The B-58 Hustler and Forgotten Cold War Nuclear Strategy

Meet the B-58 Hustler: Observers, weapons developers and military historians might be inclined to wonder why the US Air Force does not have a broader range of bomber platforms, beyond its timeless B-52, aging B1-B and small B-2 fleet.

Air Force plans to continue upgrades to the B-52 which will likely enable the aircraft to fly for as long as 100 years.

The longevity and combat-proven performance of the B-52, and perhaps most of all its continued upgradeability, might explain why additional new platforms have either been short lived or simply not produced.

Enter the B-58 Hustler

The promise of the B-52 might also be why several potential Cold-War era bombers like the Convair B-58 never wound up seeing the light of day as an operational bomber. Developed in the 1950s as a Cold War bombing platform, the B-58 was singular in its purpose to carry and deliver nuclear weapons.

Later versions of the aircraft added hardpoints for it to carry additional weapons, yet the primary focus of the platform was to hold potential adversaries at risk of nuclear attack. In fact the aircraft never delivered conventional weapons and actually had no bomb bay.

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The existence of this kind of nuclear-air threat would seem to have been particularly relevant during the 50s before ICBMs came to exist, and nuclear-armed submarines were just emerging as well.