahh9351 Not just the profile, I mean the little material it consists of. Sort of like a paper plane made from sturdy aluminum foil, given the scale.

[@micahh9351]

@Gustav Gnöttgen oh I see. Yes, it's incredible how they can deflect that much energy. FSDS kinetic penetrators literally are the most powerful tank round right now, yet they're worthless against any kind of sloped armor, no matter the thickness. Energy transfer is wack

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

Ahhh this was supposed to be the topic of my next video. :)

[@TheHungarianMan]

The more people cover it, the more we know about it! ;)

[@VikingTeddy]

Don't let that stop you. I'd love to see it. There's a lot more to be said about sonic booms as weapons. You could mention how an F-16 saved 50 British soldiers with a sonic boom in Iraq. And iirc it was used in Vietnam too.

[@FoundAndExplained]

Really?! Haha we should compare notes im so sorry!! 🙃😍

[@RapidAssaultEuro]

Love your channel dude :)

[@Ghoststriker107]

Still going to watch both!

[@dentalnovember]

This aircraft gets extra points for cool factor. The Russians really have an imagination. Look how much they put into their Ekranoplanes.

[@C.Fecteau-AU-MJ13]

It’s called the Hell Reaper and can burst frickin heads… most metal plane everrr 🤘🏻

[@drockjr]

Those of us in Nebraska find this terrific

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

It's a really cool idea, shame how reality gets in the way of a cool idea. Here's another unstated problem: anti-air military infrastructure might miss it the first time it's used, but they won't miss the second time. It then can only be effectively used on countries without developed anti-air defense systems, a.k.a. punching down, which would be in extremely rare instances when an expensive piece of military hardware would need to be used on a poorly developed foe when more conventional strategies, both hard and soft, would do the job just fine.

[@VincentGonzalezVeg]

What about a "whistler " drone Less cost, take the pilot out and you can fit them in tighter areas Mabie Whistler rounds? Like Sonic killer grenades as an example, you want something that can't be taken by enemy

[@chinbotsu]

Yeah, reality of killing your own soldiers. I'm glad they didn't create this otherwise friendly fire would be extremely common.

[@AubriGryphon]

Low and fast was the order of the day for everything from strategic bombers like the B-1 Lancer to strike fighters like the Panavia Tornado right up to cruise missiles that are still in service -- staying below reliable radar coverage by using terrain-matching autopilot to skim the surface at supersonic speed was an effective way to penetrate an air defense network. It's become less efficient in the past couple of decades, sure, but that's no reason to scoff at something that was designed in the '60s.

[@AubriGryphon]

@@VincentGonzalezVeg The trouble is that the damage the device can do is directly proportional to its stored kinetic energy, and therefore its mass. A bigger, heavier vehicle can produce a bigger, more destructive shockwave than a drone or a bullet. As you shrink the device, it has to travel faster to generate the same blast, meaning more fuel, more drag, more heating requiring more expensive structural materials, and rougher deceleration when it "fires" its shockwave. Something like "sonic bullets" would never work because of the limits of the energy a rifle cartridge can impart. In other words, the bullet's shockwave can never do more damage than setting off the gunpowder charge right next to the target (and in fact will do significantly less, since you "lose" the energy spent to accelerate the bullet up to Mach 1.) So if firing a blank round from the gun doesn't pose a threat to the shooter, then a "sonic bullet" would not pose a threat to the target.

[@quillmaurer6563]

@@VincentGonzalezVeg As AubriGryphon pointed out, the whole idea of this requires that it be huge and have absurd amounts of drag in order to generate sufficient shock waves. A smaller craft wouldn't do so as effectively.

[@Paul_Sergeyev]

Literally anything: exist Humans: *HELLAYEAH LETS TURN IT INTO A WEAPON*

[@quillmaurer6563]

This has to be the best summary of humans I've ever seen. Men can be summarized as seeing something and saying: "Can I use this to kill guy I don't like?" "Can I use this to impress woman?" "Can I eat this?" "Can I use this to make money?" And more recently: "Can I use this to make my car go faster?" If no to all, then Man doesn't care. We're not as sophisticated as we like to think we are.

