{"id":21840,"date":"2026-08-22T19:23:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T17:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/?page_id=21840"},"modified":"2026-08-22T19:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T17:24:21","slug":"north-american-b-45-tornado","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/ja\/aircraft\/north-american-b-45-tornado\/","title":{"rendered":"North American B-45 Tornado"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"mfam\">\n<style> html{overflow-x:hidden} body.page-id-21840{overflow-x:hidden} body.page-id-21840 h1.entry-title.main_title{display:none} body.page-id-21840 #sidebar{display:none} body.page-id-21840 #left-area{width:100%!important;float:none;padding:0} body.page-id-21840 #main-content .container::before{display:none!important;background:none!important} body.page-id-21840 #main-content .container{padding-top:0} #mfam{width:100vw;margin-left:calc(50% - 50vw);overflow:hidden;font-family:'Gilroy 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a.ctabtn:hover{background:#5C91FF;border-color:#5C91FF;text-decoration:none} #mfam .ctacard{flex:1;min-width:240px;background:#111a26;border:1px solid #26344a} #mfam .ctacard .cc{padding:22px 22px 24px} #mfam .ctacard h3{color:#fff;font-size:18px;margin:0 0 8px} #mfam .ctacard p{color:#c6d2e6;font-size:14.5px;margin:0 0 14px} #mfam .ctanote{font-size:13.5px;color:#8794a6;margin-top:18px} #mfam .relgrid{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(3,1fr);gap:18px;margin-top:6px} #mfam .relgrid>p{display:contents} #mfam a.rel{display:block;border:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding:22px 22px;background:#fff;color:#0d1117} #mfam a.rel:hover{border-color:#5C91FF;text-decoration:none} #mfam a.rel span.rt{display:block;font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';font-size:18px;margin-bottom:6px} #mfam a.rel span.rk{display:block;font-size:12px;letter-spacing:1px;text-transform:uppercase;color:#5C91FF;margin-bottom:10px} #mfam a.rel span.rd{display:block;font-size:14.5px;color:#6a7684} #mfam .sources{columns:2;column-gap:34px;margin-top:6px} #mfam .sources .src{break-inside:avoid;margin:0 0 16px;font-size:14.5px;color:#39424e} #mfam .sources .src b{font-family:'Gilroy semiBold';display:block;color:#0d1117} #mfam .foot{font-size:13px;color:#8794a6;margin-top:26px;border-top:1px solid #e2e7ee;padding-top:18px;max-width:820px} @media(max-width:900px){#mfam .eng,#mfam .rec,#mfam .relgrid{grid-template-columns:1fr 1fr}#mfam .spectbls{grid-template-columns:1fr;gap:22px}#mfam .gallery{grid-template-columns:repeat(2,1fr)}#mfam .hero h1{font-size:42px}#mfam .sources{columns:1}} @media(max-width:600px){#mfam .eng,#mfam .rec,#mfam .relgrid{grid-template-columns:1fr}#mfam .hero h1{font-size:34px}#mfam .hero{min-height:74vh}#mfam h2{font-size:25px}#mfam .scard{flex:0 0 84vw}} <\/style>\n<section class=\"hero\">\n<div class=\"hero-inner\">\n<div class=\"brd\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/\">Book of Beasts<\/a> &nbsp;\/&nbsp; Early Cold War Bombers &nbsp;\/&nbsp; North American B-45 Tornado<\/div>\n<h1>North American B-45 Tornado<\/h1>\n<p class=\"claim\">America&rsquo;s first operational jet bomber &mdash; and the first US jet able to drop an atomic bomb. A four-engined interim striker whose reconnaissance version flew some of the most dangerous missions of the early Cold War.<\/p>\n<div class=\"statstrip\">\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>1947<\/b><span>First flight<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>1st<\/b><span>US jet bomber<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>~142<\/b><span>Built<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"stat\"><b>4<\/b><span>Turbojet engines<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"wrap\">\n<div class=\"chips\"><span class=\"chip\"><b>Role:<\/b> Strategic jet bomber &amp; reconnaissance<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Era:<\/b> Early Cold War (1948&ndash;1959)<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Engines:<\/b> 4 &times; turbojets (later General Electric J47)<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Origin:<\/b> United States<\/span><span class=\"chip\"><b>Status:<\/b> Retired &middot; a few preserved<\/span><a class=\"chip-fly\" href=\"#faq\">Can you fly a North American B-45 Tornado today?<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">The Story<\/p>\n<h2>The North American B-45 Tornado: America&rsquo;s first jet bomber<\/h2>\n<div class=\"story\">\n<p>The North American B-45 Tornado holds a permanent place in aviation history as the first operational jet bomber built by the United States, and the first American jet aircraft capable of carrying an atomic bomb. It was not a beautiful aircraft, nor a long-lived one, and it was soon overshadowed by the sleek swept-wing bombers that followed it. But when it entered service at the end of the 1940s, the Tornado gave the young United States Air Force a jet-powered strategic striking arm for the first time &mdash; and its reconnaissance version went on to fly some of the most secret and dangerous missions of the early Cold War.<\/p>\n<p>The Tornado was designed by North American Aviation, the company behind the P-51 Mustang and the F-86 Sabre, in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, when jet propulsion was transforming military aviation. The prototype, the XB-45, first flew in March 1947. It was a conventional-looking aircraft by later standards &mdash; a straight, unswept wing, a high-set fuselage with a glazed nose for the bombardier, and four turbojet engines grouped in two large nacelles slung under the wings, two engines to a nacelle. It carried a crew of four: two pilots seated in tandem under a fighter-style canopy, a bombardier-navigator in the glazed nose, and a tail gunner in the rear to defend against fighters.<\/p>\n<p>Power was both the making and the limiting of the Tornado. The first aircraft used Allison J35 turbojets, but the definitive versions flew behind the more powerful General Electric J47 &mdash; the same engine family that gave the F-86 Sabre its edge &mdash; four of them together hauling the big bomber to speeds no piston bomber could match. Yet the straight wing that made the B-45 stable and easy to fly also capped its performance: it could not approach the speeds a swept wing would soon unlock, and that limitation was built into the airframe from the day it was drawn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pull\">&ldquo;The first American jet bomber, and the first US jet that could drop an atomic bomb &mdash; the Tornado carried the Air Force into the jet age.&rdquo;<span>&mdash; the B-45&rsquo;s place in history, in a sentence<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The B-45A entered service with the USAF&rsquo;s Strategic Air Command around 1948 and 1949. Its significance was enormous: for the first time the United States had a jet bomber in squadron service, able to fly higher and faster than the piston-engined bombers it supplemented. Just as importantly, the Tornado was developed into a nuclear-capable aircraft, and in 1952 nuclear-armed B-45As of the 47th Bombardment Wing were deployed to England, at RAF Sculthorpe, giving the West a jet-borne atomic strike capability positioned within reach of the Soviet Union. It was a landmark in the nuclear standoff that would define the next four decades.<\/p>\n<p>For all its importance, though, the B-45 was very much an interim aircraft. It had been designed to a wartime-era conception of what a jet bomber should be, with its straight wing and podded engines, and the state of the art was moving fast. Boeing&rsquo;s revolutionary swept-wing B-47 Stratojet &mdash; far faster, longer-ranged and more capable &mdash; was already in development, and once it matured it would render the straight-winged Tornado obsolete as a bomber. The B-45 was, in effect, a bridge: the aircraft that let the Air Force learn to operate jet bombers while the definitive design was perfected.<\/p>\n<p>Even as an interim type, the B-45 did valuable spadework. It was among the aircraft on which Strategic Air Command worked out how to fold jets into a bomber force still built largely around piston aircraft &mdash; how to maintain temperamental early turbojets in the field, how to fly and fight at the higher speeds and altitudes jets made possible, and how to hold nuclear weapons on alert. Fitted for air-to-air refuelling, later Tornados could reach far beyond their unrefuelled radius, a technique that would become central to the global reach of the jet bomber force to come.<\/p>\n<p>The Tornado&rsquo;s most remarkable career, however, was not as a bomber at all but as a spy. A dedicated reconnaissance version, the RB-45C, was built with cameras and other sensors in place of the bomb load, and fitted for in-flight refuelling to extend its reach. These aircraft flew strategic photographic and electronic reconnaissance, and they took on some of the riskiest work of the early Cold War: probing the edges of, and at times flying deep into, hostile airspace to gather intelligence on a Soviet Union that was otherwise almost closed to Western eyes.