The XB-70A Valkyrie is one of the sleekest, good-looking military aircraft ever built. Unfortunately, the aircraft appeared just at a time when military requirements were changing and the manned bomber was being de-emphasized in favor of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The XB-70A program came out from the Boeing Aircraft Corporation’s MX-2145 Project after Boeing along with the Band Corporation conducted studies relating to the type of weapon system required to deliver high-yield special weapons. The study included intercontinental bombers, delivering both gravity bombs and pilot-less parasite bombers; manned bombers, air-refueled by tankers to attend their ranges and cover round-trip intercontinental distances; manned aircraft and drone bomber combinations; and unmanned bombers. During the study, the Air Force requested to further include possible trade-off information on weight for speed, weight for range and speed for range. Boeing managed to present the requested information on 22 January 1954, pointing out the possibilities of a bomber aircraft powered by chemically augmented nuclear power plants. It was B-70.
In May 1946, the Army Air Forces signed a treaty with the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, conferring on the highly classified