[@mrcrunchies8688]

"I want shot without bullet" *yes comrade* "I want LOUD shoot without bullet" *yes comrade*

[@blurglide]

That deployable nosecone at 9:01 must have an interesting story behind it

[@markgallagher5908]

I was about to ask about the same topic so if anyone knows what its purpose is I'd appreciate an explanation as its not something I've noticed before

[@blurglide]

@@markgallagher5908 My guess is so they could put a slightly long missile in a silo designed for something smaller. Or, it was a land-based test of an SLBM

[@markgallagher5908]

@@blurglide You're correct I just saw a reference to it in another comment I should have scrolled down a bit further before I commented I'll try to post a link to another video showing it in greater detail but for some reason such links get deleted

[@markgallagher5908]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4CzmmqroauBjrc

[@sanchoodell6789]

Comparable to the USA's Valkyrie XB 70 which first flew in 1964 but this mother was to serve a radically different purpose to that of the XB which was develop to penetrate enemy airspace at uncatchable supersonic speed to deliver nuclear bombs.

[@patrickl2195]

Try looking up SLAM, the Supersonic Low Altitude Missile. It was to use its Mach 3 speed induced sonic boom as part of it’s offence, along with the fallout from it’s nuclear propulsion, and then deliver a thermonuclear warhead to it’s final target. Truly a nightmare weapon. Perhaps not surprising that even at the height of the Cold War, the USA decided not to go ahead. It’s development did lead to the navigation systems used by cruise missiles, so we have seem at least part of the program used in operational weapons.

[@50megatondiplomat28]

I believe that plans for that weapon included the ability to drop off multiple warheads on it's pathway, then supercruise over undamaged farms and cities spewing radiation until something broke and it crashed. Certainly if it had been put into production, this would have eventually been the case as warhead size shrank.

[@markfergerson2145]

Its airspeed during attack runs has been estimated at from Mach 3 to Mach 5, while glowing red hot (including most of its pneumatic "avionics"). The USA decided against it for the same reason this video gives for the Soviets dropping their version; "We *can* do this but *should* we? No."

[@markfergerson2145]

@@50megatondiplomat28 IIRC the "finalized" design had eighteen H-bombs aboard, plus the onboard reactor would raise plenty of hell when deliberately crashed (one target considered was the Kremlin).

[@andrewdavies3584]

The US never decides to not go ahead if the result is worthwhile, it simply claims it cancels research but thee program becomes a black project. Like the Star Wars program and other such examples.

[@andrewdavies3584]

@@markfergerson2145 Honestly, do you believe ethics have ever provided a valid reason not to develop a weapon? Manhattan Project... And militarily and strategically speaking, you ALWAYS develop ANYTHING that gives you battlefield domination or a heavy advantage. Don't be too quick to swallow the politically sweetened candy that is given to the public.

[@306champion]

The first glimpse and I thought "International Rescue" and "Thunderbirds are go". I think their secret was out and inspired a TV show.

[@The_Irate_Penguin]

Perhaps they should have consulted Vauxhall, the builders of the Alegra, which was said to be more aerodynamic going backwards.

[@greengoblin876]

Dont you mean the Austin alleggro ?

[@rayceeya8659]

I feel like this would be quickly banned by the Geneva Conventions. Similar to blinding laser weapons.

[@utkarshg.bharti9714]

Since when have the Geneva Conventions have been successfully stop point superpowers? Remember the nature of warfare changed with the introduction of 4th & 5th generation of warfare by the 🇺🇸 even during the Cold War. Today terrorists & disinformation 5th columnists masquerading as Democratic institutions rule the battlefield. The conventions are as useful today as a pinpricked condom.

