Convair B-46A Conqueror

In 1944, the War Department was aware of aviation advances in Germany and issued a requirement for a range of designs for medium bombers weighing from 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) to more than 200,000 pounds (91,000 kg). Orders for three prototypes followed on 27 February 1945

The XB-46 had a long streamlined oval torpedo-shaped fuselage, long narrow straight shoulder-mounted wings with four Chevrolet-built J35-C3 axial-flow eleven stage turbojets of 3,820 pounds-force (17.0 kN) static thrust paired in an integral nacelle under each wing. The pilots sat in tandem in a pressurized fighter-style cockpit under a single Plexiglas teardrop canopy with the bombardier-navigator-radio operator in a transparent Plexiglas nose section.

The XB-46's first flight occurred 2 April 1947 after a month of taxi testing and lasted ninety minutes as the bomber departed the Convair plant in San Diego, California for Muroc Army Airfield in the high desert. The pilot praised its handling qualities. Basic flight testing took place for five months, and by September 1947 it was concluded after 127 hours aloft on 64 flights by both the Convair company and AAF test pilots. Stability and control were excellent. The aircraft was accepted on 7 November and delivered on 12 November 1947.

Production orders followed for 200 B-46A models followed by 1800 more of different versions. The final production B-46E was delivered to the USAF in 1956. The type remained in operation until 1965.

During the Korean war the B-46B was used for night bombing of North Korean infrastructure from bases in Japan.