| SPEED: | 575 mph class |
| SERVICE CEILING: | Over 45,000 feet |
| POWER PLANT: | Four General Electric J47A jet engines with water injection. First 22 produced with Allison J35 engines. |
| PAYLOAD: | More than 20,000 pounds |
| ARMAMENT: | Two .50-caliber machine guns |
| CREW: | Four
|
| GROSS WEIGHT: | 82,600 pounds |
| NUMBER BUILT: | 143 |
The North American Aviation B-45 was one of America's first operational bombers to employ jet propulsion and was the first four-jet aircraft to fly in the United States. Other versions include the longer-range B-45C with wing-tip tanks and the photo reconnaissance version, the RB-45C. Rated as a light bomber by modern-day standards, it was the first four-jet aircraft to drop an atom bomb and the first to be refueled in midair.