[@quillmaurer6563]

Conventions can only ban what they know about. The USSR would probably keep this aircraft secret, possibly have the aircraft's existence known but disguised as a heavy bomber, albeit an odd looking one. All the Soviet planes looked weird, so this wouldn't stand out too much. Could even have a bomb bay to support this claim, though in reality it would never be used. It sounds like much of the shock wave is produced by a retractable "ledge," so long as that's not seen open in flight (unlikely as it is on the underside and only used on attack runs flying very low and very fast) it's purpose and capabilities would be hard to figure out. They could claim the "ledge" is a maintenance hatch if it's ever seen open on the ground, just so long as the inside isn't seen up close as the heavy reinforcement and powerful hydraulic rams needed to open it against such air pressure aren't seen - but they could keep unauthorized people away when it's open. Wouldn't be any harder to keep it's secrets than the still classified technologies and capabilities of many other military aircraft, like the B-2. Only problem is they'd probably have to use it somewhat sparingly, if they use it too much people will eventually figure out what it does. But even then it would probably take multiple years for the Geneva Conventions to ban it, unlike the potential for blinding laser weapons which could be envisioned - and banned - long before anyone made them practical for actual use.

[@johnruiz6743]

Lasers, including blinding lasers, are deployed anyway. Just ask China...🤣

[@jardatridentone1859]

Russians accepting Geneva Conventions? It sounds bitter funny. Russia / Soviet Union, China, DPRK or Islamic State never was interested bout any conventions.

[@sirspaceface]

I never understood the geneva convention. If you can be decent enough to discuss how we should kill each other, can we not just be decent enough to agree NOT to kill each other in the first place. We're all grownups here right? And if you really want to kill the other guy, why bother with rules? Also, how the fuck are nukes okay with the geneva convention???? Sorry for the rant

[@jtjames79]

Air Force research to nuclear powered ICBM for delivering nukes. Turned out it worked better without a payload, by carpet sonic boom, and a good dose of radiation from the engine.

[@thatguyalex2835]

Actually, what if we could use sonic booms as a form of aircraft propulsion? Electrical pulse could produce a spark, that could heat up air, and can produce pulsed thrust via shockwaves. :)

[@jtjames79]

@@thatguyalex2835 that's basically what a scramjet does. There is also the wave detonation engine. There have been various amounts of success with both.

[@thatguyalex2835]

@@jtjames79 Yep, but sadly those don't use electrical propulsion. Imagine an aircraft that flies at an altitude of ~ 70 mi, and use a compressor to pressurize air extracted, and then a spark generator can produce a shockwave (similar to a pulse wave detonation, but with no onboard propellant).

[@richardmillhousenixon]

@@thatguyalex2835 That would require an insane amount of energy, far beyond the capabilities of current and near-future technology

[@thatguyalex2835]

@@richardmillhousenixon Yep. If we could launch the aircraft into extremely low earth orbit, then we need to find an altitude at which the thrust required to keep it in orbit, as well as still able to extract air to be used by the spark generator and form shockwaves.

[@Aninkovsky]

Design Bureau: What specification of this plane? Russian Air Force: It's go like KABOOOOMMM... Design Bureau: Say no more

[@andrewdavies3584]

Ironic is that at the same time in history, the SR-71 could have pulled this off with modification.

[@dannypipewrench533]

The SR-71 pretty much could have done anything it darn well pleased with a little bit of modification.

[@1KosovoJeSrbija1]

Commenting before a video seems kinda pointless, but I'm here anyways so why not.

[@apersunthathasaridiculousl1890]

i do it so i can edit the comment later and make it seem like i wasn’t brain dead at that moment

[@Jedi.Toby.M]

Let me, tell you, why your wrong!! Kidding...but I'll play your game

[@liemduongthanh8386]

@@apersunthathasaridiculousl1890 That’s not overly long, just a moderate size

[@prolska]

@@apersunthathasaridiculousl1890 treating the comment section as a competition? only idiots would only do that

[@apersunthathasaridiculousl1890]

@@liemduongthanh8386 the longest it can go without messing with youtube

[@scottmcintosh4397]

May, 1968 🛫 4 F-105D Thunderchiefs shattered all of the glass in Vandenberg Hall at USAFA during the graduation ceremonies. All 4 were traveling above Mach 1 at 500'. 15 people were hit by flying glass & 1 officer was hospitalized for several weeks 🤕 🌌🔭

[@NickoMcbrainRules]

“Tower this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby.” 😳😳😳

[@MartinMizner]

You can dodge/stop bomb, missile or rocket, but sonic boom... That's whole new level of hell ingenuity

[@RickyJr46]

That is a really cool looking design.

