Loved being introduced to the Vulcan B2! 🇬🇧✈️ Like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻 Follow me on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/ Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT Facebook Page: facebook.com/SoGal-104043461744742 Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/238616921241608
Amazing video yet again, just a couple of things you might be interested in and links to TH-cam vids. Did you know that the US mainland was actually attacked by the Germans in WW2? I found this out an a programme called Abandoned Engineering, I can't remember exactly where (maybe Sandy Hook) but the US built defences to stop German planes from attacking the US but they never expected them to attack with U boats. The links I found are only short but they are the best I could find Also for the Vulcan I found a couple of videos, unfortunatly I couldn't find the full episode but you might still find them interesting. th-cam.com/video/0aUGVnISFGI/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/QETfgS4gQsA/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/kKqFMoh-32A/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/rJ9RI1XSoWs/w-d-xo.html
The Valiant, and Victors, are always forgotten, and its always all about the Vulcan. The Vulcan was not designed to be stealthy, but its shape unintentionally caused it to be quite stealthy in practice. What was extremely advanced for the time was its jamming and ECM equipment, such as Blue Saga, Green Palm, Red Shrimp and Blue Diver. It was years before the Americans and Russians caught up. The Vulcans could easily have jammed all radio and television station broadcasts in the US if they had wanted to. Even today the Russians often successfully jam Americas latest Aegis ships missile defence systems using quite primitive jammers on their aircraft, but in doing so make themselves vulnerable to "anti-radiation" missiles.
I don't want to worry you but considering your recent weather related video the role of dropping air launched nuclear weapons after the Vulcan was retired went to the Tornado.
Oh btw just remembered you asked how many nukes we had in the UK. We have 120 active nuclear warheads but recently the Prime Minister in the UK, Boris Johnson, said that he wants to increase that by 40% upto 180 active nuclear warheads. We also have Trident which is our nuclear programme and submarine. Also they rised the cap of the number we could have by 40% from 180 to 260, but under 'deliberate ambiguity' the total will never be confirmed in public. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trident_(UK_nuclear_programme)
The British government has been very cagey about how many nuclear weapons we actually have. We say we maintain a "minimum of 200 warheads" and a "minimum" blast firepower of "over 50 megatonnes." Upper estimates are 800 x 375kT WE184 RVs. Minimum estimates are 144 x 200kT WE179 RVs. Best estimates are 215 x 250kT WE180-style RVs.
Fun fact: very recently 100 Royal Marines Commandos defeated a force of 1,500 US troops in a war game that had to be cut short as the results were so unexpected. See the thing is the British have always lacked quantity being a small island nation with just 67 million people, but we have always made up for that with devastatingly high quality
It wasn't just Royal Marines though. There were other units supporting the Bootnecks. There were troops from the UAE, the Netherlands, Canada and other US forces on the same "side" as the Royal Marines. Oh, and It was 500 Royal Marines, not 100. The Exercise was NOT cut short, it went on for the planned 5 days. There WAS a reset done half way through because the US Marines suffered such high losses. FACT!🤣
You say : "See the thing is the British have always lacked quantity being a small island nation with just 67 million people, but we have always made up for that with devastatingly high quality". Agreed. Was it not the Brits who wee training the Yanks in , was it Afghanistan or Iraq? Furthermore because of THEIR population (approx 10 million) AND motivation, in my very, very humble opinion, the Israelis would take top spot. I remember it being reported in the '70's that inside of a minute of a threat being identified, the Israelis could scramble more jets than the US.
Some US Generals refused to believe this happened, until they were shown the photos taken by the Vulcans of New York ! For me the most embarrasing part is that a Vulcan LANDED at a US Airbase in N.Y. and the first the airbase knew was when it told them it was on finals ! They had flown right up the US East Coast !
See the thing is the British have always lacked quantity being a small island nation with just 67 million people, but we have always made up for that with devastatingly high quality
What I find amazing about the Vulcan is that its first flight was only eleven years after the first flight of the Lancaster bomber, both designed by the same man.
The Valiant was the first of the V bombers to be flown in 1951, crazy to think it was a late 1946 when the operational requirement (OR230) for a high speed (500 knot cruising) medium range medium load atomic weapon carrying jet bomber was made!
No, we didn't have "stealth" technology, that's a passive way of avoiding enemy air defences. The Vulcans used heavy jamming (an active system) to defeat the US air defence system. I don't think the Americans were being dumb. The Brits simply studied the US air defence system and worked out a way to defeat it rather than sticking to doctrine.
@@matwatson7947 Precisely. Though to read the replies I've gotten when trying to understand our Russian chums recently you'd think Sun Tzu wrote, "know your enemy, love your enemy."
When someone says their air defenses are 99 percent effective, always remember that getting hit by just 1% of all the oncoming nukes is still not a good thing. As for the Vulcan, it wasn't really stealth, though the radar cross section was small for its size. But because of its enormous wing area it was very maneouverable at high altitude, despite the thin air. At 60,000 ft it can pull tighter turns than an F-15. And the jamming was very good for its time. As for why the USAF didn't learn from the first time it happened, remember, they swept it all under the rug. No officer who wanted to have a career would mention it to his superiors, so nobody could ever learn from it.
This film didn't mention the invisibility cloak painted onto every Vulcan bomber. The crew sprayed themselves with this paint, too. Then there is the American accent throat spray, the crews used to disguise their voices.
I would have loved to have been the RAF officer at NORAD - standing at the back of the room - with a smug smile on my face! Love your videos - and great to see someone genuinly interested in world history. Live Long and Prosper.
".. with a smug smile on my face!" A Brit would never do that. It'd be all, "Bad luck, old chap" spoken with polite respect and stiff-upper lip. It'd only be when he got back home to the officers' mess that they'd all have a 'Jolly good laugh' about it all. 😏
After the first exercise, most of the US Airforce refused to believe the RAFs claims, which is why on the 2nd exercise they decided to land a plane in New York to prove a point, and until they asked for permission to land, the airport were not even aware they were there, so the story goes anyway
They used 17 tankers to get that one plane to The Falklands and back. They were so short on fuel towards the end that one of the tankers over supplied and put it's own survival at risk. Thankfully all made it back.
@@reverendjohnowen One Vulcan had to divert and land in Brazil (who was sympathetic to Argentina) as the refueling nozzle had snapped off! It was carrying a top secret anti radar missile. Brazil were set to 'investigate' the Vulcan until the U.S. told them to back off and leave the plane alone.
I only found this out last year & I was a teenager during the Falklands War. This was a truly astounding mission for The Vulcan Bomber & the amazing pilots before it was decommissioned, Probably because the planes after this mission had pushed them beyond their boundaries as old as they were ( I mean the plane not the crews 😊 )
Key parts of the Vulcans in flight refueling equipment were being used as ash trays in the RAF officers mess, and had to be cleaned off and refitted to the aircraft so the Falklands "Black Buck" bombing raid could take place.
I think the key words from the video were "with the right aircraft". The Vulcan B2 was the right aircraft for so many things, it was a design marvel and an incredible piece of engineering for the task it had (a bit like the U2 spy plane is for a different purpose). Ahead of her time. I'm glad to have been able to see one fly for real before it was finally retired a few years ago.
During the 'Red Flag' joint UK, US war games in the 80's, the height 'ceiling' of operations was set to 500 feet. one of the Vulcan crews on that exercise was reprimanded for flying so low it brought down telephone cables with its vertical tail plane. What really annoyed the top brass was that the cockpit data recorder showed that the aircraft was 'climbing' when it hit the wires!! Vulcan crews were a breed apart for sure.....
The British had a nuclear programme long before your Manhatten project. During the war there was an agreement to work together (along with several other countries - it wasn't an American breakthrough) and share the technology. Your president went back on that and we had to create our own from scratch, you did it again with the hydrogen bomb too.
America has this nasty habit of collaborating until it's solved then classifying it under national security considerations and restricting access from everyone including those they collaborated with. After a while a lesson is learned and you always make sure you aren't working in US territory because if you are forget keeping control of any project they want.
In a way Sky Shield 2 is an even bigger embarrassment because they halved the number of attacking aircraft and multiplied the number of defenders by 6.
And I'm sure that, somehow, we could do it again - but, thankfully, we don't know how, partly because our top brass don't act like John Wayne and tell the world in advance.
Yeh. It's like shining a very bright light into someone's eyes at night as they're trying to shoot at you. They know you're there but not sure exactly where to aim. Three of them shone the "bright lights" while the fourth snook around the back.
@@stuartrowe3006 The best defence is a passive defence. Before the Vulcans were withdrawn from service they were using the enemies jammers and radars to illuminate the target. If anyone asks I never said it.
You should look at the story of the Australian submarine that evaded the US in a training exercise and then played "Down Under" by Men At Work over the radio to celebrate their victory.
There are 2 types of stealth. First one is to jam incoming signals, create lots of false-positives, scream really load and confuse the enemy radar. The 2nd type is to refract or absorb incoming signals and just don't appear on the radar screen at all. Vulcans were designed to use the first one, but their profile and manoeverability meant they accidentally had a bit of the 2nd type too.
SoGal, mentioning 9/11, check out the UKs reaction on 9/12 when the Queen ordered the Guards Band, at the ceremonial changing of the guard, to play the Star Spangled Banner instead of God Save The Queen. This was the only time ever that the anthem of a foreign country was played at Buckingham Palace without the leader of that country being present.
Theres a little pub in Suffolk called the vulcan. Their sign has Mr Spock, the Roman god and this aircraft. Its one of the most delightfully nerdy things in the country
You might be interested in learning about the Swedish Gotland class submarine that penetrated US defense warning systems undetected and sank a US aircraft carrier in a navy drill. A lot of US admirals probably needed a change of shorts on that day.
First I’ve heard about this. To me this may add another reason as to why the TSR2 was cancelled, as it may have gone against American interests. The TSR2 was a supersonic British nuclear bomber that would replace the Vulcan. Just think, better technically than the Vulcan, and twice as fast with greater range. That’s my opinion anyway 😊
@@Pippins666 Of course they were. Solving impossible technical problems is what Brits do best. It's the politics we can never solve. The politicians wanted the best and latest from the US. In reality the US was about five years behind the UK. The F111 did not work at the time and effectively, by the time that order was cancelled, they had spent the money and got nothing in return.
When Kubrick released "Doctor Strangelove", the US military forced him to place a disclaimer in front of it saying that it was their stated position that the safeguards they had in place would ensure it could never happen. After the Cold War the US declassified its records and it turned out that, not only were the "safeguards" not in place; not only were the events in "Doctor Strangelove" entirely possible, but that the actual security situation was FAR WORSE than even the movie predicted.
I saw on another video (sorry, forgotten which one) that on the second occasion, when the Vulcans landed at the USAF base, the groundcrew assumed that they'd been "shot down" until the Vulcan crew showed them pictures of New York from above!