<\/p>\n<p>It is hard, from an age of reconnaissance satellites, to grasp how blind the West was to what lay behind the Iron Curtain in the early 1950s. There were no spy satellites; the only way to photograph a Soviet airfield or map its radar defences was to send an aircraft to look. That made machines like the RB-45C strategically precious, and their crews extraordinarily brave &mdash; because the missions that mattered most were exactly the ones that carried the greatest risk.<\/p>\n<p>The most extraordinary of these operations were the overflights of the Soviet Union itself. In the early 1950s, RB-45Cs are recorded as flying deep-penetration night reconnaissance missions over Soviet territory &mdash; and, in a politically sensitive arrangement, some were flown by Royal Air Force crews in aircraft repainted with RAF markings, to provide a measure of deniability for both governments. These &ldquo;Special Duty Flight&rdquo; missions, long classified and still incompletely documented, were among the most dangerous flown in the whole Cold War: single unarmed-for-the-purpose aircraft, deep over hostile territory at night, with no realistic hope of rescue if anything went wrong. That such flights were made at all is a measure of how urgently the West needed to see behind the Iron Curtain.<\/p>\n<p>The RB-45C also went to war in Korea, flying reconnaissance over the peninsula. There the Tornado ran up against the new Soviet-built MiG-15, and RB-45Cs were involved in some of the early encounters between jet bombers and jet fighters &mdash; dangerous meetings that underlined how vulnerable even a fast jet bomber was to a modern swept-wing interceptor, and that helped push reconnaissance towards ever higher and faster aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>The Tornado&rsquo;s front-line life was short. As the B-47 Stratojet entered service in numbers through the 1950s, the B-45 was withdrawn from the bomber role, and the reconnaissance RB-45Cs were retired by the end of the decade as newer, higher-flying aircraft took over. Only around 142 Tornados of all versions were ever built, and the type was flown operationally only by the United States. But its importance far outstrips its modest numbers: it was the aircraft that carried the US Air Force into the jet-bomber age, the first American jet to hold nuclear weapons at readiness, and the mount for some of the boldest reconnaissance flights ever attempted. A handful survive in American museums, quiet reminders of a pioneering aircraft that did difficult, historic work in the tensest years of the Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">01<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The B-45&rsquo;s origins: America&rsquo;s first jet bomber<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The Tornado was born in the immediate post-war years, when the arrival of the jet engine made every existing bomber suddenly look obsolete. The US Army Air Forces, soon to become the independent US Air Force, wanted jet bombers, and North American Aviation &mdash; already famous for the Mustang and the Sabre &mdash; produced the design that became the B-45.<\/p>\n<p>The prototype XB-45 first flew in March 1947, and the aircraft entered service as the B-45A around 1948. It was the first jet bomber to serve operationally with the United States, a genuine milestone. Conventional in layout &mdash; straight wing, four podded jets, glazed nose &mdash; it nonetheless represented a decisive step from the piston-engined bombers of the Second World War into the jet age.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">02<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Four jets in two nacelles: the Tornado&rsquo;s layout<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The B-45 was powered by four turbojet engines &mdash; early aircraft used Allison J35s, later ones the more powerful General Electric J47 &mdash; grouped two to a nacelle in two large pods slung beneath a straight, unswept wing. This arrangement was typical of first-generation jet thinking, before designers learned to bury or streamline engines for higher speed.<\/p>\n<p>The straight wing gave the Tornado docile handling and a reasonable field performance, but it limited top speed and put a ceiling on how far the design could be developed. The whole configuration &mdash; sturdy, conventional and straightforward &mdash; reflected a bomber conceived at the very start of the jet era, when the swept wing and its dramatic performance gains were still being understood.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">03<\/span><span class=\"gt\">A crew of four: pilots, bombardier and tail gunner<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The Tornado carried a crew of four. Two pilots sat in tandem beneath a fighter-style bubble canopy at the top of the forward fuselage; a bombardier-navigator worked in the glazed nose, aiming the bombs and handling navigation; and a tail gunner sat in the extreme rear, operating a defensive gun position to fend off attacking fighters.<\/p>\n<p>This layout &mdash; a glass nose for aiming and a manned tail gun for defence &mdash; was inherited from wartime bomber practice, and it marks the B-45 as a design straddling two eras. Later jet bombers would move away from the glazed nose and the manned tail turret as radar bombing and the sheer speed of jets changed how bombers were built and defended.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">04<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The first US jet to carry an atomic bomb<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>One of the Tornado&rsquo;s defining distinctions is that it was the first American jet aircraft capable of carrying an atomic bomb. Adapting the B-45 to the nuclear role gave the US Air Force, for the first time, a jet-powered means of delivering the most powerful weapon in its arsenal &mdash; faster and higher than the piston-engined bombers that had held the mission until then.<\/p>\n<p>This was a significant strategic step at the dawn of the nuclear standoff. It meant the deterrent no longer depended solely on propeller-driven aircraft, and it prefigured the jet-powered nuclear bomber force &mdash; the B-47 and B-52 &mdash; that would follow. For all that it was an interim type, the B-45 was a real pioneer of the airborne nuclear deterrent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">05<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Nuclear-armed in England: the 47th Bombardment Wing<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>In 1952 nuclear-capable B-45A Tornados of the 47th Bombardment Wing were deployed to England, based at RAF Sculthorpe. This put a jet-borne American atomic strike capability within reach of targets in the Soviet Union and its allies, at a time of acute Cold War tension.<\/p>\n<p>The deployment was strategically important: it demonstrated that the United States could position a jet nuclear-strike force forward, in Europe, ready to respond quickly in a crisis. The B-45s stood this nuclear alert in England for several years, a tangible part of the Western deterrent, until they were superseded by more capable aircraft as the decade went on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">06<\/span><span class=\"gt\">An interim bomber before the B-47 Stratojet<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The B-45 was always, in effect, a stopgap. Even as it entered service, Boeing was developing the B-47 Stratojet &mdash; a radically advanced swept-wing jet bomber with six engines, far higher speed, greater range and a much more modern design. The Stratojet represented the true shape of the jet bomber to come, and once it matured and entered service in quantity it made the straight-winged Tornado obsolete in the bomber role.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than a failure, this makes the B-45 an important bridge. It let the Strategic Air Command gain real experience operating jet bombers &mdash; their maintenance, their tactics, their nuclear procedures &mdash; during the years it took to perfect the definitive design. The Tornado did the essential early work so that the B-47, and later the B-52, could carry it forward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">07<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The RB-45C: strategic reconnaissance Tornado<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The most significant version of the Tornado was the RB-45C, a dedicated strategic reconnaissance aircraft. In place of the bomb load it carried a suite of cameras and other sensors for photographic and electronic reconnaissance, and it was fitted for in-flight refuelling, greatly extending its range for long-distance missions.<\/p>\n<p>Only around thirty-three RB-45Cs were built, but they punched far above their numbers. In an era before reconnaissance satellites, gathering intelligence on the closed Soviet bloc meant flying aircraft to the edge of &mdash; and sometimes deep into &mdash; hostile airspace. The RB-45C was among the first jet aircraft the West had that could attempt such missions, and it took on some of the most secret and hazardous flying of the early Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">08<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Soviet overflights and the RAF &ldquo;Special Duty Flight&rdquo;<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The RB-45C&rsquo;s most extraordinary missions were deep-penetration overflights of the Soviet Union itself. In the early 1950s, RB-45Cs are recorded as flying night reconnaissance sorties over Soviet territory to gather radar-scope photography and other intelligence &mdash; flights of great length and greater danger, deep over hostile ground with no prospect of help if things went wrong.