The North American B-45 Tornado was America's first operational jet bomber, entering Strategic Air Command service in 1948-1950 as a bridge between the piston-engine bombers of World War II and the swept-wing jets that followed. Powered by four turbojet engines mounted in paired underwing nacelles, the B-45 could deliver nuclear weapons at speeds no propeller bomber could match. This publicity photograph, taken over a mountain range and marked with the fuselage code 'BH-011,' captures the aircraft during its brief but pivotal service life in the early Cold War era. Project: 218474