Tornado watching

During World War II, the arrival of German jet bombers in the middle of 1944 sent shock waves through the Allied air forces. The U.S. Army Air Force issued a requirement for a similar aircraft and, after a competition, selected the North American design, the XB-45, for development.

In many ways, the XB-45 — named the Tornado — was similar to the standard American piston engine medium bombers of the time. It had tricycle landing gear, straight, high mounted wings to provide room in the fuselage for the bomb bay, and a conventional tail.

The fuselage was cylindrical with a bubble type canopy and a glazed nose section. Because of its anticipated high speed, its only defense armament was two .50 machine guns in the tail. Power was provided by four Allison J35 jet engines, which were soon replaced by General Electric J47-GE-13 engines with water injection, developing 6,000 pounds of thrust each. Two were mounted in a single nacelle on each wing.

On Jan. 2, 1947, a contract for production of B-45As was signed, but even as the production order was issued it was expected that in a few years the B-45 would be replaced by the radical, swept wing B-47 Stratojet.

The Tornado took to the skies for the first time on March 17, 1947. Testing of the first B-45s resulted in many changes, notably a redesigned nose and a much larger tail, both in area and length. A reconnaissance version, the RB-45, was also developed.

Testing went quickly and, despite the success of the new XB-47, in August 1948 B-45s began to reach bomber units of the newly independent Air Force. But once in service, the operational squadrons found the Tornado had an excessive takeoff run and numerous structural and mechanical defects, which limited its usefulness. There was little sorrow when, soon afterwards, President Truman’s budget cuts reduced B/RB-45 production to 142 aircraft.

Nevertheless, when the Korean War began in 1950, the B-45 became important. With U.S. forces committed to Korea, Europe was seen as vulnerable to Soviet attack. A B-45 had been the first jet bomber to drop an atomic bomb, and 40 B-45s were in the process of being heavily modified to carry nuclear weapons under “Operation Fandango.” With the B-47 still under development, the B-45 became the USAF’s Europe-based nuclear deterrent.

Despite the magnitude of the modifications and ongoing engine problems, the first of 40 atomic-capable B-45s of the 47th Bomb Wing (Light) began reaching their United Kingdom base, RAF Sculthorpe, in May 1952, and deployment was completed in mid-June of that year.

The reconnaissance RB-45 proved useful in combat. In January 1951, RB-45s of the 323rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron were sent to Japan to fly reconnaissance missions over Korea. Their arrival was well timed because the World War II-era RB-29s of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron had been run out of the skies of North Korea by Soviet-flown MiG-15s, and help was needed. The RB-45s replaced the B-29s flying reconnaissance missions deep into North Korea.

The RB-45 crews managed to outrun the MiGs and provide valuable intelligence until the end of the war, but they were proved vulnerable to the MiGs and required heavy fighter escort. With the B-47s coming into service, reconnaissance became the main mission of the B-45. Most were converted to RB-45C configuration, where the bombardier’s canopy was faired over and replaced with a cameras and two 214 gallon external fuel tanks were mounted on the wing tips. The RB-45C could carry up to 12 cameras in four positions, or a single camera with a 100 inch focal length lens. Thirty-eight were built and this variant that was operated clandestinely over the Soviet Union by the U.S. 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, flying out of RAF Sculthorpe.

When, for political reasons, the USAF restricted over flights of Soviet territory, four RB-45Cs were “loaned” to an RAF “special duties” unit at Sculthorpe. The RB-45Cs were given RAF markings and continued to fly missions over and around the Soviet Union, notably “Operation Ju-jitsu” on April 17, 1952, when the Tornados overflew the Soviet Union at high altitude gathering electronic intelligence and photographs before returning to Sculthorpe 10 hours later. A similar mission a few days later was aborted when it encountered a heavy Soviet defense reaction.

By the end of the 1950s all B-45s were removed from active duty service. However, a few continued to act as test aircraft into the early 1970s.

The B-45 filled a critical gap in the U.S. defense posture during this period by its nuclear deterrent mission. Its deep penetration photographic intelligence missions over the Soviet Union and the Soviet satellite countries were the forerunner of the U-2 and SR-71 surveillance aircraft.

(For questions or comments, contact Dr. Michel at marshall.michel@spangdahlem.af.mil.)