The B-45 was the first American jet bomber design to actually enter service, and although obsolete and out of service by the late 1950s, the type filled an important stopgap role in the early Cold War years, giving the USAF a tactical nuclear delivery capability in Europe for the first time, and the high-flying RB-45C recon models brought back important imagery of the USSR before the U-2 was available.
Replaced by the B-66 Destroyer, most surviving B-45s were quickly disposed of, but a new, including the NMUSAF's example, were flown as engine testbeds into the early 1970s.