<\/p>\n<p>In a politically sensitive arrangement, some of these missions were flown not by American crews but by Royal Air Force crews, in RB-45Cs repainted with RAF markings, to give both governments a measure of deniability. These &ldquo;Special Duty Flight&rdquo; operations were kept secret for decades and remain only partly documented; the account here is deliberately cautious. What is clear is that they were among the boldest and most perilous reconnaissance missions of the whole Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">09<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Korea: reconnaissance and early jet-bomber-versus-MiG encounters<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The RB-45C also served in the Korean War, flying photographic and electronic reconnaissance over the peninsula. There it came up against the Soviet-built MiG-15, the swept-wing jet fighter that had come as such a shock to Western air forces, and RB-45Cs were involved in some of the early encounters between jet bombers and jet interceptors.<\/p>\n<p>These meetings were sobering. Fast as it was, the straight-winged Tornado was no match for a MiG-15 in a fight, and the vulnerability of even a jet bomber to a modern fighter was made plain. The lesson &mdash; that reconnaissance would have to be flown ever higher and faster to survive &mdash; pointed directly towards the specialised high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, and eventually the satellites, that would follow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Design &amp; Engineering<\/p>\n<h2>How the Tornado was built: a first-generation jet bomber<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">The B-45 was a straightforward, conventional design &mdash; a straight wing, four podded jets and a wartime-style crew layout &mdash; that got the US Air Force into the jet-bomber age while the revolutionary swept-wing designs were perfected.<\/p>\n<div class=\"eng\">\n<div class=\"ecard\">\n<div class=\"en\">01<\/div>\n<h3>Four jets, straight wing<\/h3>\n<p>Four turbojets in two underwing nacelles and an unswept wing &mdash; sturdy and docile, but first-generation, and soon outpaced by the swept-wing B-47.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ecard\">\n<div class=\"en\">02<\/div>\n<h3>Wartime-style crew<\/h3>\n<p>Two pilots under a bubble canopy, a bombardier in a glazed nose and a tail gunner at the rear &mdash; a bomber straddling the piston and jet eras.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ecard\">\n<div class=\"en\">03<\/div>\n<h3>Bomber and spy<\/h3>\n<p>Built as an atomic-capable bomber, and adapted into the RB-45C reconnaissance aircraft with cameras, sensors and in-flight refuelling for long-range missions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Specifications<\/p>\n<h2>North American B-45 Tornado specifications: dimensions, performance and cost<\/h2>\n<div class=\"spectbls\">\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>Dimensions &amp; powerplant<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Type<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">Four-engined strategic jet bomber (and reconnaissance aircraft)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Crew<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">4 (two pilots, bombardier-navigator, tail gunner)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Length<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~22.9 m (75 ft 4 in) &mdash; approx.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Wingspan<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~27.1 m (89 ft) &mdash; approx.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Height<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~7.7 m (25 ft 2 in) &mdash; approx.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Empty weight<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~20,700 kg (~45,600 lb) &mdash; approx.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Max takeoff weight<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~50,000 kg (~110,000 lb) &mdash; approx.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Engines<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">4 &times; turbojet &mdash; Allison J35, later General Electric J47<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Armament<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">Two .50-cal machine guns in a tail position; bomb load incl. nuclear weapon (RB-45C: cameras\/sensors)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table class=\"spec\">\n<caption>Performance &amp; programme<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Max speed<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~920 km\/h (~570 mph) &mdash; est.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Range<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~1,900 km combat radius; farther with in-flight refuelling &mdash; est.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Service ceiling<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~13,000 m (~43,000 ft) &mdash; est.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">First flight<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">17 March 1947 (XB-45)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Introduced<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~1948 (US Air Force)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Retired<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">late 1950s (bomber and reconnaissance roles)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Number built<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">~142 (all versions: XB-45, B-45A, B-45C, RB-45C)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Main variants<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">B-45A (bomber), B-45C, RB-45C (reconnaissance)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Operators<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">United States (USAF); RB-45C overflights flown with RAF crews<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Unit cost<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">not reliably recorded (early Cold War procurement)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"k\">Cost per flight hour<\/td>\n<td class=\"v\">not reliably recorded<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gd\">\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">10<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The Tornado&rsquo;s variants, from XB-45 to RB-45C<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The Tornado was built in a small number of versions. Three XB-45 prototypes led to the main production bomber, the B-45A, of which around ninety-six were built; a small run of improved B-45Cs followed, with provision for wingtip fuel tanks and other refinements. The most important derivative was the RB-45C reconnaissance aircraft, of which about thirty-three were produced.<\/p>\n<p>Across all versions only around 142 Tornados were built &mdash; a modest total that reflects the aircraft&rsquo;s interim status. There was no sprawling family of sub-types as with longer-lived designs; the B-45&rsquo;s variants trace a straight line from prototype to bomber to reconnaissance aircraft over a short but historically dense career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">11<\/span><span class=\"gt\">The North American B-45 Tornado&rsquo;s operating costs: what the records show<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>As with most early Cold War military aircraft, there is no single reliable, transparent public figure for the B-45&rsquo;s unit cost, cost per flight hour or total programme cost. It was procured in modest numbers in the late 1940s and early 1950s through government contracts rather than at a published list price, and consistent lifetime cost data for so short-lived a type is not available. Any single figure quoted for it should be treated with caution.<\/p>\n<p>The Tornado was, moreover, a pioneering jet with demanding early engines and systems, which made it expensive to operate by the standards of the day &mdash; one reason the Air Force was keen to move to the more capable and efficient designs that followed. Rather than invent numbers, we list the cost fields here as &ldquo;not reliably recorded.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">12<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Why the B-45&rsquo;s career was so short<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>The Tornado entered service around 1948 and was largely gone from the front line by the late 1950s &mdash; a short career even by the fast-moving standards of early jet aviation. The reason was simple: it had been designed at the very beginning of the jet era, and the technology advanced so rapidly that it was overtaken almost at once.