Sorry, it was a British island in the atlantic ocean called Ascension Island. The runway was built by The CCB's (1943-44) and is opperared by both air forces.
@@craigstephens93 - Ascenion island is where the vulcan flew from when it attacked Argentina in Falkland war. In the case of the US air defence tests, the southern groups in both instances started at Bermuda.
I'd guess that with the reduction of bombers and increase of fighters, the second exercise was intended as more of an easy win for the defenders rather than a serious military exercise
I used to go to the Open Days at RAF Finingley and there was always a Vulcan display. The engine noise was so tremendous, especially when the display pilot pulled back on the stick and flew nearly vertically, the tremendous noise from the engine exhausts caused your chest to vibrate as well as deafening you!
For those interested some trivia : The design brief for the AVRO Vulcan specified the strategic bomber outmanouver Soviet interceptor jets while flying at high altitude. In other words, a long range stretegic nuclear bomber that thinks it's a jet fighter.
As a boy I went to a air show with my parents, a Vulcan bomber did a fly pass and I have never heard anything as loud in my life. It literally shook the ground.
It is a shame that now no one who has not heard that sound will ever know just how loud it was. I remember going to RAF Chivenor air show every year and seeing the Vulcan and my chest vibrating from the noise.
You should try being on duty at a Radio station serving an airfield when they decide to get all aircraft into the air because of a predicted simulated attack. That included a Squadron of Vulcans and three squadrons of Lightnings,with one of the Lightning squadrons going supersonic vertically. Damn near shook the building to pieces.
I took my son to an air show with a Vulcan - at 3 feet separation we couldn't hear one another shout at the top of our voices during a low level fly past. They are bloody enormous - that delta wing alone should scare all enemies into thinking twice.
I live 4 miles from a former RAF base where Vulcans were based, 8 would be scrambled in 2 sets of 4, the ground would shake for miles around, you couldn't see properly and your hearing was no use for at least 10 minutes after, actually being at the base when this happened was quite scary but funny at the same time, I miss those days.
Absolutely. Highly intelligent content, often about events that are not well known (e.g. Successful British military operations in Vietnam using Japanese forces just after WW2).
I can tell you that this happened AGAIN. I was in the Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm "Blackburn Buccaneer" aircraft ALSO managed to penetrate US airspace. These were nuclear-armed bombers, launched from aircraft carriers. They were supersonic at sea level. This happened in the 70s.
It was not stealth technology, but Radar Jamming tech. The Vulcans at the time had the most advanced kit in the world, far surpassing that of US technologies. To this day its still classified, it was ripped out of all the Vulcans when they were decommissioned / or went to museums.
Dad took part in a war game back in the late 80s, early 90, the Royal Navy against the US navy. In this battle the US were practicing hunting down single ship and taking them out, so it was 1 RN frigate (HMS London I think it was) vs a carrier group (attached US submarines weren't officially playing but remained on guard, though you could bet if they spotted anything they'd pass it on). Anyway the final results were the carrier was sunk along with the rest of the group, and for good measure simulated attacks were launched against the subs just to show off, though the London was taken out too. Great strategy used :p
The Brits and Swedes were the only two in that wargame to not lose a sub, it happened again a few years later off the west coast of Scotland, I know this as I drink with the boastful naval officers at the sub tracking station next to where I live.
if the defending force is 99% successful, but the 1% results in 7 of the largest cities being reduced to radioactive craters then someone should probably redefine their definition of success lol
That was the scary thing during the cold war, all nuclear nations had so many warheads that the odds were against anyone finishing outright winners. Mutually assured destruction was the only probable outcome. They still have that capability...
I live in Doncaster where the last Vulcan is kept flying at the air museum. A few years ago I walked into a friend's garden to find it coming straight towards me, flying low back to base, and there is nothing so staggering as seeing a plane which your mind wants to think is a little sleek fighter, and then realising your sense of scale is all wrong and it's almost as big as Concorde!
It doesn't fly anymore AFAIK, too much stress on the airframe and getting replacement parts for the engines is a big problem so it just makes runs up and down the runway now. There were plans to make passenger aircraft based on the Vulcan.
@@terminusaquo1980 I believe you're right although I think there are still fund-raising campaigns in the local press to get it flying again. Glad I got the chance to see it in the air before then anyway!
@@BlameThande It wont fly again, its not a matter of money, Rolls Royce and others have withdrawn technical support, without which it cannot get CAA clearance to fly anymore.
To witness the vulcan airborne is a sight and sound that stays with one forever and forever chasing that sound,brought a tear to my eye in 2015 on her final voyages around the UK, watching her vast expanse disappear into the horizon that last time made you realize what an achievement in British engineering she actually was,so many men women and children in tears said it all,gone but will be remembered forever,first saw her doing a training bomb run on our church back in the 70s at the height of the cold war and it came in very low nearly ripping the roof tiles off the houses with that howl i was literally paralysed and mouth wide open in amazement at the size of her as she rose up and the sound was literally pounding off your chest,she banked to the left and it just got louder lol,from that day on my love for the vulcan has never waned,the Lancaster will always be the no1 british bomber but the Vulcan is the closest 2nd you could wish to see
Seeing as you're interested and asked, I'll try to explain a few things : There's a big difference between stealth and Electronic Countermeasures. Stealth reduces the radar cross section to mask or almost completely hide the aircraft's presence from radar. Active Electronic Countermeasures (or "Jamming") takes the opposite approach, it takes the incoming detection (radar, sonar etc.) method and uses that same frequency to make a lot of 'noise' for the receiver. It means its easy enough to track on a vector, but next to impossible to find range or altitude (or depth). They could be anywhere in a straight line from 10 ft outside the radar facility at 300ft to the max range (potentially hundreds of miles) at 70,000 ft or higher. Think "I'm here...but where is that?" Stealth uses a mixture of tactics, from radar absorbent materials and emission dampening to angular surfaces which scatter the radar signal and stop it returning to it's source. Stealth is more like "I'm a small flock of birds" or even "I'm not here at all". Imagine throwing a ball at a wall while standing at right angles. The ball will come back in your direction. Now imagine throwing a ball at a huge pile of rubble. Chances the ball comes back to you is vastly reduced. The ball is the radar signal. More modern stealth uses smoothed out surfaces, but the result is the same (actually much better) with no large flat areas to return a signal from. Stealth was being played with even during WW2 by the Luftwaffe (see the Horten Ho 229) but theres debate about how much they stumbled across it by accident, but as with everything, its come a long way since then. Attacks like this wouldn't play out like this anymore. Deployment of both Strategic and Tactical Nukes has changed A LOT since the 60's. They difference between the two is: Tactical Nukes - generally much lower yield and used in a battlefield role. Strategic are the big boys, city levelling kinda deal. In the early days they almost exclusively were delivered like this, bombs dropped from Strategic bombers (check out the role of strategic air command post WW2). Problem with that is, a bomber on the ground was vulnerable and it's hard to hide an entire airfield from prying eyes. A strategic bomber in the air started to become more and more vulnerable, better tracking, satellite intel picking out known strategic airfields in detail, allowing assets to be scrambled to counter them before they even get 10 miles from their field, and air defence systems that can pick them off from afar. These days the preference is ICBM's (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles) or SLBM's (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles), some of which can carry 10 or more warheads and each can be given its own target. In the UK, our entire Strategic arsenal is launched from SSBN's or Nuclear powered Ballistic Missile Subs. They constantly patrol, can hide for months at a time, pop up anywhere and are always armed. Suddenly your Nuclear deterrent is a lot scarier to aggressors when they have no idea where it is, can't be easily tracked and you have no idea the direction its warheads could be coming from. The missiles can even be launched from under the surface (search for Trident Test Launch on TH-cam). I don't think I've done much to curb your anxiety over how scary this seemed. On the bright side....we're all in the same boat though, so that's comforting, right? :S
This film didn't mention the invisibility cloak painted onto every Vulcan bomber. The crew sprayed themselves with this paint, too. Then there is the American accent throat spray, the crews used to disguise their voices.
During ww2 we (British) gave the Americans all our research regarding atom bombs etc on the provision that after the war they return the favour. They double crossed us and refused to share the information so we had to produce atom bombs from scratch.
@@JonsTunes I was going to mention this but didn't think anyone would even read it lol. They didn't share the information back because we had alot of communism supporters working under cover sending information to the Russians for money , America and the UK knew this was happening . Also they wanted be first to use one
@Mickey Finn The same "little Britain" that you just watched out perform America, with better technology? Britain has helped America (And World) in many areas. The UK helped the USA's nuclear program & helped put Man on the moon! 🇬🇧
The “howl” was produced by the air intakes, but only at a specific engine setting which was used only at take-off and during display flights. Operationally it was significantly quieter, although still loud by today’s standards. :)
I remember seeing them at airshows in the late 60s and early 70s... The first time was so unexpected. It made its turn and came in at low level over the runway... For the longest time it was silent, then a whistle, then a roar and howl. I can still remember the sound waves hitting my chest... AWESOME
@@davestewart2359 I saw one of the last flights ever for the Vulcan at the Dawlish Air Show. It brought a tear to my eye, but I definitely made the right decision to bring ear plugs
I've just found your channel and have watched a number of your videos over the past few evenings and have now subscribed. Funnily enough, I also subscribed to Mark Felton and enjoy his videos too. It appears to me you are turning into a bit of an Anglophile! We are a small nation and due to the short-sightedness of our politicians, our military capability is reduced. But what we do, we do well. My father served in the RAF from 1943 to 1954 and flew in the Berlin Airlift (perhaps you could do a video on that, where the US and Britain, kept a city of 3 million alive by airlifts). He was a navigator in Transport Command and flew Handley Avro Hastings (the same company that manufactured the Vulcan). In the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, is a Hastings, TG528 (as well as a Vulcan), one of the planes he flew in. In 2007, he got the opportunity to sit in the very seat he had occupied nearly 50 years before, during the Berlin Airlift. In that section of the museum, were also examples of the Seawolf guided missile, which was an anti-missile missile still deployed by the Royal Navy, my father was the Chief Project Engineer. Also next to it is a Rapier guided missile, a ground to air missile, still used by the British Army, my father was also the Chief Project Engineer for that too. During the Falklands War, he was on 24-hour call to assist the army with any difficulties. He received a personal letter from Mrs Thatcher, thanking him for his contribution. As you can tell I'm very proud of my father's accomplishments and had the honour of caring for him in his final years. He left us in 2012, at the age of 85. Keep up the good work, you are a very intelligent and attractive young lady, and I look forward to your future videos.
Vulcan is silent until it passes over your head, even at very low level. I watched the last Vulcan flight pass over my neighbourhood & you couldn't hear it coming at all.
The howl comes from the engine intakes. At relatively low airspeed, at throttle openings above 92%, the engines actually suck in more air than would otherwise be able to enter the intake orifice. This turns the long intake tract into a kind of organ pipe, the column of air vibrating as it is pulled in by those hungry 200-series Olympus turbojets. The earlier B.1 variants didn't do it because they didn't have such a huge appetite for air, and neither did the later 300-series-engined B.2s, as those engines are longer and consequently the intake tract is shorter and does not have the same constricting effect on airflow.
