The Boeing B-47 Stratojet was an American long range, six-engine,
turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic
speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft.
The B-47's primary mission was to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union.
With its engines carried in nacelles under the swept wing, the B-47 was a
major innovation in post-World War II combat jet design, and contributed
to the development of modern jet airliners.
The B-47 entered service with the United States Air Force's Strategic
Air Command (SAC) in 1951. It never saw combat as a bomber, but was a
mainstay of SAC's bomber strength during the late 1950s and early 1960s,
and remained in use as a bomber until 1965. It was also adapted to a number
of other missions, including photographic reconnaissance, electronic
intelligence and weather reconnaissance, remaining in service as a
reconnaissance aircraft until 1969 and as a testbed until 1977.