Iconic Cold War Bombers

Long-range strategic bombers formed the Cold War's primary nuclear threat before intercontinental ballistic missiles emerged.

Prior to the development of the intercontinental ballistic missile, the long-range strategic bomber was the primary nuclear threat of the cold war.

The British produced three different "V bombers" for the Royal Air Force which were designed and designated to be able to deliver British-made nuclear bombs to targets in European Russia. These bombers would have been able to reach and destroy cities such as Kiev or Moscow before American strategic bombers. The US remains the largest operators of strategic bombers to this day, having produced legendary aircraft such as the B-52 Stratofortress, B-1 Lancer, and Northrop B-2 Spirit.

The Soviet Union produced hundreds of unlicensed copies of the American Boeing B-29 Superfortress, which the Soviet Air Forces called the Tupolev Tu-4, and later developed the jet-powered Tupolev Tu-16.

France produced its Dassault Mirage IV nuclear-armed bomber for the French Air Force as a part of its independent nuclear strike force, the Force de Frappe, using French-made bombers to deliver French-made nuclear weapons.

The political and economic tensions of the Cold War drove the development of technology in a way that changed the global aerospace industry forever. From sketches on the drawing board to dominating the skies, Tim Ripley explores the history of the Cold War's most iconic bomber aircraft.