Didn't we? Later exercises we changed the tactics an used the Vulcans at low level too. To hide Buccaneers. Uncle Sam didn't like that either! RAF Armourer '74 to '95.
@@johnp8131 Those were at Red Flag. They never tried Sky Shield again with bombers but did try an exercise in 1962 to clear the airways of civilian aircraft. By that time the Cuban Missile Crisis had proved the deterrent value of Vulcans against Russia. They were Kennedy's ace up his sleeve. The Yanks didn't like the Buccaneers as they flew too low and they thought it was cheating. Until they needed them in the first Gulf war.
@@1chish I remember one buccaneer crashed red flag exposing how old the Buccaneer was getting but the British didn't take the Buc out of service until 1994
Britain at the time had a very special single seat fighter which could reach a ceiling no other aircraft could touch. Many people forget Frank whittle invented the first jet engine in 1929. He was a British officer in the RAF
Fun fact: a ground crewman once accidentally took off in one with no radio, canopy, helmet, or eject function. Landed it though. I wonder how much poo shot out in the process
In a small town in Leicestershire lies a statue, upon a roundabout, named sir frank whittle roundabout. The pride that brought me seeing it on the way to school everyday :)
@@madmike171 The jet engine was developed in my local town Clitheroe and the Swan and Royal has a Frank Whittle Room if you want to stay there. He used the Hotel frequently for conferences and meetings. And he also used it often in the evenings.
His engine was built in the town I live in and the E.28/39 was first flown 5 miles from where I live at Brockworth aerodrome. I also live next to where parts of it were built as HH Martyn & Co used to be based adjacent to the road where I currently live, it's now an industrial estate but still has a lot of the original buildings there, my great grandad worked for them as a master carpenter.
Also The Vulcan Bomber with early equipment of electronic interference was way ahead of it's time. British Engineers are some of the best in the world though is such a shame they do not get financial backing in research as now I believe many go to the US to be financed more than in their own country : (
I spent a summer in the US in the late 70's at Holloman airforce base. I did an aircraft recognition test and got 97%. The bad news was that the US aircrews were only scoring around the 50%- 60% and in simulations would shoot down their own aircraft. And at that time the F-15 was being out classed by the T-38 trainers: their smaller size being their advantage.
Yeah. In the UK you've got to be a high achiever to even think about the RAF. In the 80's one of my friends applied for the RAF. He was fine academically but you've got to have perfect eyesight so he was turned down after an eye test. Makes you wonder about the Americans. Their education system is so poor.
There are many videos of Vulcans on line look up 'Vulcan howl' it had a very distinctive sound when flying at certain speeds and altitudes. Really enjoy your inquisitiveness and desire to learn.
Pfffftt. Maybe with a head start but I don't see how. The Raptor would be able to detect and launch missiles first , granted if it gets to a turn fight its about even, but the Raptor still has the edge in thrust to weight, turn circle. It's also not really a British plane if we can't make it without the Germans and Italians.
@@agdgdgwngo we have REALLY GOOD beyond-visual-range missiles though along with the radar and targeting systems to match, along with some pretty damn good pilots to boot. And once you're IN visual range, well the Raptor might be a little faster but I'll bet you the Typhoon can turn tighter with that big delta wing. The Typhoon was designed and built to match anything the Russians have AND still win a dogfight despite being almost certainly outnumbered & outgunned. And of course there's our new 6th-gen Tempest to consider, which IS coming and will be more of the same just better
You mentioned that the Vulcan made you think of Concorde. They actually share the same Rolls Royce Olympus engines, the difference being Concorde also having afterburners to get it supersonic. Electronic countermeasures are not “stealth”, but try to do the same thing - make the aircraft, ship or other vehicle undetectable to electronic means like radar, infrared and so on, making them hard to find and also preventing guided weapons like “heat seeking” or radar guided missiles from being able to hit their target. ECM emits signals to confuse radar or IR, while stealth technology is passive and tries to prevent the observer seeing their reflections. Basically, ECM is like shining a bright light back in the face of someone looking for you with a torch at night, while stealth is dressing in dark green and hiding in the shadows (dark green blends in more at night than black, which is too dark and contrasts with the background).
I’m a restoration volunteer at our local Air museum and the Vulcan is our centrepiece. Looking forward to getting back to repainting it. It’s absolutely huge, especially when you’re painting it with fairly small roller...
During air shows a Vulcan would fly over our house, low and slow. It was like an alien ship. coming over. You felt it in your chest and it roared like nothing else. We would lay on the grass and wait for it.
You must have lived close to me! We used to get free air shows every so often, because we were on the approach lines - I actually can't remember the name of the air show (sorry) - but yes, Vulcans, Concord, Spitfires, Red Arrows etc.... and they flew directly over our house on the way to the show.... Also, we were directly under the Concord flight path, so got to see that a few times per week - usually with the wheels retracting. Low enough that we could read the registration number, anyway. Separately - I was in Zante, Greece, and a Russian transport was taking off.... I have never felt anything so loud, and I went to Motorhead concerts! And that air show? We were far enough away that they would be practicing their formations, but close enough that we got all of them in a line.... it was pretty cool. Got to see the show without paying for the show.
I saw one of the last remaining Vulcan bombers XH558 on one of its last ever flights at an air show a few years back. It was still an awesome sight in spite of it's age and being retired from service decades ago. The howl it's engines made at high throttle was unforgettable too. It was way ahead of it's time in the 50s and 60s.
One of the many wonderful things about the Vulcan is you can watch it flying directly towards you and hear nothing but the local birds singing but as it goes over and especially if it climbs you can literally feel the ground shake. You can also feel the sound deep in your stomach, it’s an absolutely amazing sensation. Something I have not experienced with any other aircraft. My father was at the air show when the Vulcan made its public debut. I was not there, being only about 3 months old! The pilot looped the Vulcan. I did find footage on TH-cam a couple of years ago but cannot find it now.
You may wish to watch the video about an RAF Lightning Interceptor intercepting a USAF Blackbird. Americans often underestimate the UK. Think of the Harrier and Concorde as just 2 obvious examples.
Absolutely adored this aircraft, saw it air shows, it has a howl then hits you with a mind numbing, wall of sound. Gorgeous bird. Mark Felton does some good videos, I like the one RAF Hunter pilot goes rogue over London 1968, so funny.
I used to love going to the air shows every year as a kid. I think we went to Woodford and Barrow-on-furness. The red arrows display was always my favourite along with the harrier jet and the way it hovered.
@@spanishdncr71 loved airshows, saw Avro Vulcan at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire think she still taxes up and down. Loved the Harrier, when she took a bow.
@@JonsTunes that’s so cool!! What a great memory!! I’ve sat in the cockpit of a commercial plane on my way to Dubai a couple of times, but that’s about it.
This happens a lot even today, in 2014 there was huge exercise taking place around the Isle of Lewis, I was living there at the time and witnessed all the activity. During this exercise the entire US fleet got wiped out by just 1 of the UKs new type45 destroyers, I know this cause I was in direct contact with someone who knew someone else. Anyway, the type45 was able to do this because the US simply could not detect it.... More stealth jamming technology.... You probably won't read this anywhere either. You can choose to believe or not, I'm just sharing cause yeah it's no different now than it was then, UK is small and weeny etc etc, but has lots of experience and access to tech that nobody knows exists.
The frightening thing with this is that it was an exercise/training experiment, you was expecting it, you knew we was coming to the party but you still didn't stop us......imagine if it was a surprise attack. The Vulcan was a beast, i have no idea why it was retired when it still had a roll to play
Money as stated. But also the changing nature of war, and that the Vulcan and Victor had made partially redundant in the bombing role by newer more advanced designs that could use more advanced weapons with more accuracy. By the time the Vulcan was retired it was really only being used for refueling and maritime patrol and recon, same for the Victor , though that lasted until just after the first gulf War.
I've seen these in flight and was under its flight path. It was flying at low level and the noise that thing made as it went over was amazing. And would definitely make any loose fillings fall out. Beautiful aircraft
If you like engineering and British history look up the Buick 215/Rover V8. The story of the engine abandoned by the US, adopted by Rover (my most beloved car company) and developed into one of our finest engines
Love your videos - and great to see someone from USA genuinely interested in true world history. My brother was in 42 commando, Royal Marines, 6 troop on the Falklands. He guarded one of the Avro Vulcans on the runway at ascension island before it/they attacked Port Stanley. I remember him telling me the Americans flew into Ascension Island none stop day and night bringing in ammunition and sidewinder missile's for the Harrier Jump Jets. I think the huge ship Atlantic Conveyor had already been sunk by the Argentinians and without the Americans support they (British Soldiers) all wondered where their equipment and ammunition would come from? The Atlantic Conveyor had land vehicles, helicopters and ammunition on board which all went down when she was sunk. My brother landed on Saint Carlos Water in the Falklands unopposed but when he dug his foxhole he had no food, clothes or ammunition. All their (British) helicopters had gone down with Atlantic Conveyer so he bedded down not knowing the plan for future advances. He and 3 Para, parachute regiment took mount tumbledown and wireless ridge but only because America brought in their supplies. Not much is known or publicised about Americas involvement but he always says without their intervention, they would likely have failed.
The Vulcan was one of three bombers developed for the RAF to deliver nuclear weapons, called the V Bombers. In order of entry into service [and capability] they were the Vickers Valiant, The Avro Vulcan and the Handley Page Victor. In the 1960's I lived on a route used by Vulcan's for low level training. They would come over in pairs one or two seconds apart at almost literal roof top height, it was possible to clearly see the 'Blue Steel' stand off bombs they carried. The Blue Steel was a rocket powered missile with a top speed of around Mach 3 that was released about 100 miles from the target. What today would be called a supersonic cruise missile. They were carried by both the Vulcan and the Victor. Throughout the 60's Vulcan's and Victor's would be maintain 'On Alert', bombed up and fuelled ready to launch a counter attack against the Soviet Union should it have become necessary. The aim was for them to be in the air and clear of their bases in under 4 minutes, this being the time available from detection of a Soviet missile launch against the UK until they arrived on target. Part of the targeting mission for the V Bombers was to clear a path for the later arriving, lower performance USAF B 52's. At the end of the 1960's responsibility for the UK's nuclear detergent transferred to the Royal Navy and their ballistic missile submarines, a responsibility they retain to this day with about 200 warheads available. The Vulcan only delivered bombs in anger during the Falklands War in 1982 when Vulcan's flying from Accession Island carried out attacks against the airfield at Port Stanley. They were supported by Victor air to air refuelling aircraft. [Converted from their original bomber role] The last Vulcan flying was Vulcan B2 XH 558 which in private hands was a regular sight on the UK display circuit for many years. She was grounded at the end of the 2015 season due to her running out of flying hours on the airframe without major work. It could be argued that the first 'Stealth Bomber' was the deHavilland Mosquito from World War 2. This was a high speed twin engined plane built largely from a wood composite that gave a very smooth aerodynamic airframe and had quite a small radar signature as well as a very high performance. It was operated as a bomber, reconnaissance plane, fighter and fighter/bomber. The bomber and reconnaissance versions carried no defensive armament, depending on their performance to avoid interception. They were capable of out running most Luftwaffe fighters, and most British/American ones as well. They had the lowest loss rate in combat of any warplane in World War 2. The Mosquito concept of an unarmed high performance bomber was the starting point for the V Bombers. Like the Mosquito they also carried no defensive weapons, depending on their performance and electronic jamming equipment to get through.