<\/p>\n<p>The swept-wing Boeing B-47 Stratojet was a generational leap ahead in speed, range and capability, and once it was available in numbers there was little reason to keep the straight-winged B-45 in the bomber role. The reconnaissance RB-45Cs lasted a little longer, because their specialised mission had no immediate replacement, but they too gave way by the end of the 1950s to higher-flying successors. The B-45 was overtaken not because it was bad, but because it arrived at a moment of extraordinarily rapid change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary><span class=\"gnum\">13<\/span><span class=\"gt\">Surviving B-45 Tornados<\/span><span class=\"gsign\">+<\/span><\/summary>\n<div class=\"gbody\">\n<p>Because so few Tornados were built and the type was retired long ago, survivors are rare, and all are in the United States &mdash; fitting for an aircraft flown operationally only by the US Air Force. A small number are preserved in American museums, including at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, Ohio, and other collections.<\/p>\n<p>These survivors are the last tangible reminders of a genuinely pioneering aircraft: the first American jet bomber, the first US jet to carry an atomic bomb, and the mount for some of the most daring reconnaissance flights of the Cold War. For a type that never sought fame and served only briefly, the preserved Tornados preserve an outsized piece of history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Timeline<\/p>\n<h2>The North American B-45 Tornado through the years<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tl\">\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">1947<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>First flight<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The North American XB-45 prototype flies on 17 March 1947 &mdash; the start of America&rsquo;s first jet bomber.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">1948<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>Enters USAF service<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The B-45A enters Strategic Air Command service as the first operational jet bomber of the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">~1950<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>Nuclear capability<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The B-45 becomes the first American jet aircraft able to carry an atomic bomb, giving the deterrent a jet delivery aircraft.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">1950&ndash;53<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>Korean War reconnaissance<\/b><\/p>\n<p>RB-45Cs fly reconnaissance over Korea and take part in early encounters between jet bombers and MiG-15 fighters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">1952<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>Nuclear alert in England<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Nuclear-armed B-45As of the 47th Bombardment Wing deploy to RAF Sculthorpe, placing a jet atomic-strike force forward in Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">1952&ndash;54<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>The Soviet overflights<\/b><\/p>\n<p>RB-45Cs fly deep-penetration night reconnaissance over the Soviet Union, some by RAF crews in RAF-marked aircraft &mdash; secret &ldquo;Special Duty Flight&rdquo; missions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">early 1950s<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>Strategic reconnaissance<\/b><\/p>\n<p>RB-45Cs, refuelled in flight, carry out long-range strategic photographic and electronic reconnaissance for the US Air Force.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">mid-1950s<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>The B-47 takes over<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The swept-wing Boeing B-47 Stratojet enters service in numbers and supersedes the straight-winged B-45 in the bomber role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">late 1950s<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>Retirement<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The last B-45 bombers and RB-45C reconnaissance aircraft are withdrawn as more capable aircraft take over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlrow\">\n<div class=\"tlyr\">today<\/div>\n<div class=\"tlc\"><b>A few survivors<\/b><\/p>\n<p>A small number of Tornados are preserved in US museums, including the National Museum of the US Air Force.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Stories &amp; Eyewitnesses<\/p>\n<h2>The North American B-45 Tornado in stories: the moments that defined it<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">America&rsquo;s first jet bomber, the first US jet to carry an atomic bomb, nuclear alert in England, and secret reconnaissance deep over the Soviet Union &mdash; the Tornado&rsquo;s history told through the moments that stuck.<\/p>\n<div class=\"carwrap\">\n<div><button class=\"carbtn\" onclick=\"this.parentElement.parentElement.querySelector('.track').scrollBy({left:-712,behavior:'smooth'})\">&lsaquo;<\/button><button class=\"carbtn\" onclick=\"this.parentElement.parentElement.querySelector('.track').scrollBy({left:712,behavior:'smooth'})\">&rsaquo;<\/button><\/div>\n<div class=\"track\">\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">America&rsquo;s First<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The first US jet bomber<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">The B-45 was the first operational US jet bomber.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>When the B-45A entered Strategic Air Command service at the end of the 1940s, it became the first jet bomber to serve operationally with the United States &mdash; a genuine milestone in the jet age.<\/p>\n<p>It gave the young US Air Force jet-powered striking reach for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">Four Jets<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Two nacelles, straight wing<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">The Tornado had four jets in two underwing pods.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>The B-45 carried four turbojets grouped two to a nacelle under a straight, unswept wing &mdash; the typical layout of the very first jet-bomber generation.<\/p>\n<p>Sturdy and docile, it was soon outpaced by the swept-wing designs that followed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">Glass Nose, Tail Gun<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A wartime-style crew<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">The B-45 had a glazed nose and a manned tail gun.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>Two pilots sat under a bubble canopy, a bombardier worked in the glazed nose, and a tail gunner defended the rear &mdash; a crew layout inherited straight from wartime bombers.<\/p>\n<p>It marks the Tornado as a design straddling the piston and jet ages.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">The Atomic Jet<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>First US jet to carry the bomb<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">The B-45 was the first US jet able to drop an atomic bomb.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>Adapted for the nuclear role, the Tornado became the first American jet aircraft capable of carrying an atomic bomb &mdash; a landmark at the dawn of the nuclear standoff.<\/p>\n<p>It meant the deterrent no longer depended solely on propeller-driven bombers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">Nuclear Alert<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>B-45s in England<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">Nuclear-armed B-45s stood alert at RAF Sculthorpe.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>In 1952 nuclear-capable B-45As of the 47th Bombardment Wing deployed to England, placing a jet atomic-strike force forward in Europe, within reach of the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n<p>They were a tangible part of the Western deterrent in the tensest early Cold War years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">Interim Bomber<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A bridge to the B-47<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">The B-45 filled the gap before the B-47 Stratojet.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>The straight-winged Tornado was always a stopgap while Boeing perfected the revolutionary swept-wing B-47 Stratojet.<\/p>\n<p>It let Strategic Air Command learn to operate jet bombers &mdash; their tactics and nuclear procedures &mdash; until the definitive design was ready.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">The RB-45C<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The reconnaissance Tornado<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">A camera-equipped version flew strategic recon.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>The RB-45C carried cameras and sensors in place of bombs, and was fitted for in-flight refuelling to extend its reach for long-range reconnaissance.