It was created for the Nuclear Powered Aircraft program, or the NPA, to show the feasibility of a nuclear-powered bomber.

The magazine claimed that the aircraft was real beyond a doubt, stating that "A nuclear-powered bomber is being flight tested in the Soviet Union.

In 1954, the USAF issued a weapons system requirement for a nuclear-powered bomber, designated WS-125.

Nuclear aircraft - General Electric's cold war project to build a nuclear-powered bomber.

These included claims of a nuclear-powered bomber, supersonic VTOL flying saucers, and only a few years later, the "missile gap."

Accordingly, Boeing developed plans for a nuclear-powered bomber equipped with afterburners that used chemical fuel.

Measurements of the resulting radiation levels were then compared with calculated levels to enhance the ability to design optimal shielding with minimum weight for nuclear-powered bombers.

The Myasishchev M-60 was a Soviet design for a nuclear-powered bomber.

The ARE was a 2.5 MW nuclear reactor experiment designed to attain a high power density for use as an engine in a nuclear-powered bomber.

He is well known as a designer of unique warplanes, including an asymmetrically-shaped reconnaissance aircraft and a nuclear-powered bomber, during and after World War II.