To be caught once with your trousers down is embarrassing and accidental, to be caught twice - that's flashing! The Vulcan only flew once in anger - during the Falklands War.
If you like the plane and Star Trek you would love the sign for the pub, the Vulcan arms at Sizewell, Suffolk, England as on one side it has the plane and Spook on the other side. (Just ignore the huge nuclear power stations that are just to the north 🤣 )
At a quick glance, I thought to myself, "I didn't post that" I'm nowhere near Suffolk then saw it was James not John Francis that posted, great comment will have to check out the pub as a fan of both the bomber and the TV show
The Vulcan Bomber is an amazing aircraft. It was unfortunately retired in 1984. If you want to know more, Operation Black Buck is a good thing to look at. Documentary Special has a good documentary on it, called: First Strike of The Falklands War; Documentary in HD. You may want to look at the Falklands War for some context though.
We would have had even better aircraft, had not the Labour Party not shut down our whole aircraft Industry. The Vulcan entered service in 1956. The TRS2 was cancelled in 1960. THE FALKLANDS WAR WAS 1982. Oh, it was also the Labour Party that gave Rolls Royce Jet Engines to Russia!
Operation Black Buck was a series of seven ambitious long-distance bombing missions conducted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Falklands War in 1982. It was the RAF’s most daring attack since Operation Chastise - the Dambusters raid in WWII.
Vulcan arrives home with some fuel spare, pilot has some fun with the spectators - turn the volume up and watch the spectors move out of the way! th-cam.com/video/ydfddlcebSo/w-d-xo.html
Hi. Just stumbled on your video and if you are interested in stealth tech., you should check out the WWII German plane Horten HO229, which is the first prototype of a stealth plane ever, designed in the mid 40's. Then you should check Northrop YB-49 from 1951. Those two planes set the foundations for stealth flight although the first one, only later was recognized as a stealth plane. All in all, liked your video. Thumbs up!
Admiral King was a senior US admiral in WW2. Before the conflict he wrote several articles on how the US was always happy to celebrate success and ignore when things had gone wrong. In the late 30s he was stationed in the Pacific in charge of aircraft carriers. One of the exercises he did was air attacks on the Pacific fleet stationed at a place called Pearl Harbor.
@@johnp8131 Apparently Admiral King was summonsed to the White House in 1942 for "an interview without coffee" to explain why a handful of German submarines were inflicting heavy losses on US east coast shipping - despite being warned in advance by the British who had access to Bletchley Park intelligence.
the 20th century non violent equivalent to 1812 when the British forces marched under cover of night to Washington and set fire to it, though stealth technology back then was limited to not beating the kettle drums and playing the pipes.
My dad worked on the vulcans at RAF Scampton I used to watch them take off all the time after that we moved to woomera in Australia to work on blue streak
On 24 October 1958, Vulcan B1 XA908 of No. 83 Squadron was en route from Lincolnshire, England to Lincoln, Nebraska ("Lone Ranger" Exercise) crashed over Detroit on a training mission no survivors and were buried locally. RIP
Great video. A few points for you about the Vulcan: The Vulcan was originally painted in anti flash white but in 1964 they changed to camouflage for low level operations. The Vuclan was the 3rd V bomber, the 1st was the Valiant, the 2nd was the Victor. The Victors were converted to refueling tankers. Check out the Victor, it's weird looking, it reminds me of a swallow. It has similar engines to the Concorde, RR Olympus but no after burner. The Vulcan always did very well in the Red Flag bombing excercises against much more modern planes like the F1-11 supersonic variable wing strike aircraft . The F1-11 flew from RAF Lakenheath in the UK to attack Tripoli in 1986 on the orders of President Reagan.
Mark Felton’s channel is really good. I’ve watched it for about a year now. To make you feel even better , we brits don’t use planes anymore. We have nuclear subs ! 🙂
If you want to test your defenses, you ask your mates to have a go. That way any weaknesses can be ironed out before a war. These exercises are crucial for that. A few years ago the US Navy was exercising with the Swedish Navy. The Swedes with their new ultra modern diesel subs managed to penetrate the US carrier fleet undetected and 'sink' a US carrier. They did this multiple times undetected. It was a great exercise for USA. They ended up leasing the Swedish sub (with Swedish crew) for a year or two to learn how to combat it.
It uses a Stirling engine. So an old concept but obviously newly built. It was to do with the frequency it emits in the sea. The Hz doesn't 'look' like a submarine.
Loved being introduced to the Vulcan B2! 🇬🇧✈️ Like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video 👍🏻 Follow me on social media:
Instagram: instagram.com/sogal.yt/
Twitter: twitter.com/SoGal_YT
Facebook Page: facebook.com/SoGal-104043461744742
Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/238616921241608
Amazing video yet again, just a couple of things you might be interested in and links to TH-cam vids. Did you know that the US mainland was actually attacked by the Germans in WW2? I found this out an a programme called Abandoned Engineering, I can't remember exactly where (maybe Sandy Hook) but the US built defences to stop German planes from attacking the US but they never expected them to attack with U boats. The links I found are only short but they are the best I could find
Also for the Vulcan I found a couple of videos, unfortunatly I couldn't find the full episode but you might still find them interesting.
th-cam.com/video/0aUGVnISFGI/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/QETfgS4gQsA/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/kKqFMoh-32A/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/rJ9RI1XSoWs/w-d-xo.html
The Valiant, and Victors, are always forgotten, and its always all about the Vulcan. The Vulcan was not designed to be stealthy, but its shape unintentionally caused it to be quite stealthy in practice. What was extremely advanced for the time was its jamming and ECM equipment, such as Blue Saga, Green Palm, Red Shrimp and Blue Diver. It was years before the Americans and Russians caught up. The Vulcans could easily have jammed all radio and television station broadcasts in the US if they had wanted to. Even today the Russians often successfully jam Americas latest Aegis ships missile defence systems using quite primitive jammers on their aircraft, but in doing so make themselves vulnerable to "anti-radiation" missiles.
I don't want to worry you but considering your recent weather related video the role of dropping air launched nuclear weapons after the Vulcan was retired went to the Tornado.
Oh btw just remembered you asked how many nukes we had in the UK. We have 120 active nuclear warheads but recently the Prime Minister in the UK, Boris Johnson, said that he wants to increase that by 40% upto 180 active nuclear warheads. We also have Trident which is our nuclear programme and submarine. Also they rised the cap of the number we could have by 40% from 180 to 260, but under 'deliberate ambiguity' the total will never be confirmed in public.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trident_(UK_nuclear_programme)
The British government has been very cagey about how many nuclear weapons we actually have. We say we maintain a "minimum of 200 warheads" and a "minimum" blast firepower of "over 50 megatonnes."
Upper estimates are 800 x 375kT WE184 RVs. Minimum estimates are 144 x 200kT WE179 RVs.
Best estimates are 215 x 250kT WE180-style RVs.
Fun fact: very recently 100 Royal Marines Commandos defeated a force of 1,500 US troops in a war game that had to be cut short as the results were so unexpected.
See the thing is the British have always lacked quantity being a small island nation with just 67 million people, but we have always made up for that with devastatingly high quality
It wasn't just Royal Marines though. There were other units supporting the Bootnecks. There were troops from the UAE, the Netherlands, Canada and other US forces on the same "side" as the Royal Marines.
Oh, and It was 500 Royal Marines, not 100. The Exercise was NOT cut short, it went on for the planned 5 days. There WAS a reset done half way through because the US Marines suffered such high losses. FACT!🤣
@@ScotsmanDougal you're thinking of the battlegroup exercise not this one mate
@@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire My bad. I just found what you meant. My apologies.
You say : "See the thing is the British have always lacked quantity being a small island nation with just 67 million people, but we have always made up for that with devastatingly high quality". Agreed. Was it not the Brits who wee training the Yanks in , was it Afghanistan or Iraq?
Furthermore because of THEIR population (approx 10 million) AND motivation, in my very, very humble opinion, the Israelis would take top spot. I remember it being reported in the '70's that inside of a minute of a threat being identified, the Israelis could scramble more jets than the US.
@@TesseRact7228 sorry but., how is that relevant to the conversation? We weren't talking about who is best.
Don't feel bad, we Brits have been fighting for thousands of years longer than America. Also 'Vulcan' was the god of fire.
Not to mention that genetically were a mix or the vikings, the romans, the Saxons and the celts... 4 of the most violent peoples to ever live...
Vulcan is also the primarch of the salamanders adeptus Astarte's legion in warhammer 40k lol
We?
@@Ali920a we Brits.... Naturally...
As was Mr Spock 🤪
Some US Generals refused to believe this happened, until they were shown the photos taken by the Vulcans of New York ! For me the most embarrasing part is that a Vulcan LANDED at a US Airbase in N.Y. and the first the airbase knew was when it told them it was on finals ! They had flown right up the US East Coast !
😆
See the thing is the British have always lacked quantity being a small island nation with just 67 million people, but we have always made up for that with devastatingly high quality
@@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire I didn't want to mention the Buccaneers in the Red Flag exercises :)
@@cuthalin4976 Shouldv'e nicknamed it operation 'salamander' hahaha
@@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire Vulcan produced when only about 50 million population. Think how many employed aerospace then and now.
You are possibly the most thoughtful American reactor on YT IMO. I enjoy listening to you. Thank you.
There is only one lesson to be learned here, never ever underestimate the Brits in any situation.
Fun fact: The only target that Vulcans ever blew up for real was a British airport. =)
(Operation Black Buck during the Falklands war.)
th-cam.com/video/DuuqgH3AWyk/w-d-xo.html
Aw, bother that video cuts off before the end :(
Not bad considering they were 22 year old XM607 still looks out from RAF Waddington
The effectiveness is in the deterrent factor and not having to bomb.
and that was a fail.
What I find amazing about the Vulcan is that its first flight was only eleven years after the first flight of the Lancaster bomber, both designed by the same man.
The Valiant was the first of the V bombers to be flown in 1951, crazy to think it was a late 1946 when the operational requirement (OR230) for a high speed (500 knot cruising) medium range medium load atomic weapon carrying jet bomber was made!
