Fri Jul 27, 2001 4:38 am
The North American B-45 was the first jet bomber put into production. Designed and built in the late 1940's, it is an example from the era when the then new jet technology was still in its infancy.The B-45 was built by North American and was USAFs first four engined bomber to go into production, it was NOT, the first jet bomber. (USAF's first jet bomber was the Douglas XB-43, which was a conversion of the XB-42 with two general Eletric turbojets and never got past prototype stage) Approx, 139 B-45's were built for the USAF, 33 of them being reconnaissance versions that were fitted with 12 cameras and they saw action in Korea. The Tornado saw service for only ten years, from 1948 to 1958 and was meant as a replacement for the World War II B-25s and B-26s of the new Tactical Air Command