[@DonWon4725]

The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie was the prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Designed in the late 1950s by North American Aviation (NAA), the six-engined Valkyrie was capable of cruising for thousands of miles at Mach 3+ while flying at 70,000 feet (21,000 m). At these speeds, it was expected that the B-70 would be practically immune to interceptor aircraft, the only effective weapon against bomber aircraft at the time. The bomber would spend only a brief time over a particular radar station, flying out of its range before the controllers could position their fighters in a suitable location for an interception. High speed also made the aircraft difficult to see on radar displays and its high-altitude and high-speed capacity could not be matched by any contemporaneous Soviet interceptor or fighter aircraft. The introduction of the first Soviet surface-to-air missiles in the late 1950s put the near-invulnerability of the B-70 in doubt. In response, the United States Air Force (USAF) began flying its missions at low level, where the missile radar's line of sight was limited by terrain. In this low-level penetration role, the B-70 offered little additional performance over the B-52 it was meant to replace, while being far more expensive with shorter range. Other alternate missions were proposed, but these were of limited scope. With the advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) during the late 1950s, manned bombers were increasingly seen as obsolete. The USAF eventually gave up fighting for its production and the B-70 program was canceled in 1961. Development was then turned over to a research program to study the effects of long-duration high-speed flight. As such, two prototype aircraft, designated XB-70A, were built; these aircraft were used for supersonic test-flights during 1964-69. In 1966, one prototype crashed after colliding with a smaller aircraft while flying in close formation; the remaining Valkyrie bomber is in the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio

[@TheSeperatistConfederacy]

Didnt they also gave up since the soviets developed the MiG-25 which could reach the height the XB-70 Was flying

[@michaelk19thcfan10]

The Soviets in the 60s had some funky projects going on, for example, the Ekranoplane.

[@trucktalkvideos]

What a magnificent looking aircraft Merry Christmas

[@DreadX10]

"Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom, Sonic all the way" "Oh, what fun, it is to fly, in this supersonic plane. Hey!" "Sonic Boom, Spells your doom, This will ruin your day" "Oh, don't mind, th'Mach-cone behind, it isn't there to stay. Hey!" Merry Christmas!

[@trucktalkvideos]

Love it my new fave Christmas song @@DreadX10

[@sszibler]

I don’t understand how the indiscriminately kills “friend or foe” is a concern as you mentioned a few times. It seems to me it could be much more focused to a small area than a nuclear weapon could ever be. I guess the thought was that this would more likely be used than nuclear weapons. But if you compare it to traditional missiles and bombs, it also had the capacity to open and close the Ledge to aim the boom like a missile.

[@MrMorvana]

No, the area of effect would be way larger than a "standard" nuclear bomb. At mach 1.5, you go at 475m/s... If it used only for around minute, you affect in an instant a 30km line, with important effects on a large surface (on the long term, the impact is less than a nuclear bomb, but for a war the immediate effect would be the same). Now think about it, flighting so fast, if the pilote make even a few degree of error in his trajectory, you destroy your own lines instead of the enemy ones. With all the vibration such a fligh would generate it would be incredible to be able to make a precise traject.

[@cliffordcrimson7124]

A bomb also kills friend or foe depending on where you drop it. I guess the problem was that it was meant for use during engagements so close that the damage was too widespread.

[@ignacio3890]

It's simple. They send the plane before the advancing FORCES

[@weldonwin]

I will say this much, it looked cool. It's got some Gerry Anderson styling here

[@chrisjohnston4445]

Precisely my thoughts!

[@NisseOhlsen]

This gives "Ace of Bass" a whole new meaning.

[@thomasdorn7234]

About 20 years ago I attended a NASCAR race in Charlotte and the featured flyover was the B-1B Spirit Bomber. The B-1B was way over the top in loudness with children etc. In attendance. I mean, way to loud. Did the Pilots make a mistake? A friend of mine went to the Atlanta race and the B-1B made a showing. After the race I called him about the B-1B. He said it was better than the race! I agreed. A couple years later a Pentagon Official said, "We use the loudness of the B-1B engines as a weapon" Wow. TD Atlanta

[@hectoraccented5312]