Yup, the vulcan and victor still look like spadeships even today!
@@Scoobydcs BUT BOTH AIRCRAFT WERE LEATHAL AND DEADLY. GOOD JOB THAT WE ARE ALLIES !!!
Yes, the Vulcan cockpit was full of Lancaster parts.
I live on the street that Roy Chadwick was born, there's a plaque on his house
That's Mark Felton, this guy knows everything about military History, what he doesn't know isn't worth knowing. It's worth checking out his channel.
He has written a few books too!
Ross Kemps brother or something lol
No, we didn't have "stealth" technology, that's a passive way of avoiding enemy air defences. The Vulcans used heavy jamming (an active system) to defeat the US air defence system. I don't think the Americans were being dumb. The Brits simply studied the US air defence system and worked out a way to defeat it rather than sticking to doctrine.
"Know your enemy..
Beat your enemy" - Sun Tsu (Art of War)
"Americans" are all people who live in the American continent, not just in the United States
@@matwatson7947 Precisely. Though to read the replies I've gotten when trying to understand our Russian chums recently you'd think Sun Tzu wrote, "know your enemy, love your enemy."
@@Revolución_Socialista True, but in English English, "American" is generally used as short hand for the Gringos.
When someone says their air defenses are 99 percent effective, always remember that getting hit by just 1% of all the oncoming nukes is still not a good thing.
As for the Vulcan, it wasn't really stealth, though the radar cross section was small for its size. But because of its enormous wing area it was very maneouverable at high altitude, despite the thin air. At 60,000 ft it can pull tighter turns than an F-15. And the jamming was very good for its time.
As for why the USAF didn't learn from the first time it happened, remember, they swept it all under the rug. No officer who wanted to have a career would mention it to his superiors, so nobody could ever learn from it.
Those who fail to learn from history are fated to relive it.
This film didn't mention the invisibility cloak painted onto every Vulcan bomber. The crew sprayed themselves with this paint, too. Then there is the American accent throat spray, the crews used to disguise their voices.
@@susanlodges48 Chortle.
I would have loved to have been the RAF officer at NORAD - standing at the back of the room - with a smug smile on my face!
Love your videos - and great to see someone genuinly interested in world history. Live Long and Prosper.
Look up red flag exercises in the late 70s and early 80s the Vulcan was still showing Americans how to fly.
@@michaelhuston8752 And let's not forget what the lightning ⚡ achieved aswell😁
".. with a smug smile on my face!"
A Brit would never do that. It'd be all, "Bad luck, old chap" spoken with polite respect and stiff-upper lip.
It'd only be when he got back home to the officers' mess that they'd all have a 'Jolly good laugh' about it all. 😏
They would have been silently bloody chuffed for the lads. Pint and cigar old chap.
After the first exercise, most of the US Airforce refused to believe the RAFs claims, which is why on the 2nd exercise they decided to land a plane in New York to prove a point, and until they asked for permission to land, the airport were not even aware they were there, so the story goes anyway
In the falklands war in the 80s a british vulcan did the longest known bombing run at 6,600 nautical miles with several refules in air
They used 17 tankers to get that one plane to The Falklands and back. They were so short on fuel towards the end that one of the tankers over supplied and put it's own survival at risk. Thankfully all made it back.
@@reverendjohnowen One Vulcan had to divert and land in Brazil (who was sympathetic to Argentina) as the refueling nozzle had snapped off! It was carrying a top secret anti radar missile. Brazil were set to 'investigate' the Vulcan until the U.S. told them to back off and leave the plane alone.
I only found this out last year & I was a teenager during the Falklands War. This was a truly astounding mission for The Vulcan Bomber & the amazing pilots before it was decommissioned, Probably because the planes after this mission had pushed them beyond their boundaries as old as they were ( I mean the plane not the crews 😊 )
Key parts of the Vulcans in flight refueling equipment were being used as ash trays in the RAF officers mess, and had to be cleaned off and refitted to the aircraft so the Falklands "Black Buck" bombing raid could take place.
A record held until 2003 when the Americans bombed Iraq flying non-stop from America.
I think the key words from the video were "with the right aircraft". The Vulcan B2 was the right aircraft for so many things, it was a design marvel and an incredible piece of engineering for the task it had (a bit like the U2 spy plane is for a different purpose). Ahead of her time. I'm glad to have been able to see one fly for real before it was finally retired a few years ago.
During the 'Red Flag' joint UK, US war games in the 80's, the height 'ceiling' of operations was set to 500 feet. one of the Vulcan crews on that exercise was reprimanded for flying so low it brought down telephone cables with its vertical tail plane. What really annoyed the top brass was that the cockpit data recorder showed that the aircraft was 'climbing' when it hit the wires!! Vulcan crews were a breed apart for sure.....
The British had a nuclear programme long before your Manhatten project. During the war there was an agreement to work together (along with several other countries - it wasn't an American breakthrough) and share the technology. Your president went back on that and we had to create our own from scratch, you did it again with the hydrogen bomb too.
'Tube Alloys'
There were other countries in that agreement including Australia, that never received anything for their contributions.
A similar story with supersonic flight technology. You show me yours and I’ll hide mine.
America has this nasty habit of collaborating until it's solved then classifying it under national security considerations and restricting access from everyone including those they collaborated with.
After a while a lesson is learned and you always make sure you aren't working in US territory because if you are forget keeping control of any project they want.
@@Mega1russell Don't forget -- Churchill was half-American, yet he still thought that way! He was a very wise man.
In a way Sky Shield 2 is an even bigger embarrassment because they halved the number of attacking aircraft and multiplied the number of defenders by 6.
And the Vulcans used the same attack profile.
And I'm sure that, somehow, we could do it again - but, thankfully, we don't know how, partly because our top brass don't act like John Wayne and tell the world in advance.
jamming is more like the opposite tactic of stealth. where you try to blind the enemy radars so it is making it difficult to pinpoint the planes.
Yeh. It's like shining a very bright light into someone's eyes at night as they're trying to shoot at you. They know you're there but not sure exactly where to aim. Three of them shone the "bright lights" while the fourth snook around the back.
I wouldn't call it the opposite, but a different approach to the same goal: not being "seen"/detected.
Compared to contemporary bombers the Vulcan was stealthy.
@@stuartrowe3006 The best defence is a passive defence. Before the Vulcans were withdrawn from service they were using the enemies jammers and radars to illuminate the target.
If anyone asks I never said it.
@@Nonsense010688 I'd agree with that
You should look at the story of the Australian submarine that evaded the US in a training exercise and then played "Down Under" by Men At Work over the radio to celebrate their victory.
Not half as impressive as this tho
or the time an old oberon class sub got through the carrier screen and took pictures of an aircraft carriers propellers during combined wargames!!🤣
not as impressive as the British submarine that cut, and stole a soviet towed sonar array during the cold war.
There are 2 types of stealth. First one is to jam incoming signals, create lots of false-positives, scream really load and confuse the enemy radar. The 2nd type is to refract or absorb incoming signals and just don't appear on the radar screen at all. Vulcans were designed to use the first one, but their profile and manoeverability meant they accidentally had a bit of the 2nd type too.
And not visible when it rains
SoGal, mentioning 9/11, check out the UKs reaction on 9/12 when the Queen ordered the Guards Band, at the ceremonial changing of the guard, to play the Star Spangled Banner instead of God Save The Queen. This was the only time ever that the anthem of a foreign country was played at Buckingham Palace without the leader of that country being present.
Theres a little pub in Suffolk called the vulcan. Their sign has Mr Spock, the Roman god and this aircraft. Its one of the most delightfully nerdy things in the country
*makes note*
I believe it’s at Sizewell, cool place 😎
Never been there; all my Suffolk drinking has been in Southwold... but that sounds fine too
@@skadoink1736 The Nelson, the Harbour inn and the Swan hotel. Adnams Brewery.
@@alexveldhuis6004 yeah, can't get Adnams where I am now, closest I can get is imported London Pride, which is also a fine brew...
You might be interested in learning about the Swedish Gotland class submarine that penetrated US defense warning systems undetected and sank a US aircraft carrier in a navy drill. A lot of US admirals probably needed a change of shorts on that day.
And that was fairly recent, in 2005 or...?
And it did it more than once too. 😁
First I’ve heard about this. To me this may add another reason as to why the TSR2 was cancelled, as it may have gone against American interests. The TSR2 was a supersonic British nuclear bomber that would replace the Vulcan. Just think, better technically than the Vulcan, and twice as fast with greater range.
That’s my opinion anyway 😊
A friend of mine had a relative who worked on the TSR2 project. He said there technical issues that were insoluble
Spot on, I believe concorde was withdrawn for a similar reason, the fire on air France was a good excuse.
@@Pippins666 Of course they were. Solving impossible technical problems is what Brits do best. It's the politics we can never solve. The politicians wanted the best and latest from the US. In reality the US was about five years behind the UK. The F111 did not work at the time and effectively, by the time that order was cancelled, they had spent the money and got nothing in return.
Oh my god what a derivative conclusion.
@@davidbrown2571
That’s a load of cack. Concorde is not a military aircraft nor is capable of being one.
When Kubrick released "Doctor Strangelove", the US military forced him to place a disclaimer in front of it saying that it was their stated position that the safeguards they had in place would ensure it could never happen. After the Cold War the US declassified its records and it turned out that, not only were the "safeguards" not in place; not only were the events in "Doctor Strangelove" entirely possible, but that the actual security situation was FAR WORSE than even the movie predicted.
Rumour has it that the American airbase where the Vulcans landed didn't know they were there until they called short finals
I saw on another video (sorry, forgotten which one) that on the second occasion, when the Vulcans landed at the USAF base, the groundcrew assumed that they'd been "shot down" until the Vulcan crew showed them pictures of New York from above!
Sorry, it was a British island in the atlantic ocean called Ascension Island. The runway was built by The CCB's (1943-44) and is opperared by both air forces.
@@minstral8785 Are you sure? Ascension is thousands of miles to the SSE. Why wouldn't they just go back to Bermuda?
@@craigstephens93 - Ascenion island is where the vulcan flew from when it attacked Argentina in Falkland war.
In the case of the US air defence tests, the southern groups in both instances started at Bermuda.
What's even more amusing/worrying is that, in the second exercise, there were half as many bombers and three times as many fighters.
Amusing/worrying? I'd say 'terrifying', if you happen to be American!
Is very emblematic of both countries philosophies on warfare; if in doubt, throw more hardware/bullets/bombs at the problem vs small elite team
@@davidwallin7518 "Hilarious", if you aren't.
@@ghughesarch Ouch
I'd guess that with the reduction of bombers and increase of fighters, the second exercise was intended as more of an easy win for the defenders rather than a serious military exercise
When the Vulcan first came into service it could fly faster and higher than any Soviet fighter of that period.
Turned out nice again old boy!! :]] The Vulcan is a Legend!!!!