<\/p>\n<p>Only about thirty-three were built, but they took on some of the most secret flying of the early Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">Over the USSR<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The secret overflights<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">RB-45Cs flew deep reconnaissance over Soviet territory.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>In the early 1950s RB-45Cs are recorded as flying deep-penetration night reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union &mdash; long, dangerous sorties deep over hostile ground.<\/p>\n<p>They were among the boldest reconnaissance flights of the whole Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">RAF Markings<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The Special Duty Flight<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">Some overflights were flown by RAF crews for deniability.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>In a politically sensitive arrangement, some Soviet overflights were flown by Royal Air Force crews in RB-45Cs repainted with RAF markings, to give both governments a measure of deniability.<\/p>\n<p>Long classified, these &ldquo;Special Duty Flight&rdquo; missions are still only partly documented.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">Korea<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Jet bomber meets MiG<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">RB-45Cs met MiG-15s over Korea.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>Flying reconnaissance in the Korean War, the RB-45C ran into the swept-wing MiG-15 in some of the first encounters between jet bombers and jet fighters.<\/p>\n<p>They showed how vulnerable even a fast jet bomber was to a modern interceptor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">Overtaken<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>A short front-line life<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">The B-47 quickly made the B-45 obsolete.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>As the far more capable swept-wing B-47 Stratojet entered service in numbers, the straight-winged B-45 was withdrawn from the bomber role by the late 1950s.<\/p>\n<p>It had arrived at a moment of extraordinarily rapid change and was overtaken almost at once.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">US Only<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Flown by one air force<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">Only the US operated the Tornado.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>Around 142 Tornados were built and the type was flown operationally only by the United States Air Force &mdash; though its RB-45C overflights were flown, remarkably, with Royal Air Force crews.<\/p>\n<p>It was a small, purely American fleet that did outsized work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"scard\">\n<summary><span class=\"stag\">The Survivors<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Preserved in America<\/h3>\n<p class=\"sprev\">A few Tornados survive in US museums.<\/p>\n<\/summary>\n<div class=\"sbody\">\n<p>Because so few were built and it retired long ago, only a handful of Tornados survive, all in the United States, including at the National Museum of the US Air Force.<\/p>\n<p>They are the last reminders of a pioneering aircraft that did historic work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Photo Gallery<\/p>\n<h2>The North American B-45 Tornado in photographs<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">US Air Force, NASA and museum photographs of the Tornado and its variants, each credited to its source and licence. Click any photo to enlarge.<\/p>\n<div class=\"gallery\" id=\"b45-gallery\">\n<figure class=\"gfig tall\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-b-45a-tornado-naca-1949.jpg\" data-cap=\"A North American B-45A Tornado at NACA Langley, 1949. Photo: NASA, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.\"><img data-opt-id=369363345  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1010\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-b-45a-tornado-naca-1949.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201010%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221010%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221010%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"North American B-45A Tornado at NACA Langley, 1949. Photo: NASA, public domain.\"><figcaption>A North American B-45A Tornado at NACA Langley, 1949 &mdash; the United States&rsquo; first operational jet bomber. Photo: NASA, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"gfig\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b-45-tornado-47th-bombardment-wing.jpg\" data-cap=\"B-45 Tornados of the 47th Bombardment Wing. Photo: US Air Force, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.\"><img data-opt-id=897643095  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b-45-tornado-47th-bombardment-wing.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"B-45 Tornados of the 47th Bombardment Wing. Photo: US Air Force, public domain.\"><figcaption>B-45 Tornados of the 47th Bombardment Wing &mdash; the nuclear-capable B-45s based in England in the early 1950s. Photo: US Air Force, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"gfig\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-rb-45c-91st-recon-wing.jpg\" data-cap=\"A North American RB-45C Tornado of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. Photo: US Air Force, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.\"><img data-opt-id=1419949911  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-rb-45c-91st-recon-wing.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"North American RB-45C Tornado of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. Photo: US Air Force, public domain.\"><figcaption>A North American RB-45C Tornado of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing &mdash; the reconnaissance version that flew high-risk strategic missions. Photo: US Air Force, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"gfig wide\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-b-45c-tornado-preserved-museum.jpg\" data-cap=\"A preserved North American B-45C Tornado at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Photo: Aaron Headly \/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).\"><img data-opt-id=990460924  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-b-45c-tornado-preserved-museum.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201024%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Preserved North American B-45C Tornado at the National Museum of the US Air Force. Photo: Aaron Headly \/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).\"><figcaption>A preserved North American B-45C Tornado at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Photo: Aaron Headly \/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"gfig\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-xb-45-tornado-prototype.jpg\" data-cap=\"The North American XB-45 prototype, first flown in 1947. Photo: US Government, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.\"><img data-opt-id=1229256857  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1013\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-xb-45-tornado-prototype.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201013%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221013%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221013%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"North American XB-45 Tornado prototype. Photo: US Government, public domain.\"><figcaption>The North American XB-45 prototype &mdash; first flown in 1947, it led to America&rsquo;s first jet bomber. Photo: US Government, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"gfig\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-rb-45c-rocket-assisted-takeoff.jpg\" data-cap=\"A North American RB-45C making a rocket-assisted takeoff. Photo: US Government, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.\"><img data-opt-id=1647453455  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1034\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-rb-45c-rocket-assisted-takeoff.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201034%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221034%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221034%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"North American RB-45C making a rocket-assisted takeoff. Photo: US Government, public domain.\"><figcaption>A North American RB-45C making a rocket-assisted takeoff &mdash; the reconnaissance Tornado could be boosted off the runway when heavily loaded. Photo: US Government, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"gfig\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b-45a-tornado-dropping-bombs-eglin-1950.jpg\" data-cap=\"B-45A Tornados dropping bombs at Eglin Air Force Base, 1950. Photo: US Air Force, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.