6 PSI eh? from a study I just read it seems it would be like receiving an abrupt 200mph wind for a couple (?) seconds , some buildings (not made of reinforced concrete) would topple, most of the people injured, some people dead (both from the air wave and flying objects/being thrown into objects) , blown timpans , 0% crashed skulls from the pressure itself (confirming my hunch that that pressure wouldn't be enough for that)

[@RENO_K]

but it would've thrown people everywhere

[@donkmeister]

Hector, that's not how pressure waves work. I suspect you are considering static pressure, and anyone who has dove/dived to 5+m below the surface will have experienced static pressure of over 6psi above atmospheric. A pretty intuitive example of how overpressure can cause you to have a very bad day is an explosion. A 6 psi overpressure is what you'd experience stood around 3-4 metres from a kg of dynamite going off. I'm no expert on dynamite, but I know that standing 10 feet away from 2lb of it is going to be very, very bad for my health. 😉 Another way to express it is sound pressure level... a 6 PSI overpressure is equivalent to around 450dB SPL. 200dB is generally regarded as the threshold where death becomes likely (through the same mechanisms as an explosion).

[@Make-Asylums-Great-Again]

Big 🧠’s are lurking

[@hectoraccented5312]

@@donkmeister Google or someone deleted the link to the study I used for my first comment, it was an study from the 70's on effects of pressure on people and infrastructure, pressure caused by bombs or mine explosions, NOT static pressure. I said 6 psi causes building destruction (except reinforced concrete ), a good porcentage of casualties, high porcentage of injured but not craneal implosion as the video said at the start.

[@malnutritionboy]

@@hectoraccented5312 can't post links. the channel probably banned links in the comments because of bots.

[@hifinsword]

Great CGI and a story I've never heard. It reminds me of a tactic, dumping fuel, then lighting the afterburners.

[@vitaliet9830]

In that time Soviet Union was developed enough, not only technological, social as well, cultural values which can not be gained by another cultures.

[@PAPOOSELAKESURFER]

Original buildings constructed at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, Muroc Dry Lake, were of concrete thought to resist the damage of sonic boom. It was found later that normal building codes local to the high desert region to resist failure from strong San Andreas Fault earthquakes were sufficient for frequent sonic booms.

[@andyruse4670]

8:55 Pandora’s box of use against defenseless civilians. Unlike the box Hiroshima and Nagasaki opened? Or the fire bombings of WW2?

[@ihl0700677525]

Exactly the same, more of Pandora's boxes.

[@iR-80]

XF-84H: *look what they need to mimic a fraction of my power*

[@micahh9351]

The jet design is solid (minus the engines) The flyby tactic is the problem. You want to dive, not fly parallel. By doing a dive bomb, its easier to get up to speed with less power. Its more accurate, meaning civilian areas can be ignored, and it can also target specific areas. By diving, the wave would also be far more effective, as instead of simply sweeping aside the enemy, being disrupted by uneven terrain, and leaving bunkers and underground targets unfazed, a crushing wave would have far more power behind it. It would crush down on the enemy, leaving the shockwave nowhere to go but down. It also would be easier to pull out of the dive, with the shape of the plane, it would be able to pull back up in record time. This also means the boom could be fired at a higher altitude, allowing them to have more time to pull up and also be farther out of range of aa defenses and whatever bs the landscape pulls. This aircraft could also be used as an excellent air to air fighter as it would be highly maneuverable while not in a dive. Think the mig doing the weird sideways flat spin in top gun. Pulling up from a supersonic dive has also been done many times in military aircraft before. Also, more pilots are trained to recover from dives of high speed than flying over terrain. The only issue for the recovery after the dive would be the g forces, so it would require some body training to get used to. Im thinkin centrifuge. And even if the dive run fails, they can just set back up and do it again, though the amount of times they could do it would be taxing on the pilot. Therefore, i suggest a drone with this shape. This also makes them cheaper, and if the pilot is unable to leave the dive in time, they wouldnt get pancaked on contact with the ground or black out when recovering. I reccomend a dyson style engine as it reduces drag while in the dive and allows for more power from less powerful motors. Heck, just make the thing electric and give it a salt water battery. That would make it cheap and easy to refuel, simply pump water up from the carrier and into the jet.

[@mohamedbouyzergane8950]

French: Concordia Russia: Hold my M-25

[@alkatiawri3741]

5:45 this thing looks like a legit flying brick!!!!