I used to go to the Open Days at RAF Finingley and there was always a Vulcan display. The engine noise was so tremendous, especially when the display pilot pulled back on the stick and flew nearly vertically, the tremendous noise from the engine exhausts caused your chest to vibrate as well as deafening you!
For those interested some trivia : The design brief for the AVRO Vulcan specified the strategic bomber outmanouver Soviet interceptor jets while flying at high altitude. In other words, a long range stretegic nuclear bomber that thinks it's a jet fighter.
As a boy I went to a air show with my parents, a Vulcan bomber did a fly pass and I have never heard anything as loud in my life. It literally shook the ground.
It is a shame that now no one who has not heard that sound will ever know just how loud it was. I remember going to RAF Chivenor air show every year and seeing the Vulcan and my chest vibrating from the noise.
You should try being on duty at a Radio station serving an airfield when they decide to get all aircraft into the air because of a predicted simulated attack. That included a Squadron of Vulcans and three squadrons of Lightnings,with one of the Lightning squadrons going supersonic vertically. Damn near shook the building to pieces.
I took my son to an air show with a Vulcan - at 3 feet separation we couldn't hear one another shout at the top of our voices during a low level fly past.
They are bloody enormous - that delta wing alone should scare all enemies into thinking twice.
@Tony Chalmers Concord wasn’t here, no.
It wouldn’t have been able to fly so very low even if it had been.
I live 4 miles from a former RAF base where Vulcans were based, 8 would be scrambled in 2 sets of 4, the ground would shake for miles around, you couldn't see properly and your hearing was no use for at least 10 minutes after, actually being at the base when this happened was quite scary but funny at the same time, I miss those days.
Ahhh Mark Felton. Get yourself subscribed, that theme tune is the herald of a quality 10 minutes of military history.
Mark Felton is a great historian for those interested in early to mid twentieth century history.
@@Zurvan101 yes love his channel
Absolutely. Highly intelligent content, often about events that are not well known (e.g. Successful British military operations in Vietnam using Japanese forces just after WW2).
I can tell you that this happened AGAIN. I was in the Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm "Blackburn Buccaneer" aircraft ALSO managed to penetrate US airspace. These were nuclear-armed bombers, launched from aircraft carriers. They were supersonic at sea level. This happened in the 70s.
It was not stealth technology, but Radar Jamming tech. The Vulcans at the time had the most advanced kit in the world, far surpassing that of US technologies. To this day its still classified, it was ripped out of all the Vulcans when they were decommissioned / or went to museums.
A bit of topic but In 2005 the Swedes used their super stealth submarine and sank the USS Ronald Ragan during a war game.
Dad took part in a war game back in the late 80s, early 90, the Royal Navy against the US navy. In this battle the US were practicing hunting down single ship and taking them out, so it was 1 RN frigate (HMS London I think it was) vs a carrier group (attached US submarines weren't officially playing but remained on guard, though you could bet if they spotted anything they'd pass it on).
Anyway the final results were the carrier was sunk along with the rest of the group, and for good measure simulated attacks were launched against the subs just to show off, though the London was taken out too. Great strategy used :p
The Brits and Swedes were the only two in that wargame to not lose a sub, it happened again a few years later off the west coast of Scotland, I know this as I drink with the boastful naval officers at the sub tracking station next to where I live.
I asked a colleague who was a ex Royal Navy submariner, which countries submariners they respected. Without hesitation he simply said Swedens.
if the defending force is 99% successful, but the 1% results in 7 of the largest cities being reduced to radioactive craters then someone should probably redefine their definition of success lol
That was the scary thing during the cold war, all nuclear nations had so many warheads that the odds were against anyone finishing outright winners. Mutually assured destruction was the only probable outcome. They still have that capability...
@@muppeteer there isn't a winner. Whoever wins, is whoever loses the least.
In nuclear war there are no winners. Only those that lose the least
Indeed 1% of Russia nukes is still 64 Nukes.
@@goggler2 a terrifying thought
I live in Doncaster where the last Vulcan is kept flying at the air museum. A few years ago I walked into a friend's garden to find it coming straight towards me, flying low back to base, and there is nothing so staggering as seeing a plane which your mind wants to think is a little sleek fighter, and then realising your sense of scale is all wrong and it's almost as big as Concorde!
It doesn't fly anymore AFAIK, too much stress on the airframe and getting replacement parts for the engines is a big problem so it just makes runs up and down the runway now. There were plans to make passenger aircraft based on the Vulcan.
@@terminusaquo1980 I believe you're right although I think there are still fund-raising campaigns in the local press to get it flying again. Glad I got the chance to see it in the air before then anyway!
I grew up in Lincoln in the 70s and 80s. Vulcans screaming overhead was just a part of daily (and nightly) life. Incredible!
@@BlameThande It wont fly again, its not a matter of money, Rolls Royce and others have withdrawn technical support, without which it cannot get CAA clearance to fly anymore.
Used to go to airshows at finningley which is now the airport...amazing memories of the vulcan as a kid
To witness the vulcan airborne is a sight and sound that stays with one forever and forever chasing that sound,brought a tear to my eye in 2015 on her final voyages around the UK, watching her vast expanse disappear into the horizon that last time made you realize what an achievement in British engineering she actually was,so many men women and children in tears said it all,gone but will be remembered forever,first saw her doing a training bomb run on our church back in the 70s at the height of the cold war and it came in very low nearly ripping the roof tiles off the houses with that howl i was literally paralysed and mouth wide open in amazement at the size of her as she rose up and the sound was literally pounding off your chest,she banked to the left and it just got louder lol,from that day on my love for the vulcan has never waned,the Lancaster will always be the no1 british bomber but the Vulcan is the closest 2nd you could wish to see
Seeing as you're interested and asked, I'll try to explain a few things : There's a big difference between stealth and Electronic Countermeasures. Stealth reduces the radar cross section to mask or almost completely hide the aircraft's presence from radar. Active Electronic Countermeasures (or "Jamming") takes the opposite approach, it takes the incoming detection (radar, sonar etc.) method and uses that same frequency to make a lot of 'noise' for the receiver. It means its easy enough to track on a vector, but next to impossible to find range or altitude (or depth). They could be anywhere in a straight line from 10 ft outside the radar facility at 300ft to the max range (potentially hundreds of miles) at 70,000 ft or higher. Think "I'm here...but where is that?" Stealth uses a mixture of tactics, from radar absorbent materials and emission dampening to angular surfaces which scatter the radar signal and stop it returning to it's source. Stealth is more like "I'm a small flock of birds" or even "I'm not here at all". Imagine throwing a ball at a wall while standing at right angles. The ball will come back in your direction. Now imagine throwing a ball at a huge pile of rubble. Chances the ball comes back to you is vastly reduced. The ball is the radar signal. More modern stealth uses smoothed out surfaces, but the result is the same (actually much better) with no large flat areas to return a signal from. Stealth was being played with even during WW2 by the Luftwaffe (see the Horten Ho 229) but theres debate about how much they stumbled across it by accident, but as with everything, its come a long way since then.
Attacks like this wouldn't play out like this anymore. Deployment of both Strategic and Tactical Nukes has changed A LOT since the 60's. They difference between the two is: Tactical Nukes - generally much lower yield and used in a battlefield role. Strategic are the big boys, city levelling kinda deal. In the early days they almost exclusively were delivered like this, bombs dropped from Strategic bombers (check out the role of strategic air command post WW2). Problem with that is, a bomber on the ground was vulnerable and it's hard to hide an entire airfield from prying eyes. A strategic bomber in the air started to become more and more vulnerable, better tracking, satellite intel picking out known strategic airfields in detail, allowing assets to be scrambled to counter them before they even get 10 miles from their field, and air defence systems that can pick them off from afar. These days the preference is ICBM's (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles) or SLBM's (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles), some of which can carry 10 or more warheads and each can be given its own target. In the UK, our entire Strategic arsenal is launched from SSBN's or Nuclear powered Ballistic Missile Subs. They constantly patrol, can hide for months at a time, pop up anywhere and are always armed. Suddenly your Nuclear deterrent is a lot scarier to aggressors when they have no idea where it is, can't be easily tracked and you have no idea the direction its warheads could be coming from. The missiles can even be launched from under the surface (search for Trident Test Launch on TH-cam). I don't think I've done much to curb your anxiety over how scary this seemed. On the bright side....we're all in the same boat though, so that's comforting, right? :S
This film didn't mention the invisibility cloak painted onto every Vulcan bomber. The crew sprayed themselves with this paint, too. Then there is the American accent throat spray, the crews used to disguise their voices.
The atom was first split in the university of Manchester in England so we was in the nuclear scene from the start
Yep. The atom bomb wasn't an entirely American invention. Some of Britain's top experts were working alongside them.
During ww2 we (British) gave the Americans all our research regarding atom bombs etc on the provision that after the war they return the favour. They double crossed us and refused to share the information so we had to produce atom bombs from scratch.
@@JonsTunes I was going to mention this but didn't think anyone would even read it lol.
They didn't share the information back because we had alot of communism supporters working under cover sending information to the Russians for money , America and the UK knew this was happening .
Also they wanted be first to use one
@@KissMyFatAxe The Manhattan Project.
@Mickey Finn The same "little Britain" that you just watched out perform America, with better technology? Britain has helped America (And World) in many areas. The UK helped the USA's nuclear program & helped put Man on the moon! 🇬🇧
That howl from the Vulcans engines is truely terrifying!
I would say interesting or weird rather than terrifying, I understand it was caused because of the air intakes being relatively small.
The “howl” was produced by the air intakes, but only at a specific engine setting which was used only at take-off and during display flights. Operationally it was significantly quieter, although still loud by today’s standards. :)
I remember seeing them at airshows in the late 60s and early 70s... The first time was so unexpected. It made its turn and came in at low level over the runway... For the longest time it was silent, then a whistle, then a roar and howl. I can still remember the sound waves hitting my chest... AWESOME
@@BluntofHwicce they can be quiet if they're flying towards you - not away though
@@davestewart2359 I saw one of the last flights ever for the Vulcan at the Dawlish Air Show. It brought a tear to my eye, but I definitely made the right decision to bring ear plugs
There's a reason why countries like having the UK as friends rather than enemies.
@Mickey Finn why don't you take one?
@Mickey Finn the only racist here seems to be you! Lumping everyone together like that..... bigotry in motion....
V-Force of Vulcans , Victors and Valient bombers look fast even sitting on the ground lol
I've just found your channel and have watched a number of your videos over the past few evenings and have now subscribed. Funnily enough, I also subscribed to Mark Felton and enjoy his videos too.
It appears to me you are turning into a bit of an Anglophile! We are a small nation and due to the short-sightedness of our politicians, our military capability is reduced. But what we do, we do well.
