On March 17, 1947, the North American Aviation B-45 Tornado took flight for the first time. This early jet bomber emerged from a wartime effort by the United States War Department to develop an aircraft comparable to the German Arado Ar 234 Blitz turbojet. The proposal for a turbojet-powered bomber was issued in 1944, and North American Aviation quickly set to work on a prototype to meet this need.
It took three years from the proposal’s inception for the B-45 to become airworthy. By the time it was ready to fly, more advanced jet bombers, such as the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and Convair B-58 Hustler, were already in development. However, the B-45 still proved valuable. During the Korean War, the Tornado played a dual-role, executing both bombing and reconnaissance missions. Due to its vulnerability to enemy MiG-15 fighters, the B-45 was primarily relegated to nighttime operations. The aircraft later received upgrades to carry nuclear weapons, increasing its strategic importance during the Cold War.
The North American B-45 Tornado had a four-person crew, consisting of two pilots, a bombardier/navigator, and a tail gunner. It was powered by four General Electric J47-GE-13 turbojet engines, enabling speeds ranging from 365 to 566 miles per hour. Armed with two .50 caliber M3 machine guns in the tail turret, the B-45 could carry up to 22,000 pounds of bombs, including nuclear munitions. A total of 143 B-45s were built between 1947 and 1950.
Today, three B-45 Tornadoes remain preserved. They can be seen at the Castle Air Museum (Atwater, CA), the National Museum of the United States Air Force (Dayton, OH), and the Strategic Air and Space Museum (Ashland, NE). The B-45 broke barriers as the first operational jet bomber to enter service with the U.S. Air Force and the first multi-engine jet bomber to be refueled in mid-air. These milestones cement the Tornado’s place in aviation history.
