The B-47's Deadly Dominance

摘要

TheBoeingB-47Stratojetwas the perfect strategic weapon for its time, so feared by its enemies that the bomber never had to perform its lethal nuclear mission. The Soviet leadership knew the B-47-swiftly deployed in ever greater numbers-gave the United States an unstoppable nuclear strike force. Sadly, the B-47 also suffered losses on a scale that would be utterly intolerable today. Over its lifetime, 203 aircraft (about 10 percent of the total procured) were lost in crashes, with 464 deaths. This article focuses on the two peak years, 1957 and 1958, when 49 B-47s crashed-incurring 122 fatalities. There were a number of reasons for this doleful toll. The Stratojet, never called so by its crews, introduced a new flight performance regime requiring new skills and greater precision.