My father served in the RAF from 1943 to 1954 and flew in the Berlin Airlift (perhaps you could do a video on that, where the US and Britain, kept a city of 3 million alive by airlifts). He was a navigator in Transport Command and flew Handley Avro Hastings (the same company that manufactured the Vulcan). In the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, is a Hastings, TG528 (as well as a Vulcan), one of the planes he flew in. In 2007, he got the opportunity to sit in the very seat he had occupied nearly 50 years before, during the Berlin Airlift.
In that section of the museum, were also examples of the Seawolf guided missile, which was an anti-missile missile still deployed by the Royal Navy, my father was the Chief Project Engineer. Also next to it is a Rapier guided missile, a ground to air missile, still used by the British Army, my father was also the Chief Project Engineer for that too. During the Falklands War, he was on 24-hour call to assist the army with any difficulties. He received a personal letter from Mrs Thatcher, thanking him for his contribution.
As you can tell I'm very proud of my father's accomplishments and had the honour of caring for him in his final years. He left us in 2012, at the age of 85.
Keep up the good work, you are a very intelligent and attractive young lady, and I look forward to your future videos.
Given the noise the Vulcan makes, NORAD did not need Radar to detect them. LOL.
but still didnt see them coming xDDDDD
Yep - that's why they flew 10 miles up, to try and not be heard!
Vulcan is silent until it passes over your head, even at very low level. I watched the last Vulcan flight pass over my neighbourhood & you couldn't hear it coming at all.
The howl comes from the engine intakes. At relatively low airspeed, at throttle openings above 92%, the engines actually suck in more air than would otherwise be able to enter the intake orifice. This turns the long intake tract into a kind of organ pipe, the column of air vibrating as it is pulled in by those hungry 200-series Olympus turbojets. The earlier B.1 variants didn't do it because they didn't have such a huge appetite for air, and neither did the later 300-series-engined B.2s, as those engines are longer and consequently the intake tract is shorter and does not have the same constricting effect on airflow.
We didn't get invited to the next one.
Didn't we? Later exercises we changed the tactics an used the Vulcans at low level too. To hide Buccaneers. Uncle Sam didn't like that either! RAF Armourer '74 to '95.
I didn't say we didn't go, just weren't invited. I new about the Buccaneers but I was told that was more of a bet.
@@johnp8131 Those were at Red Flag. They never tried Sky Shield again with bombers but did try an exercise in 1962 to clear the airways of civilian aircraft. By that time the Cuban Missile Crisis had proved the deterrent value of Vulcans against Russia. They were Kennedy's ace up his sleeve.
The Yanks didn't like the Buccaneers as they flew too low and they thought it was cheating. Until they needed them in the first Gulf war.
@@1chish I remember one buccaneer crashed red flag exposing how old the Buccaneer was getting but the British didn't take the Buc out of service until 1994
@@1chish Sorry, I didn't know you had first hand experience?
Britain at the time had a very special single seat fighter which could reach a ceiling no other aircraft could touch. Many people forget Frank whittle invented the first jet engine in 1929. He was a British officer in the RAF
The English Electric Lightning was a truly epic - if terrifying - aircraft
Fun fact: a ground crewman once accidentally took off in one with no radio, canopy, helmet, or eject function.
Landed it though. I wonder how much poo shot out in the process
In a small town in Leicestershire lies a statue, upon a roundabout, named sir frank whittle roundabout. The pride that brought me seeing it on the way to school everyday :)
@@madmike171 The jet engine was developed in my local town Clitheroe and the Swan and Royal has a Frank Whittle Room if you want to stay there. He used the Hotel frequently for conferences and meetings. And he also used it often in the evenings.
His engine was built in the town I live in and the E.28/39 was first flown 5 miles from where I live at Brockworth aerodrome. I also live next to where parts of it were built as HH Martyn & Co used to be based adjacent to the road where I currently live, it's now an industrial estate but still has a lot of the original buildings there, my great grandad worked for them as a master carpenter.
Ahhhhh, Dr. Mark Felton. One of the best chanels on YT... Listened to every video he made and want MORE!
Guy Martin did an amazing documentary on the last flying Vulcan! I'd totally recommend watching that
Mark Felton has done more for my historical awareness as all of my history teachers combined. And they were legion!
Also The Vulcan Bomber with early equipment of electronic interference was way ahead of it's time. British Engineers are some of the best in the world though is such a shame they do not get financial backing in research as now I believe many go to the US to be financed more than in their own country : (
Always been a major problem here in the UK, our governments have always been tight with the ££....
I spent a summer in the US in the late 70's at Holloman airforce base.
I did an aircraft recognition test and got 97%. The bad news was that the US aircrews were only scoring around the 50%- 60% and in simulations would shoot down their own aircraft.
And at that time the F-15 was being out classed by the T-38 trainers: their smaller size being their advantage.
Yeah. In the UK you've got to be a high achiever to even think about the RAF. In the 80's one of my friends applied for the RAF. He was fine academically but you've got to have perfect eyesight so he was turned down after an eye test. Makes you wonder about the Americans. Their education system is so poor.
US: Our air defences are 99% effective against any nuclear threat.
Vulcan: Hold my warm beer.
British technology was far more advanced than the USA at this time.
There are many videos of Vulcans on line look up 'Vulcan howl' it had a very distinctive sound when flying at certain speeds and altitudes.
Really enjoy your inquisitiveness and desire to learn.
We did not have "stealth" in the modern sence of the word.. we used what is called EW , electronic warefare.. Don't forget , we invented Radar ..
Do you know the USAF say that thier new fancy 'Raptors' are unmatched in air defence, unless they come up against the British Typhoon fighter.
The Typhoon is a beast of an aircraft. The sound it makes sends shivers down my spine. Not as much as the Vulcan howl but it'll do.
Funniest thing not filmed was a helicopter with Trinity House colours beating up American RAF base, that housed the, not so secret, Blackbird.
Pfffftt. Maybe with a head start but I don't see how. The Raptor would be able to detect and launch missiles first , granted if it gets to a turn fight its about even, but the Raptor still has the edge in thrust to weight, turn circle. It's also not really a British plane if we can't make it without the Germans and Italians.
It isn't called a Eurofighter no reason. More of a collaboration than a purely British plane. Didn't know it was as good as the 22.
@@agdgdgwngo we have REALLY GOOD beyond-visual-range missiles though along with the radar and targeting systems to match, along with some pretty damn good pilots to boot. And once you're IN visual range, well the Raptor might be a little faster but I'll bet you the Typhoon can turn tighter with that big delta wing. The Typhoon was designed and built to match anything the Russians have AND still win a dogfight despite being almost certainly outnumbered & outgunned. And of course there's our new 6th-gen Tempest to consider, which IS coming and will be more of the same just better
You mentioned that the Vulcan made you think of Concorde. They actually share the same Rolls Royce Olympus engines, the difference being Concorde also having afterburners to get it supersonic.
Electronic countermeasures are not “stealth”, but try to do the same thing - make the aircraft, ship or other vehicle undetectable to electronic means like radar, infrared and so on, making them hard to find and also preventing guided weapons like “heat seeking” or radar guided missiles from being able to hit their target. ECM emits signals to confuse radar or IR, while stealth technology is passive and tries to prevent the observer seeing their reflections. Basically, ECM is like shining a bright light back in the face of someone looking for you with a torch at night, while stealth is dressing in dark green and hiding in the shadows (dark green blends in more at night than black, which is too dark and contrasts with the background).
I'd never heard of these war games before, you just had a couple of bad days at the office.! Great stuff, Thanks for sharing.
I’m a restoration volunteer at our local
Air museum and the Vulcan is our centrepiece. Looking forward to getting back to repainting it. It’s absolutely huge, especially when you’re painting it with fairly small roller...
Newark?
When flying, it might be rather big - but it is enormously noisy. Beautiful.
@Dan Didnot no, most painting is done with rollers
@@aross344 that’s the one
@@vaudevillian7 used to go every year before covid. My kids love it there. Can't wait to go back.
During air shows a Vulcan would fly over our house, low and slow. It was like an alien ship. coming over. You felt it in your chest and it roared like nothing else. We would lay on the grass and wait for it.
You must have lived close to me! We used to get free air shows every so often, because we were on the approach lines - I actually can't remember the name of the air show (sorry) - but yes, Vulcans, Concord, Spitfires, Red Arrows etc.... and they flew directly over our house on the way to the show.... Also, we were directly under the Concord flight path, so got to see that a few times per week - usually with the wheels retracting. Low enough that we could read the registration number, anyway. Separately - I was in Zante, Greece, and a Russian transport was taking off.... I have never felt anything so loud, and I went to Motorhead concerts! And that air show? We were far enough away that they would be practicing their formations, but close enough that we got all of them in a line.... it was pretty cool. Got to see the show without paying for the show.
I saw one of the last remaining Vulcan bombers XH558 on one of its last ever flights at an air show a few years back. It was still an awesome sight in spite of it's age and being retired from service decades ago. The howl it's engines made at high throttle was unforgettable too. It was way ahead of it's time in the 50s and 60s.
One of the many wonderful things about the Vulcan is you can watch it flying directly towards you and hear nothing but the local birds singing but as it goes over and especially if it climbs you can literally feel the ground shake. You can also feel the sound deep in your stomach, it’s an absolutely amazing sensation. Something I have not experienced with any other aircraft.
My father was at the air show when the Vulcan made its public debut. I was not there, being only about 3 months old! The pilot looped the Vulcan. I did find footage on TH-cam a couple of years ago but cannot find it now.
You may wish to watch the video about an RAF Lightning Interceptor intercepting a USAF Blackbird. Americans often underestimate the UK. Think of the Harrier and Concorde as just 2 obvious examples.
"Falklands Most Daring Raid" is an excellent documentary about the Vulcan during the Falklands war that I strongly suggest.
Absolutely adored this aircraft, saw it air shows, it has a howl then hits you with a mind numbing, wall of sound. Gorgeous bird. Mark Felton does some good videos, I like the one RAF Hunter pilot goes rogue over London 1968, so funny.
I used to love going to the air shows every year as a kid. I think we went to Woodford and Barrow-on-furness. The red arrows display was always my favourite along with the harrier jet and the way it hovered.
@@spanishdncr71 loved airshows, saw Avro Vulcan at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire think she still taxes up and down. Loved the Harrier, when she took a bow.
@@spanishdncr71 I used to go to Woodford as a kid and I got to sit in the cockpit of a Vulcan 😁
Saw the Vulcan at the Sunderland Air Show, the howl was awesome and the sight of a massive graceful aircraft never forgotten.
@@JonsTunes that’s so cool!! What a great memory!! I’ve sat in the cockpit of a commercial plane on my way to Dubai a couple of times, but that’s about it.
Given its unique shape and it's high level I wonder how many UFO reports it triggered.
