B-66 "Destroyer"

B-66 "Destroyer". . The B-66 was developed from the Navy's A-3D Skywarrior. Although no prototypes were built, the A-3D was extensively redesigned to meet Air Force needs for a tactical light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. The USAF version was first flown 25 June 1954 as the RB-66A. This model was originally designed for all-weather night photographic reconnaissance. The first production model RB-66B was first flown 28 June 1954. With the reconnaissance capability deleted, the B-66B served with Tactical Air Command (TAC) as a light bomber carrying conventional or nuclear weapons. A more specialized reconnaissance version, the RB-66C first flew on 29 October 1955. It had a pressurized four-man electronic countermeasure compartment between the front and rear fuselage tanks. EB-66Bs, Cs, and Es, electronic countermeasure versions of the RB-66C, were used as protective cover for Air Force and Navy fighters against enemy surface-to-air missiles and radar-guided anti aircraft weapons during the latter part of the Vietnam conflict. Electronic equipment and two observers were carried in the fuselage, and the tail-armament of two 20mm guns in a radar-controlled turret was retained. This WB-66D was flown to Kelly AFB on 28 June 1976, from Westinghouse Corporation, Baltimore MD, where it had been used in a special project since 1969; it was the last B-66 flown., This aerospace vehicle (s/n 55-390) is part of the USAF Heritage Program Collection.