The Convair B-53C Cougar and B-53D 'Night Cougar'

[Spinners 15,986]

Convair B-53C Cougar - Arkansas Air National Guard, 1957

 

In 1947 Convair's futuristic-looking XB-46 lost out to the North American B-45 Tornado in the race to produce the first operational American jet bomber but there still remained the hope of their even more radical forward-swept wing (with canard) XA-44 project being selected as a more advanced medium bomber. However, the outstanding success of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet in the medium bomber role led to USAF officials cancelling the XA-44 in early 1949 but immediately inviting Convair to design a smaller tactical bomber with reconnaissance capability as a replacement for the Douglas B-26 Invader still in widespread USAF service. Convair proposed a relatively conventional straight-wing aircraft powered by two Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal turbojets licence-produced by Pratt & Whitney as the J42. The crew of three (pilot, navigator/bombardier and rear gunner) were housed in separate pressurised compartments with a small bomb bay under the wing, forward of which was housed an AN/APQ-17 air-ground radar contained within a protruding ventral blister.

 

Designated XB-53 (and soon named 'Cougar' in a poll taken of employees at Consolidated's San Diego plant) development move swiftly and the first XB-53 took to the air on July 31st, 1950 by which time the project had been given added impetus by the outbreak of the Korean war during the previous month. The first B-53A entered service with the 405th Bomb Squadron in February 1951 with the RB-53B entering service with the 30th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron during the following month. However, the main production version was the B-53C which switched to the more powerful Pratt & Whitney J48 engine (a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Tay) and introduced the more advanced AN/APQ-31 bombing and navigational radar. Entering service with the 764th Bombardment Squadron at Blytheville AFB, Arkansas in March 1952 the B-53 force served in large numbers with TAC, USAFE and PACAF units but was soon relegated to ANG units as they were replaced by more advanced tactical aircraft such as the F-100 from about 1956 onwards. The final production version was the B-53D 'Night Cougar' essentially a minimum change version of the B-53C for night attack.

 

During 1963 the remaining B-53C's and B-53D's were gathered together for refurbishment by General Dynamics to re-enter service as the B-53E and deployed to South Vietnam in October 1964 with the first excursion into North Vietnam taking place in early 1965 as part of Operation Rolling Thunder followed by sustained night interdiction missions against the Ho Chi Minh trail and ending with airstrikes against the North's petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) storage areas during July and August 1966. After this the B-53E's were withdrawn from USAF service and handed over to the Vietnam Air Force who operated the type until the eventual Fall of South Vietnam in 1975.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2013 by Spinners

[Spinners 15,986]

Convair B-53D 'Night Cougar' - 85th Bomb Squadron, USAF, 1953

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2013 by Spinners

[dsawan 624]

have to admit, that darker skinned one would be useful in a what-if korean war campaign for night-bombing. Similar to po-2 for soviet air force in ww2.