The Aircraft Too Radical to Ever Succeed

By 1944, American bomber formations were devastating Germany faster than the Luftwaffe could stop them. Desperate for a solution, engineer Erich Bachem proposed one of the most radical aircraft ever conceived: the Ba-349 Natter, a vertical-launch, rocket-powered interceptor designed to blast straight into Allied bomber formations before conventional fighters could even take off. Built largely from wood, powered by volatile rocket fuel, and intended to fly mostly under automatic control, the Natter looked less like a fighter and more like a manned missile. Its pilot would have only seconds to aim a devastating salvo of rockets before abandoning the aircraft by parachute. But as Germany collapsed, political interference, impossible deadlines, dangerous testing, and fatal accidents pushed the program toward disaster. Test pilot Lothar Sieber became the first person to attempt a vertical rocket launch in history, only to lose his life less than a minute after takeoff, and the weapon never reached combat before Allied forces overran its launch sites. This is the story of the Bachem Ba-349 Natter, Nazi Germany’s most desperate interceptor, the revolutionary aircraft that arrived too late to change the war, and how its bizarre concept foreshadowed the missile age that would soon replace manned rocket fighters forever. --- 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.