\"><img data-opt-id=595270954  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/b-45a-tornado-dropping-bombs-eglin-1950.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20100%%20100%%22%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%22100%%22%20height%3D%22100%%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"B-45A Tornados dropping bombs at Eglin AFB, 1950. Photo: US Air Force, public domain.\"><figcaption>B-45A Tornados dropping bombs during exercises at Eglin Air Force Base, 1950. Photo: US Air Force, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"gfig\" data-full=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-b-45c-tornado-nose-engines.jpg\" data-cap=\"The preserved North American B-45C Tornado head-on, showing its glazed nose and four turbojets. Photo: Aaron Headly \/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).\"><img data-opt-id=87871740  data-opt-src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:1536\/h:1024\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-b-45c-tornado-nose-engines.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201536%201024%22%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%221536%22%20height%3D%221024%22%20fill%3D%22transparent%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Preserved North American B-45C Tornado head-on, showing glazed nose and four turbojets. Photo: Aaron Headly \/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).\"><figcaption>The preserved North American B-45C Tornado head-on, showing its glazed bombardier nose and four turbojets in two underwing nacelles. Photo: Aaron Headly \/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"b45-lb\" id=\"b45-lightbox\"><button class=\"b45-lb-close\">&times;<\/button><button class=\"b45-lb-prev\">&lsaquo;<\/button><button class=\"b45-lb-next\">&rsaquo;<\/button><img alt=\"North American B-45 Tornado enlarged photo\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"b45-lb-cap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">On Film<\/p>\n<h2>The North American B-45 Tornado on video: a documentary history<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">A documentary on the Tornado &mdash; America&rsquo;s first jet bomber, its atomic-strike role and the high-risk reconnaissance career of the RB-45C.<\/p>\n<div class=\"vid\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xh50hsaHaw4\" title=\"B-45 Tornado (Dark Skies documentary)\" loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p class=\"vcap\">&ldquo;B-45 Tornado&rdquo; by Dark Skies (approx. 628,000 views at time of writing; running time ~9 minutes) &mdash; a documentary on the North American B-45 Tornado, its design and its service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p> <script src=\"https:\/\/cdnjs.cloudflare.com\/ajax\/libs\/d3\/7.8.5\/d3.min.js\"><\/script> <script src=\"https:\/\/cdnjs.cloudflare.com\/ajax\/libs\/topojson\/3.0.2\/topojson.min.js\"><\/script> <script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jsdelivr.net\/npm\/d3-geo-projection@4\/dist\/d3-geo-projection.min.js\"><\/script> <\/p>\n<section class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Operations Overview<\/p>\n<h2>Where the North American B-45 Tornado flew: an operator map<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">Designed, built and flown operationally by the United States alone. Its reconnaissance overflights of the Soviet Union were, remarkably, flown in part by Royal Air Force crews in RAF-marked aircraft &mdash; so Britain appears here for that involvement rather than as an owner of the type. Hover or tap a country for detail.<\/p>\n<div class=\"maphold\">\n<div id=\"b45-map-widget\">\n<div id=\"b45-map-container\" style=\"width:100%;position:relative\"><svg id=\"b45-map-svg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block\"><\/svg><\/p>\n<div id=\"b45-tooltip\" style=\"position:fixed;background:#1a1a2e;color:#fff;padding:10px 16px;font-size:13px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:.3px;pointer-events:auto;opacity:0;transition:opacity .15s;z-index:100000;max-width:360px;line-height:1.5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"b45-controls\" style=\"display:flex;gap:8px;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:flex-start;margin-top:12px\"><button class=\"b45-toggle active\" data-cat=\"origin\" data-full=\"Design, Manufacture &amp; USAF (USA)\" data-short=\"USA\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #5C91FF;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"b45-label\">Design, Manufacture &amp; USAF<\/span><span class=\"b45-check\" style=\"font-size:10px;opacity:1\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button><button class=\"b45-toggle active\" data-cat=\"raf\" data-full=\"RAF-crewed reconnaissance overflights\" data-short=\"RAF recon\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #6B8E23;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:linear-gradient(135deg,#4A6741 25%,#6B8E23 25%,#6B8E23 50%,#556B2F 50%,#556B2F 75%,#8B9D77 75%);background-size:8px 8px\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"b45-label\">RAF-crewed recon<\/span><span class=\"b45-check\" style=\"font-size:10px;opacity:1\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button><button class=\"b45-toggle active\" data-cat=\"surv\" data-full=\"Surviving Airframes (USA)\" data-short=\"Survivors\" style=\"display:flex;align-items:center;gap:6px;padding:8px 12px;border:2px solid #C0C0C0;border-radius:0;background:#fff;cursor:pointer;font-family:inherit;font-size:13px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a2e;white-space:nowrap\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"width:14px;height:14px;flex-shrink:0;background:#C0C0C0\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"b45-label\">Surviving Airframes<\/span><span class=\"b45-check\" style=\"font-size:10px;opacity:1\">&#10003;<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<div id=\"b45-count\" style=\"text-align:left;font-size:14px;color:#666;margin-top:12px;line-height:1.7;width:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"vcap\" style=\"margin-top:14px\">Categories: <b style=\"color:#5C91FF\">Design, Manufacture &amp; USAF<\/b> (United States) &middot; <b>RAF-crewed reconnaissance overflights<\/b> (United Kingdom &mdash; RAF crews flew RB-45C overflights; the aircraft remained US) &middot; <b>Surviving Airframes<\/b> (United States). The Tornado was operated as a type only by the USA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Service Record<\/p>\n<h2>The Tornado&rsquo;s record: a pioneer of the jet-bomber age<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">The B-45&rsquo;s significance is measured in firsts &mdash; the first US jet bomber, the first US atomic-capable jet &mdash; and in the daring of its reconnaissance career.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rec\">\n<div class=\"rcard\"><b>1st<\/b><span>US operational jet bomber<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"rcard\"><b>1st<\/b><span>US jet able to carry an atomic bomb<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"rcard\"><b>~33<\/b><span>RB-45C strategic reconnaissance aircraft<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"rcard\"><b>~142<\/b><span>Built &mdash; a US-only type<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec alt\" id=\"faq\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Questions &amp; Answers<\/p>\n<h2>North American B-45 Tornado: your questions answered<\/h2>\n<div class=\"qa\">\n<details open>\n<summary>Can I fly in a North American B-45 Tornado?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qabody\">\n<p>No &mdash; there is no bookable Tornado flight experience, and MiGFlug does not offer one. Only around 142 were built, all retired by the late 1950s, and the handful that survive are static museum exhibits rather than flying aircraft. If what you actually want is the real thing &mdash; strapping into a genuine military jet and flying it &mdash; you very much <strong>can<\/strong> do that today in other types. MiGFlug arranges flights in real fighter jets and warbirds around the world. Start here: <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">migflug.com\/flights-prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Why is the North American B-45 Tornado historically important?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qabody\">\n<p>The B-45 was the first operational jet bomber built and flown by the United States, and the first American jet aircraft capable of carrying an atomic bomb. Entering service around 1948, it carried the US Air Force into the jet-bomber age and gave the nuclear deterrent a jet delivery aircraft for the first time. Its reconnaissance version, the RB-45C, then flew some of the most daring intelligence missions of the early Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>What was the RB-45C, and what missions did it fly?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qabody\">\n<p>The RB-45C was the strategic reconnaissance version of the Tornado, carrying cameras and sensors instead of bombs and fitted for in-flight refuelling. About thirty-three were built. They flew long-range photographic and electronic reconnaissance, including reconnaissance in the Korean War and, most remarkably, deep-penetration night overflights of the Soviet Union in the early 1950s &mdash; among the most dangerous reconnaissance missions of the whole Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Did the RAF fly the B-45?