On March 17, 1947, the North American B-45 Tornado, a fine but often forgotten plane, made its first flight and was fielded for duty a year later, becoming the first U.S. jet-powered nuclear bomber.
Digging Deeper
Alarmed by the development and deployment of the Arado 234 jet bomber by Nazi Germany, the U.S. scrambled to produce a jet bomber of its own. The Germans had already fielded the Me 262 twin-engine jet fighter that was clearly superior to any fighter in the world, and the Arado 234 could fly above and faster than any Allied fighter in the bombing or reconnaissance role.
Britain responded with the Gloster Meteor jet fighter which saw some action against Germany’s V-1 flying bombs, and the U.S. replied with the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star which entered service before World War II ended but did not see combat until the Korean War.
Capable of achieving a speed of 570 miles an hour and of carrying a 22,000-pound load of bombs, the B-45 Tornado was almost twice as fast and could carry as many bombs as the B-29 Superfortress bombers that were the backbone of the U.S. bomber force. Although not capable of the heavy load (almost 100,000 pounds) that the Convair B-36 “Peacemaker” (6 piston engines, later supplemented by 4 additional jet engines) could carry, the B-45 was again much faster. Able to carry a nuclear bomb, the B-45, based in Europe, became an important Cold War nuclear deterrent.
