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Sunday, August 1, 2021

CONTINUITY: Nuclear Powered Bomber Testbed—Convair NB-36H “Crusader” Progress Report, 1956

The Convair NB-36H was a B-36 bomber modified to carry a General Electric one megawatt air-cooled nuclear reactor in its bomb bay. The reactor did not power the plane's engines, but was intended to test shielding and operational procedures for a nuclear powered bomber with range limited only by crew endurance. The program, and its planned follow-on, the Convair X-6 nuclear powered experimental aircraft, was cancelled in 1961.

Posted at August 1, 2021 12:24