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qabody\">\n<p>Yes, in a very particular way. The B-45 was a US aircraft, operated as a type only by the US Air Force. But some of the RB-45C&rsquo;s secret overflights of the Soviet Union in the early 1950s were flown by Royal Air Force crews in aircraft repainted with RAF markings, in a politically sensitive arrangement designed to give both governments a measure of deniability. The aircraft themselves remained American; it was the crews and the markings that were British for those &ldquo;Special Duty Flight&rdquo; missions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Was the B-45 the first US jet to carry an atomic bomb?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qabody\">\n<p>Yes. The Tornado was the first American jet aircraft capable of carrying an atomic bomb. Nuclear-armed B-45As were deployed to RAF Sculthorpe in England from 1952, placing a jet-borne US atomic-strike force forward in Europe within reach of the Soviet Union. This was a significant early step in the jet-powered nuclear deterrent that the B-47 and B-52 would later carry forward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Why did the B-45 have such a short career?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qabody\">\n<p>The Tornado was designed at the very start of the jet era, and technology advanced so fast that it was overtaken almost immediately. The swept-wing Boeing B-47 Stratojet was a generational leap ahead in speed, range and capability, and once it entered service in numbers there was little reason to keep the straight-winged B-45 in the bomber role. The B-45 was essentially an interim aircraft &mdash; a bridge that let the Air Force learn to operate jet bombers until the definitive design was ready.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Who operated the B-45 Tornado?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qabody\">\n<p>The B-45 was operated as a type only by the United States Air Force, chiefly its Strategic Air Command (bombers) and reconnaissance wings (RB-45Cs). It had no foreign operators, although its RB-45C Soviet overflights were flown with Royal Air Force crews. Around 142 aircraft of all versions were built, and they served from about 1948 until the late 1950s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Was the North American B-45 Tornado a good aircraft?<\/summary>\n<div class=\"qabody\">\n<p>It was a sound, useful aircraft for its brief moment, and above all a genuinely important pioneer. As a bomber it was quickly outclassed by the swept-wing B-47, and its front-line career was short. But it did exactly what a first-generation jet bomber needed to do: it proved that the US Air Force could operate jet bombers, it became the first US jet to carry the atomic bomb, and its RB-45C reconnaissance version flew missions of extraordinary daring. Judged as a pioneer rather than a performer, the Tornado was a real success.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p> <script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Can I fly in a North American B-45 Tornado?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No - there is no bookable Tornado flight experience, and MiGFlug does not offer one. Only around 142 were built, all retired by the late 1950s, and the handful that survive are static museum exhibits rather than flying aircraft. If what you want is the real thing - strapping into a genuine military jet and flying it - you very much can do that today in other types. MiGFlug arranges flights in real fighter jets and warbirds around the world. Start here: migflug.com\/flights-prices .\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why is the North American B-45 Tornado historically important?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The B-45 was the first operational jet bomber built and flown by the United States, and the first American jet aircraft capable of carrying an atomic bomb. Entering service around 1948, it carried the US Air Force into the jet-bomber age and gave the nuclear deterrent a jet delivery aircraft for the first time. Its reconnaissance version, the RB-45C, then flew some of the most daring intelligence missions of the early Cold War.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the RB-45C, and what missions did it fly?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The RB-45C was the strategic reconnaissance version of the Tornado, carrying cameras and sensors instead of bombs and fitted for in-flight refuelling. About thirty-three were built. They flew long-range photographic and electronic reconnaissance, including reconnaissance in the Korean War and, most remarkably, deep-penetration night overflights of the Soviet Union in the early 1950s - among the most dangerous reconnaissance missions of the whole Cold War.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did the RAF fly the B-45?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes, in a very particular way. The B-45 was a US aircraft, operated as a type only by the US Air Force. But some of the RB-45C's secret overflights of the Soviet Union in the early 1950s were flown by Royal Air Force crews in aircraft repainted with RAF markings, in a politically sensitive arrangement designed to give both governments a measure of deniability. The aircraft themselves remained American; it was the crews and markings that were British for those Special Duty Flight missions.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Was the B-45 the first US jet to carry an atomic bomb?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes. The Tornado was the first American jet aircraft capable of carrying an atomic bomb. Nuclear-armed B-45As were deployed to RAF Sculthorpe in England from 1952, placing a jet-borne US atomic-strike force forward in Europe within reach of the Soviet Union. This was a significant early step in the jet-powered nuclear deterrent that the B-47 and B-52 would later carry forward.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the B-45 have such a short career?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Tornado was designed at the very start of the jet era, and technology advanced so fast that it was overtaken almost immediately. The swept-wing Boeing B-47 Stratojet was a generational leap ahead in speed, range and capability, and once it entered service in numbers there was little reason to keep the straight-winged B-45 in the bomber role. The B-45 was essentially an interim aircraft - a bridge that let the Air Force learn to operate jet bombers until the definitive design was ready.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who operated the B-45 Tornado?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The B-45 was operated as a type only by the United States Air Force, chiefly its Strategic Air Command bombers and reconnaissance wings. It had no foreign operators, although its RB-45C Soviet overflights were flown with Royal Air Force crews. Around 142 aircraft of all versions were built, and they served from about 1948 until the late 1950s.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Was the North American B-45 Tornado a good aircraft?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It was a sound, useful aircraft for its brief moment, and above all a genuinely important pioneer. As a bomber it was quickly outclassed by the swept-wing B-47, and its front-line career was short. But it did exactly what a first-generation jet bomber needed to do: it proved the US Air Force could operate jet bombers, it became the first US jet to carry the atomic bomb, and its RB-45C reconnaissance version flew missions of extraordinary daring.\"}}]}<\/script> <\/p>\n<section class=\"sec cta\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\" style=\"color:#5C91FF\">Fly For Real<\/p>\n<h2>You can&rsquo;t fly the B-45 Tornado &mdash; but these, you can<\/h2>\n<p class=\"lead\">No Tornado is a bookable ride today. The urge behind it &mdash; to strap into a real military aircraft and actually fly &mdash; is very much still bookable. MiGFlug puts you in genuine fighters and warbirds around the world.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ctacar\">\n<div class=\"ctacard\">\n<div style=\"height:6px;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"cc\">\n<h3>Fighter Jet Flights<\/h3>\n<p>Take the controls of a real ex-military jet with an experienced pilot.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ctabtn\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See flights &amp; prices<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctacard\">\n<div style=\"height:6px;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"cc\">\n<h3>L-39 Albatros<\/h3>\n<p>The classic jet trainer &mdash; aerobatics and high-speed passes.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ctabtn\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See flights &amp; prices<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctacard\">\n<div style=\"height:6px;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"cc\">\n<h3>MiG-29 Fulcrum<\/h3>\n<p>Ride a genuine air-superiority fighter to the edge of space.