The B-45 was the first American four-engine jet bomber to fly and the first Air Force jet bomber to go into production. However, the B-45's career was only moderately successful. The type entered service in 1948 with the 47th Bomb Group at Barksdale AFB, La. Three RB-45Cs were sent to Korea for an operational evaluation and were pressed into service with the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, but the type's wartime experience was short. Originally designed as conventional bombers, 40 B-45s were extensively modified to carry nuclear weapons under the Backbreaker program, starting in 1950. Nuclear-capable aircraft reached the United Kingdom by May 1, 1952. On July 29, 1952, an RB-45C crew made the first nonstop transpacific flight by a multiengine jet bomber with the help of a KB-29 tanker. In flying the 3,640 miles from Alaska to Japan in nine hours, 50 minutes, the crew of Maj. Louis H. Carrington, Jr., Maj. Frederick W. Shook, and Capt. Wallace D. Yancey won the Mackay Trophy. In the 1950s, two aircraft were used in the development of jet engines (the JB-45A was used by Westinghouse, and the JB-45C was used by both General Electric and Pratt & Whitney). Other aircraft were used as target tugs, conversion trainers, and drone director aircraft. The B-45 was phased out of service by 1959.
| Contractors: | North American Aviation, Inc. |
| Locations Built: | Long Beach, Calif. (in a former Douglas Aircraft Co. factory) |
| Number Built: (USAF) | 142 (142) |
| First Flight: | March 17, 1947 |
| First Flight Model: | XB-45 |
| First Flight Location: | Muroc AAF, Calif. |
| First Flight Pilot: | George Krebs |
| Models/Variants: | B-45A, C. RB-45C |
| Powerplant: | Two General Electric J47-GE-13 and two General Electric J47-GE-15 turbojets of 5,200 lb static thrust each |
| Wingspan: | 89 ft 0 in. |
| Length: | 75 ft 4 in. |
| Height: | 25 ft 2 in. |
| Weight: | 112,952 lb gross |
| Armament: | Two Browning M7 .50-cal. machine guns in tail turret and 22,000 lb of conventional or nuclear bombs |
| Accommodation: | four (pilot and copilot in tandem, bombardier, and tailgunner) |
| Cost: | $1.08 million |
| Max. Speed: | 573 mph |
| Range: | 1,910 mi |
| Ceiling: | 43,250 ft. |
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