North American B-45 Tornado

Jet-Powered Bomber Aircraft

United States | 1948

"The NOrth American B-45 Tornado saw many firsts as a multi-jet-engined bomber design with the United States Air Force."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 04/14/2018 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Development of the XB-45 began in 1944 and continued into 1945, representing the later years of the Second World War. With reports that Germany had already succeeded in development of production-quality jet bomber designs, the need for America to respond was critical. As such, the US War Department set forth a requirement for a jet bomber with North American Aviation winning the out on the bid. Though the end of the global conflict slowed the arrival of the XB-45, mounting tensions in the Cold War stirred the design back into the limelight.

Externally, the B-45 was a meshing of smooth shapes and straight edges. The cylindrical fuselage sported a green-house style canopy covering with a similarly-covered nose section. Wings were of a high-mount monoplane type and carried the four engines (two per wing) in shared nacelles. The wings were of straight-wing design and mounted onto the middle of the fuselage. The empennage was a traditional T-style with cantilever horizontal surfaces and a single vertical tail surface. A tail gun position was placed at the base of the rudder.

The Tornado took to the skies for the first time on February 24th, 1947 as the XB-45 - of which three prototypes were constructed. By the end of development, one was lost in a fatal accident and another damaged to the point that it was no longer combat worthy and thus was relegated to training. Nevertheless, the third and remaining model became the basis for production to which deliveries began in 1947 into 1948 as the B-45A. Up to 22 of the initial B-45's were fielded with the Allison J35 powerplant but from there on, the General Electric J47A (with water injection) was the engine of choice and offered up improved reliability and performance.

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The B-45A featured some changes from the XB-45 design that included redesigned ejection seats and improved communications equipment. Accommodations allowed for a crew of four and standard defensive armament consisted of 2 x 12.7mm (.50 caliber) M3 machine guns in the tail position. A bombing navigation radar and autopilot systems were also installed. The B-45B appeared a short time later as a proposed improvement upon the B-45A design though this proposal never came to fruition.

The next notable addition to the Tornado family was the B-45C which was in essence a long-range variant fitted with wing tip fuel tanks and an aerial refueling probe. The addition of the refueling probe made the Tornado the first multi-jet engined bomber in the world to be refueled in mid-air. A reinforced canopy was also on the list of improvements though only a total of 10 examples were produced before the arrival of the definitive Tornado in the RB-45 series.

The RB-45C was a photo-graphic reconnaissance platform based on the B-45C model series to which some 383 were converted to this standard along with 38 new-builds. The bombardiers compartment was faired over and four camera stations could mount specialized equipment. Along with provisions for external fuel tanks, Jet Assisted Take-Off (JATO) rockets could also be utilized.

In all, some 143 Tornados were produced for the United States Air Force. The series performed admirably through the early Cold War years despite its engine troubles and became many "firsts" for the USAF. The system saw combat action in the Korean war in both reconnaissance and bomber forms. Only three Tornados are reported to still exist in presentation form with a B-45A, B-45C and an RB-45C on display in museums in Atwater (California), Dayton (Ohio) and Ashland (Nebraska) respectively.

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Cockpit
While traditional jobs involve workstations, office desks, or cubicles, aircraft provide operators with their own unique, ever-changing view of the world below.

[ Click to Enlarge ]

Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the North American RB-45C Tornado Jet-Powered Bomber Aircraft.

2 x General Electric J47-GE-13 turbojet engines developing 6,000 lb of thrust each.
Propulsion

570 mph
917 kph | 495 kts
Max Speed

40,256 ft
12,270 m | 8 miles
Service Ceiling

2,529 miles
4,070 km | 2,198 nm
Operational Range

5,950 ft/min
1,814 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

City-to-City Ranges
Operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).

NYC

LON

PAR

BER

MOS

TOK

SYD

LAX

NYC

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the North American RB-45C Tornado Jet-Powered Bomber Aircraft.

4
(MANNED)
Crew

75.9 ft
23.14 m
O/A Length

96.0 ft
(29.26 m)
O/A Width

25.2 ft
(7.67 m)
O/A Height

45,693 lb
(20,726 kg)
Empty Weight

110,723 lb
(50,223 kg)
MTOW

Design Balance
The three qualities reflected below are altitude, speed, and range. The more full the box, the more balanced the design.

RANGE

ALT

SPEED

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the North American B-45 Tornado Jet-Powered Bomber Aircraft .

STANDARD:
2 x 12.7mm M3 machine guns in tail

OPTIONAL:
Up to 22,000 lb of bombs.

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the North American B-45 Tornado family line.

XB-45 - Three prototype aircraft with one fatal lost in testing.

B-45A - Initial Production Model Designation; bombing navigation radar and autopilot implemented; redesigned ejection seats and communications equipment; early delivery models fitted with J35 turbojets with latter models fielded with more improved J47 type; 96 examples produced.

B-45B - Proposed "improved" B-45A model; never produced.

B-45C - Long-Range Variant; fitted with 2 x 1200 gallon fuel tanks at wing tips; aerial refueling probe implemented; reinforced canopy design; 10 examples produced.

RB-45C - Definitive B-45 Model; photographic reconnaissance platform fitted with four camera stations; covered bombardier's canopy; provision for external fuel tanks or JATO type rockets; 38 new-build examples produced with 33 converted from B-45C models.

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the North American B-45 Tornado. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 143 Units
Contractor(s): North American Aviation - USA

[ United States ]

Relative Max Speed

Hi: 750mph

Lo: 375mph

Aircraft Max Listed Speed (570mph).

Graph Average of 563 MPH.

Era Crossover

Showcasing Aircraft Era Crossover (if any)

Max Alt Visualization

Production Comparison

143

36183

44000

Entry compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian) total production.

MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

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Aviation Timeline

EarlyYrs

WWI

Interwar

WWII

ColdWar

Postwar

Modern

Future

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Mission Roles
Some designs are single-minded in their approach while others offer a more versatile solution to airborne requirements.

GROUND ATTACK

RECONNAISSANCE

Recognition
Some designs stand the test of time while others are doomed to never advance beyond the drawing board; let history be their judge.

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Going Further...
The North American B-45 Tornado Jet-Powered Bomber Aircraft appears in the following collections:

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