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ctabtn\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See flights &amp; prices<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctacard\">\n<div style=\"height:6px;background:#5C91FF\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"cc\">\n<h3>Warbird experiences<\/h3>\n<p>Fly in a genuine ex-military warbird from the early jet age.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"ctabtn\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\">See flights &amp; prices<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"ctanote\">All flights are operated by MiGFlug&rsquo;s vetted partners with professional pilots. Browse every option and current pricing at <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/flights-prices\/\" style=\"color:#5C91FF\">migflug.com\/flights-prices<\/a>. MiGFlug does not operate North American B-45 Tornado flights &mdash; no bookable example exists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Related Aircraft<\/p>\n<h2>If the North American B-45 Tornado interests you, explore these<\/h2>\n<div class=\"relgrid\"><a class=\"rel\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/english-electric-canberra\/\"><span class=\"rk\">Cold War &middot; Jet Bomber &amp; Recon<\/span><span class=\"rt\">English Electric Canberra<\/span><span class=\"rd\">Britain&rsquo;s classic jet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft &mdash; a contemporary that flew similar high-altitude recon over the Soviet bloc.<\/span><\/a><a class=\"rel\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/a-3-skywarrior\/\"><span class=\"rk\">Cold War &middot; Strategic Jet<\/span><span class=\"rt\">Douglas A-3 Skywarrior<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The US Navy&rsquo;s carrier-based strategic jet bomber and reconnaissance aircraft &mdash; a naval counterpart in the atomic-jet lineage.<\/span><\/a><a class=\"rel\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/sr-71-blackbird\/\"><span class=\"rk\">Cold War &middot; Strategic Recon<\/span><span class=\"rt\">Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird<\/span><span class=\"rd\">The ultimate strategic reconnaissance aircraft &mdash; the high-flying successor to the dangerous overflight missions the RB-45C pioneered.<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"sec alt\">\n<div class=\"wrap\">\n<p class=\"kick\">Sources &amp; Further Reading<\/p>\n<h2>Where this North American B-45 Tornado history comes from<\/h2>\n<div class=\"sources\">\n<div class=\"src\"><b>National Museum of the United States Air Force<\/b>Home of a preserved B-45 and reference material on the type&rsquo;s history and service.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>US Air Force historical records<\/b>Records of B-45 bomber and RB-45C reconnaissance operations and Strategic Air Command service.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>National Air &amp; Space Museum (Smithsonian)<\/b>Background on early US jet bombers and Cold War strategic aviation.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>North American Aviation company histories<\/b>References on the Tornado&rsquo;s design, its variants and development.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Cold War reconnaissance histories<\/b>Published accounts of the RB-45C strategic reconnaissance missions and the Soviet overflights.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Royal Air Force and Special Duty Flight accounts<\/b>Material on the RAF-crewed RB-45C overflights, much of it declassified only decades later.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Korean War air-operations studies<\/b>Accounts of RB-45C reconnaissance and early jet-bomber-versus-MiG encounters over Korea.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Strategic Air Command histories<\/b>Records of the B-45&rsquo;s nuclear role and the 47th Bombardment Wing&rsquo;s deployment to England.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Aviation-history reference works<\/b>Standard published references on the B-45&rsquo;s specifications, variants and place in jet-bomber development.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>Wikimedia Commons<\/b>Source of the public-domain and Creative Commons B-45 photographs used in the gallery, each credited to its author and licence.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>MiGFlug Afterburner magazine<\/b>MiGFlug&rsquo;s own aviation-history features on early jet bombers and Cold War aviation.<\/div>\n<div class=\"src\"><b>NASA \/ NACA archives<\/b>Early research photographs of the B-45 from NACA flight-test work.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"foot\">Note on figures: dimensions, performance and production numbers for the B-45 vary between sources and by variant, and are hedged here as approximate. Cost fields are listed as not reliably recorded because trustworthy early Cold War procurement cost data is not consistently available. The RB-45C&rsquo;s reconnaissance history, including the Soviet overflights and the RAF-crewed &ldquo;Special Duty Flight&rdquo; missions, was long classified and remains only partly documented; it is presented here in summary and with due care. A few B-45s survive in US museums.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div id=\"b45-map-data\" 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A four-engined interim striker whose reconnaissance version flew some of the most dangerous missions of the early Cold War. 1947First flight 1stUS jet bomber ~142Built 4Turbojet engines Role: Strategic jet bomber &amp; reconnaissanceEra: Early Cold War (1948&ndash;1959)Engines: 4 &times; turbojets (later General Electric J47)Origin: United StatesStatus: Retired &middot; a few preservedCan you fly a North American B-45 Tornado today? The Story The North American B-45 Tornado: America&rsquo;s first jet bomber The North American B-45 Tornado holds [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21832,"parent":15960,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21840","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>North American B-45 Tornado - History, Specs &amp; Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The North American B-45 Tornado was America&#039;s first jet bomber and first atomic-capable jet; its RB-45C flew secret Cold War recon over the USSR.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/ja\/\u822a\u7a7a\u6a5f\/north-american-b-45-tornado\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ja_JP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North American B-45 Tornado - History, Specs &amp; Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The North American B-45 Tornado was America&#039;s first jet bomber and first atomic-capable jet; its RB-45C flew secret Cold War recon over the USSR.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/ja\/\u822a\u7a7a\u6a5f\/north-american-b-45-tornado\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-22T17:24:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:78--.b845\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:96\/f:best\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/north-american-b-45a-tornado-naca-1949.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1262\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u63a8\u5b9a\u8aad\u307f\u53d6\u308a\u6642\u9593\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"28\u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/north-american-b-45-tornado\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/north-american-b-45-tornado\\\/\",\"name\":\"North American B-45 Tornado - History, Specs & Stories\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/north-american-b-45-tornado\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/north-american-b-45-tornado\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2026\\/08\\/north-american-b-45a-tornado-naca-1949.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-22T17:23:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-22T17:24:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"The North American B-45 Tornado was America's first jet bomber and first atomic-capable jet; its RB-45C flew secret Cold War recon over the USSR.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/north-american-b-45-tornado\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ja\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/north-american-b-45-tornado\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ja\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/aircraft\\\/north-american-b-45-tornado\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2026\\/08\\/north-american-b-45a-tornado-naca-1949.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/2026\\/08\\/north-american-b-45a-tornado-naca-1949.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1262,\"caption\":\"A North American B-45A Tornado at NACA Langley, 1949 the United States first operational jet bomber. 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