This happens a lot even today, in 2014 there was huge exercise taking place around the Isle of Lewis, I was living there at the time and witnessed all the activity. During this exercise the entire US fleet got wiped out by just 1 of the UKs new type45 destroyers, I know this cause I was in direct contact with someone who knew someone else. Anyway, the type45 was able to do this because the US simply could not detect it.... More stealth jamming technology.... You probably won't read this anywhere either. You can choose to believe or not, I'm just sharing cause yeah it's no different now than it was then, UK is small and weeny etc etc, but has lots of experience and access to tech that nobody knows exists.
i feel like most people underestimate the UK, even the people in the UK.
The frightening thing with this is that it was an exercise/training experiment, you was expecting it, you knew we was coming to the party but you still didn't stop us......imagine if it was a surprise attack. The Vulcan was a beast, i have no idea why it was retired when it still had a roll to play
Money.
Money as stated. But also the changing nature of war, and that the Vulcan and Victor had made partially redundant in the bombing role by newer more advanced designs that could use more advanced weapons with more accuracy. By the time the Vulcan was retired it was really only being used for refueling and maritime patrol and recon, same for the Victor , though that lasted until just after the first gulf War.
Look out because we have very cool nuke submarines too, with the next generation ones being built. Great reaction vid SoGal! Cheers!
@Mickey Finn we try to keep you peasants in employment.
I've seen these in flight and was under its flight path. It was flying at low level and the noise that thing made as it went over was amazing. And would definitely make any loose fillings fall out.
Beautiful aircraft
If you like engineering and British history look up the Buick 215/Rover V8. The story of the engine abandoned by the US, adopted by Rover (my most beloved car company) and developed into one of our finest engines
Love your videos - and great to see someone from USA genuinely interested in true world history. My brother was in 42 commando, Royal Marines, 6 troop on the Falklands. He guarded one of the Avro Vulcans on the runway at ascension island before it/they attacked Port Stanley. I remember him telling me the Americans flew into Ascension Island none stop day and night bringing in ammunition and sidewinder missile's for the Harrier Jump Jets. I think the huge ship Atlantic Conveyor had already been sunk by the Argentinians and without the Americans support they (British Soldiers) all wondered where their equipment and ammunition would come from? The Atlantic Conveyor had land vehicles, helicopters and ammunition on board which all went down when she was sunk. My brother landed on Saint Carlos Water in the Falklands unopposed but when he dug his foxhole he had no food, clothes or ammunition. All their (British) helicopters had gone down with Atlantic Conveyer so he bedded down not knowing the plan for future advances. He and 3 Para, parachute regiment took mount tumbledown and wireless ridge but only because America brought in their supplies. Not much is known or publicised about Americas involvement but he always says without their intervention, they would likely have failed.
A very fair, understanding and balanced review. Keep up the good work.
The Vulcan was one of three bombers developed for the RAF to deliver nuclear weapons, called the V Bombers. In order of entry into service [and capability] they were the Vickers Valiant, The Avro Vulcan and the Handley Page Victor. In the 1960's I lived on a route used by Vulcan's for low level training. They would come over in pairs one or two seconds apart at almost literal roof top height, it was possible to clearly see the 'Blue Steel' stand off bombs they carried. The Blue Steel was a rocket powered missile with a top speed of around Mach 3 that was released about 100 miles from the target. What today would be called a supersonic cruise missile. They were carried by both the Vulcan and the Victor. Throughout the 60's Vulcan's and Victor's would be maintain 'On Alert', bombed up and fuelled ready to launch a counter attack against the Soviet Union should it have become necessary. The aim was for them to be in the air and clear of their bases in under 4 minutes, this being the time available from detection of a Soviet missile launch against the UK until they arrived on target. Part of the targeting mission for the V Bombers was to clear a path for the later arriving, lower performance USAF B 52's. At the end of the 1960's responsibility for the UK's nuclear detergent transferred to the Royal Navy and their ballistic missile submarines, a responsibility they retain to this day with about 200 warheads available. The Vulcan only delivered bombs in anger during the Falklands War in 1982 when Vulcan's flying from Accession Island carried out attacks against the airfield at Port Stanley. They were supported by Victor air to air refuelling aircraft. [Converted from their original bomber role] The last Vulcan flying was Vulcan B2 XH 558 which in private hands was a regular sight on the UK display circuit for many years. She was grounded at the end of the 2015 season due to her running out of flying hours on the airframe without major work.
It could be argued that the first 'Stealth Bomber' was the deHavilland Mosquito from World War 2. This was a high speed twin engined plane built largely from a wood composite that gave a very smooth aerodynamic airframe and had quite a small radar signature as well as a very high performance. It was operated as a bomber, reconnaissance plane, fighter and fighter/bomber. The bomber and reconnaissance versions carried no defensive armament, depending on their performance to avoid interception. They were capable of out running most Luftwaffe fighters, and most British/American ones as well. They had the lowest loss rate in combat of any warplane in World War 2. The Mosquito concept of an unarmed high performance bomber was the starting point for the V Bombers. Like the Mosquito they also carried no defensive weapons, depending on their performance and electronic jamming equipment to get through.
To be caught once with your trousers down is embarrassing and accidental, to be caught twice - that's flashing!
The Vulcan only flew once in anger - during the Falklands War.
They also stood fuelled, tooled and crewed ready to get angry with Blue Steel missiles in 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
If you like the plane and Star Trek you would love the sign for the pub, the Vulcan arms at Sizewell, Suffolk, England as on one side it has the plane and Spook on the other side. (Just ignore the huge nuclear power stations that are just to the north 🤣 )
At a quick glance, I thought to myself, "I didn't post that" I'm nowhere near Suffolk then saw it was James not John Francis that posted, great comment will have to check out the pub as a fan of both the bomber and the TV show
It's interesting to see how your channel's evolved over the years. Keep up the great content 👍
In war games a few years ago Swedish subs were able to sink our aircraft carriers and get away.
The Vulcan was an awesome aircraft, only Concord could match its presence in the air. Do a search on the Vulcan howl - it's awesome!
That's because both the Vulcan and Concorde used the same Olympus engines.
The Vulcan Bomber is an amazing aircraft. It was unfortunately retired in 1984. If you want to know more, Operation Black Buck is a good thing to look at. Documentary Special has a good documentary on it, called: First Strike of The Falklands War; Documentary in HD. You may want to look at the Falklands War for some context though.
We would have had even better aircraft, had not the Labour Party not shut down our whole aircraft Industry. The Vulcan entered service in 1956. The TRS2 was cancelled in 1960.
THE FALKLANDS WAR WAS 1982. Oh, it was also the Labour Party that gave Rolls Royce Jet Engines to Russia!
Operation Black Buck was a series of seven ambitious long-distance bombing missions conducted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Falklands War in 1982. It was the RAF’s most daring attack since Operation Chastise - the Dambusters raid in WWII.
th-cam.com/video/DuuqgH3AWyk/w-d-xo.html
Vulcan arrives home with some fuel spare, pilot has some fun with the spectators - turn the volume up and watch the spectors move out of the way! th-cam.com/video/ydfddlcebSo/w-d-xo.html
Hi. Just stumbled on your video and if you are interested in stealth tech., you should check out the WWII German plane Horten HO229, which is the first prototype of a stealth plane ever, designed in the mid 40's. Then you should check Northrop YB-49 from 1951. Those two planes set the foundations for stealth flight although the first one, only later was recognized as a stealth plane. All in all, liked your video. Thumbs up!
Admiral King was a senior US admiral in WW2. Before the conflict he wrote several articles on how the US was always happy to celebrate success and ignore when things had gone wrong. In the late 30s he was stationed in the Pacific in charge of aircraft carriers. One of the exercises he did was air attacks on the Pacific fleet stationed at a place called Pearl Harbor.
Thankfully he had passed away by then, otherwise he'd have had kittens? He hated the British, allegedly?
@@johnp8131 Apparently Admiral King was summonsed to the White House in 1942 for "an interview without coffee" to explain why a handful of German submarines were inflicting heavy losses on US east coast shipping - despite being warned in advance by the British who had access to Bletchley Park intelligence.
He's responsible for turning around the Mk. 14 torpedo debacle. Drachinifel has a good video on it.
the 20th century non violent equivalent to 1812 when the British forces marched under cover of night to Washington and set fire to it, though stealth technology back then was limited to not beating the kettle drums and playing the pipes.
Officer: "Sgt Major, why in heavens are our pipers playing 'Yankey Doodle Dandy'?
Sgt Major: "We're in stealth mode, sir!"
@@gagatube You.,realise when the SOVIETs come.
My dad worked on the vulcans at RAF Scampton I used to watch them take off all the time after that we moved to woomera in Australia to work on blue streak
On 24 October 1958, Vulcan B1 XA908 of No. 83 Squadron was en route from Lincolnshire, England to Lincoln, Nebraska ("Lone Ranger" Exercise) crashed over Detroit on a training mission no survivors and were buried locally. RIP
Great video.
A few points for you about the Vulcan:
The Vulcan was originally painted in
anti flash white but in 1964 they changed
to camouflage for low level operations.
The Vuclan was the 3rd V bomber,
the 1st was the Valiant, the 2nd was the Victor. The Victors were converted to
refueling tankers.
Check out the Victor, it's weird looking,
it reminds me of a swallow.
It has similar engines to the Concorde,
RR Olympus but no after burner.
The Vulcan always did very well
in the Red Flag bombing excercises
against much more modern planes like the F1-11 supersonic variable wing
strike aircraft .
The F1-11 flew from RAF Lakenheath
in the UK to attack Tripoli in 1986
on the orders of President Reagan.
Mark Felton’s channel is really good. I’ve watched it for about a year now. To make you feel even better , we brits don’t use planes anymore. We have nuclear subs ! 🙂
Could be worse - we've never accidentally dropped a nuke off the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. USS Ticonderoga
Black Buck was one hell of a mission.
19:13 Funny you mentioned Concorde. The Vulcan bomber's Rolls Royce Olympus engines were the basis for the Olympus engines that powered all Concordes
"Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines." Playing in the background. I love that so much.
I'll bet it was Roger who discovered Mark Felton's channel.
Best title music on TH-cam and I'm not even into martial music 😎🎵
If you want to test your defenses, you ask your mates to have a go. That way any weaknesses can be ironed out before a war. These exercises are crucial for that.
A few years ago the US Navy was exercising with the Swedish Navy. The Swedes with their new ultra modern diesel subs managed to penetrate the US carrier fleet undetected and 'sink' a US carrier. They did this multiple times undetected. It was a great exercise for USA. They ended up leasing the Swedish sub (with Swedish crew) for a year or two to learn how to combat it.
It uses a Stirling engine. So an old concept but obviously newly built. It was to do with the frequency it emits in the sea. The Hz doesn't 'look' like a submarine.
1:50: In Britain that gesture is an insult but perhaps appropriate considering the subject matter. 😆
Normally I'd have a bit of banter about you guys not knowing this, but it was kept top secret for decades lol, much love from England, 👍
The Vulcan is still a gorgeous looking plane and the howl from those Rolls Royce is amazing