During the Cold War, the Americans experimented with many innovative and wild warplane designs in order to keep ahead of their Soviet rivals. One such bird was the Convair B-58 Hustler, a supersonic strategic bomber developed in the late 1950s. As the first operational bomber capable of sustained Mach 2 flight, the B-58 embodied the technological ambition and strategic imperatives of the Cold War era.

Designed to penetrate Soviet airspace at high speeds and altitudes, the Hustler was a symbol of American ingenuity. Sadly, its high costs, operational challenges, and the rapidly evolving strategic landscape of the era limited this impressive plane’s service life.

In the late 1950s, Soviet air defenses were becoming increasingly advanced and threatening to undermine the air superiority the United States and NATO enjoyed over the USSR. To overcome these advances in Soviet air defenses, Convair, a division of US defense contractor General Dynamics, stepped forward with the B-58 Hustler’s design under the Generalized Bomber, GEBO, program.

Convair began designing this plane in 1952, with the first prototype, designated XB-58, flying on November 11, 1956.

Understanding the B-58 Hustler 

Unlike the B-52 Stratofortress, the Air Force’s primary long-range strategic bomber, the B-58 Hustler featured a sleek, delta-wing configuration and aerodynamic profile optimized for supersonic flight. Powered by four General Electric J79 turbojet engines, each producing 15,600 pounds of thrust (with afterburners), the Hustler could reach speeds exceeding 1,400 miles per hour (Mach 2) and heights of........

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