[@levidotson6610]

The only offensive air brake in history

[@drgonzo305]

Reminds me a little of America’s Slaam missile except a lot less apocalyptic, it doesn’t spray deadly radiation out the back and drop off thermonuclear bombs like Santa

[@BeanMachine360]

That what happens when you use max volume at 3 AM and your headphones disconnected

[@andrerousseau5730]

The Americans used sonic booms from the SR-71 to signal to American POW's during the Vietnam war.

[@krystianzyszczynski4115]

They should make a 1/72 scale model kit of this

[@kestrel4521]

Holy crud, they did wind tunnel tests? I'd loooove to read any result or notes from that testing. NOTE: "it's aweful...which is perfect" XD

[@gaufrid1956]

A Wall of Sound aircraft.... very appropriate for the 1960S!

[@koalaseatleaves1277]

You should make a video on the XF-108 Rapier.

[@terminus8444]

Yes!! So few seem to remember the proposed escort fighter for the XB-70 Valkyrie. Such a beautiful and forward-looking design! Would have been awesome to see those flying in formation with their big brother!

[@TheMrmmkkpro]

Russians built and tried to build some cool stuff. They suffered huge losses during ww2 , a tough people to be sure.

[@ricodelpiero]

Just like Supersonic Low Altitude Missile (SLAM) powered by nuclear ramjet it can create sonic boom in low altitude that damage or kill everything in it's flight path with additional radiation doses.

[@muhammadirfanataulawal7630]

Sonic boom aside the plane looks like something from space sci-fi film, Star Wars should use the design for their space fighters

[@c.j.3404]

As an aero space engineer, this plane makes me cry. Lol

[@woofkaf7724]

Just build something without computer. 100% you'll fail.

[@noahmahfouz4824]

Imagine just how scary that would be if it was fully developed? Imagine you were a soldier on the ground and all you hear is your fellow troops screaming "REAPER!" and hear this thing coming in low from the distance.

[@DreadX10]

How do you hear something, that is at a supersonic speed, coming toward you? Feeling the vibrations through the ground, yes. Hearing it via air, no. Several balloons with steel cables would solve the threat.

[@urosmarkovic6535]

Imagine chasing an soviet airplane and suddenly it does an fart of death tearing you to shreds 😂

[@yetti423]

Has anyone tried using weetabix for an experimental material? If left for two days it's harder than a titanium diamond combo meal.

[@iwantyourcookiesnow]

Milk cannons would defeat a weetabix weaopn

[@yetti423]

@@iwantyourcookiesnow but will still take to the end of time?

[@nikidesignsolutionsandgami1518]

Speaking of crazy Russian projects, why not cover the TKM rail tunnel, a 50 km rail tunnel linking Alaska to Siberia. It's an awesome subject and worth doing an episode of. Best wishes and happy holidays.

[@wcrdfd1184]

9:00 I've never seen a nose cone like that! Anyone know the details?

[@virgilioanlupas1459]

that superlong nosecone is a NASA study on an modified F 5 for "silent" supersonic

[@xiro6]

its a Sarmat 18, Aka Satan 18. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpWzoJlsoJJjn80

[@captainboreg7797]

For a brick, he flew pretty good.

[@Ripazher99]

Myasishchev was one of the greatest engineers in the history of the USSR. But I'm really disappointed, that his aircraft wasn't so popular as Tupolev's was. My teacher in university (he was and still kind of popular persona in science in Russia - our country) told me, that Tupolev had a great opportunity in the Ministry of Aviation because of the marriage of his son to the daughter of some minister or something like that. That also ruined the Sukhoi T-4 project. I love Tupolev's aircraft, but Myasishchev M-50, M-4, 3M are more beautiful and were very breakthrough at the time they were created

[@quillmaurer6563]

Sounds like it all came down to politics, as usual. For a country that supposedly was about what was best for the people, they tended to be very political, extremely corrupt, lot of unfair dealings for stuff like this, lot of favoratism. My conclusion is Russians are Russians, no matter who is in charge, whether it be the Tsars, the Soviets, or Putin, all same shit different label. George Orwell's book Animal Farm summed it up so well.

