Why The Soviets Never Built Their Darkstar DSB-LK?

Support the channel and get Morning Brew (It's really good!)

NAZI Sun Gun!

Join this channel to get access to perks:
Patreon:

This video is brought to you by Morning Brew.

Meet the ultimate bomber.

A secret Soviet project from the late 50s that could’ve been the fastest military aircraft ever built - so fast even the SR-71 wouldn’t catch it.

Flying at hypersonic speed, this plane would’ve been unstoppable and could bring destruction to any western city without them even realizing it.

Or blown apart an entire US carrier group before it even appeared on radar.

Was this russian design something completely crazy or a feasible design that would have changed the world forever?

Today we’re going over Mach 5 with DSB-LK bomber.
Let’s face it, late 50s and 60s are probably the coolest period in cold war aviation history.

Engineers on both sides of the iron curtain were being given a carte blanche to create the ultimate weapon which could carry nuclear bombs to the targets on the other side.

Everything from giant nuclear powerd flying tug boats, to top secret hypersonic submarines. Yes both of these are real ideas, and both are right here on the channel.

These bomber designs would bring both tactical and political advantage in any potential conflicts or proxy wars between america and the USSR.

But there was one major problem with many of these bomber projects. Interceptors.

Both the west and the east were in a constant game of rock paper scissors, each trying to develop a faster bomber, and, in turn a faster interceptor to beat it.

The United States would eventually turn their SR-71 into a interceptor called the YF-12, the fastest of its kind - but it would still struggle to catch what the soviets were cooking up.

A nuclear bomber that could fly as fast as the hypersonic nuclear missiles it carried.
Unlike many other Soviet projects which you’ve heard about so far on this channel, this one had a much weirder origin. It was started by Leningrad military aviation engineer academy and led by Alexander Moskalyov - not the big engineering firms famous for aircraft such as MIG or Sukhoi.

Moskalyov was an interesting figure, an aerospace engineer who designed his first aircraft when he was only 26, and his first flying prototype when he was 29. Truely a engineer prodigy.

By his 40s he was a prominent aerospace engineer and started working on new concepts for a supersonic seaplane bomber aircraft, some of which you can see here and are quite frankly ludicrous.

Various different shapes were used, from the duck design to the tailless and of course, the flying wing.

Its this last design that held the most potential.

Hearing of the constant one upping between the home soviet bureaus and the capitalist americans, he thought it was time to end the fight once and for all.

And thus the design of the DSB-LK was born. But it was also the wrong place at the wrong time.

[spol]

You've gotta admit the DSB-LK is incredibly cool looking. It's kind of sci-fi looking.

[karlssus]

Gun turrets on a supersonic bomber? The 50s and 60s were a wild time indeed

[sssbob]

For an airplane moving at that speed, you would definitely want all the engines on the centerline of the aircraft. With the engines set so far apart, if you have an engine out situation the plane will be violently wrenched to one side and most likely break apart. Pilots of the SR-71 said that when they had an 'unstart' happen at speed, it was like hitting a brick wall.

[DefinitelyNotEmma]

This thing looks like one of these aircraft you'd see in an alternate-history franchise. Just like the Silbervogel which was a German project for an orbital glider during WW2 to reach the east coast of the US

[KomradZX]

Your ability to take some technical drawings and descriptions and turn them into such quality-made mini documentaries simply blows me away with every single video you make. 10/10 as always

[matirs]

The presentation, editing and renders just keep getting better and better. Awesome stuff.

What a mad plane, it seemed like a much more versatile platform than an ICBM

[Shadow-Banned-Conservative]

The graphic renderings in your videos is top notch! Amazing work.

[glsracer]

Given the sweep of the wing leading edge and the design of the engine inlets, this design would have encountered serious issues exceeding mach 2.5 or 2.8 sustained. It looks really cool though.

[serge]

I remember this project, when I was in the Belgian Air Force. Thanks for sharing mate. Keep up the good work.

[ArmadaOne]

This is such a cool looking aircraft. Even today, this looks like it was designed yesterday for combat roles in the future. It actually looks more advanced than the MSV Normandy SR2 from Mass Effect.

[edwardfletcher]

Truly crazy bomber !

Love how you added the realism of heavy black smoke to let us know it's got Russian engines ! LoL

[Veridix-]

That missile launch animation at the beginning was so

[Horesmi]

Moskalyov: "I might not have the big bureau behind me, but through grit and determination I will design the most powerful bomber to ever exist!"

Korolev: "Parry this you filthy casuals."

[peppapig]

Your videos are the highlights of my week!
I absolutely love planes, and I absolutely love random planes that I knew little about or nothing about.
Thank you for all the work you put into your videos!

[memofromessex]

Surely those gun pods would either melt or be torn off by the speed and heat.

And the bullets would travel slower than the aircraft and shoot itself down or else be completely useless.

[Tadhakes]

Wonderful video. It still stands fantasy vrs reality. Sr71 was built and flown.

[combatdoc]

DSB-LK if it have gone past the drawing board this would have been the real life equivalent to the fictional Firefox from the 1982 film.

[grey]

As far as the American one resembling it I mean you can really only make a flying wing so many different ways before compromising performance I'd imagine. Their can't be very many flying wing designs that give the desired capabilities so by evolution they will all look more and more alike as designs are optimized further.

[SomeOrdinaryJanitor]

im such an aviation nerd that if i had unlimited funding and resources, i would personally fund every cancelled/unrealized projects to have at least one model in existence for my own enjoyment.

[captain_commenter]

*“Honey, the Russians are designing crazy vehicles again!”*