The 700MPH Bomber that Shook Itself Apart

The Vickers Valiant was built to restore Britain's place among the world's great military powers at the dawn of the Cold War. As the first of the legendary V-bombers, it became the Royal Air Force's first true strategic jet bomber and the only British aircraft ever to drop live atomic and hydrogen bombs during nuclear weapons tests in Australia and the Pacific. Yet behind those historic achievements lay a program plagued by structural flaws, dangerous flight tests, failed modifications, and mounting doubts over whether the aircraft could survive a real war. While the Valiant entered combat during the Suez Crisis and briefly gave Britain an independent nuclear strike capability, the rapid advance of Soviet surface-to-air missiles forced it into a role its fragile airframe had never been designed to perform. Cracks spread through its wings, low-level operations accelerated its deterioration, and within barely a decade of entering service, the RAF was forced to retire the bomber entirely. This is the remarkable story of the Vickers Valiant, the pioneering aircraft that carried Britain into the nuclear age, proved the Royal Air Force could deliver atomic weapons anywhere in the world, and was ultimately overtaken by the very technological revolution it helped create. --- Join Dark Skies as we explore the world of aviation with cinematic short documentaries featuring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built, top-secret military projects, and classified missions with hidden untold true stories. Including US, German, and Soviet warplanes, along with aircraft developments that took place during World War I, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Gulf War, and special operations mission in between. As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Skies sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Skies is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.