[@_ElectraAhmedShahriarSamad]

Starting the morning with the FAE aircraft vids amazing :)

[@erikziak1249]

Could this effect be used to affect/manage/put out forest fires in not very hilly terrain? Could it be used for anything else useful?

[@quillmaurer6563]

I'm doubtful it could do much to forest fires. I'm guessing you're thinking of the concept of a concussion bomb, those I don't think would work on forest fires, just on oil wells. Flying that low and fast over hilly terrain through thick smoke would also probably be too difficult and dangerous.

[@gordonbeaton8131]

There are sonic fire extinguishers, if the sonic boom could be focused on the right frequencies then it is theoretically a winner… however the devastation to wild life has to be taken into consideration, just look at the devistation of the huge sonic booms created by meteorite strikes in russia

[@baginatora]

Soviets be like:" Supersonic weapon? No, no, tovarish american, it is but a supersonic tractor for fast plowing of mother Russia's endless fields! Hehe"

[@Alorand]

It didn't work because the song "Here comes the Boom" by P.O.D wasn't yet recorded...

[@erinpitt580]

Sonic booms unethical ... locks the project down seals it up ......... world proceeds to create ICBMS and create a cold war stand off ....

[@kamuginkhan]

I liked the design, while I doubt its effectiveness.

[@DreadX10]

"Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom, Sonic all the way" "Oh, what fun, it is to fly, in this supersonic plane. Hey!" "Sonic Boom, Spells your doom, This will ruin your day" "Oh, don't mind, th'Mach-cone behind, it isn't there to stay. Hey!" Merry Christmas!

[@Dumbrarere]

Not mentioned here, but a pair of F-16 Fighting Falcons out on a Search and Destroy mission against scud missiles weaponized its sonic boom in support of British Special Forces under fire in the Middle East during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The result was some very stunned and disoriented insurgents.

[@eagle_2351]

2:45 p.m... great time to watch!

[@eagle_2351]

Well I live in Australia lol 😆

[@thatguyalex2835]

10:11 pm 12/23/21 here. :)

[@finngayton2236]

will you be making a video about the focke-wulf ta 183?

[@trifsith]

6:56 You don’t wreck havoc, you wreak it.

[@rickyquinteros7100]

I love how this thing is just the polar opposite of the X-59 QueSST being built

[@captain_commenter8796]

One of the best presents a aviation youtuber fan could ask for, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night/afternoon/morning!

[@thatguyalex2835]

Merry Christmas my fellow engineering/science/aviation enthusiast. :) Also, happy 2022, as the new year is just 8 days away.

[@portuguesnomundo]

Fantastic video my friend ✈️✈️

[@willem8152]

"what's the point of a weapon that kills friends, foe and even the innocents" uhhhh sorry we forgot to turn off friendly fire on the server

[@inventorsyndrome8894]

damn...that was one hell of an animation!

[@tinydooddan1178]

Imagine this going against an SR-71

[@hectoraccented5312]

I tried, and I can't imagine that

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

Even the noise in Russia is big... 🇷🇺🔈💥

[@taygray86]

Most recently, there's a bad ass video of an f16 using its sonic boom as a weapon in the middle east. I suggest looking it up. Also, a pilot saved a bunch of troops with a sonic boom as he couldn't drop a bomb due to weather. Directed it at the ground and they scattered giving the troops enough time to exfil

[@helmyfirdiansyah1692]

This could be the greenest and earth friendly deadly weapon ever exist

[@restartrestart581]

The total energy this plane puts out in a sonic boon must be less than the total energy in the fuel tanks, therefore exactly how is this better than a bomb, which also causes a sonic boom. The fact that a flyover is not considered an attack is the only advantage I see, and with one small amendment to law all that can change.

[@Dubanx]

This would be a much more efficient use of the energy, though. A normal explosion tapers off with the square of distance, so it takes a lot more energy to expand the destructive radius. This blast wave, though, would be released constantly and be evenly be distributed across the length of the plane's wake. The way it releases energy would be fundamentally different.

[@darthvader-mi5ck]

Man i need me a flight simulator featuring all these cancelled planes

[@Rio_SenpaiYT]

the animation is getting better and better!