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  • Berlin Airlift SCR-658 Radio Receiver

    This model SCR-658 Radio Receiver was installed at Tempelhof Central Airport in Berlin by U.S. occupation forces in 1945. During the Berlin Airlift, Air Force weather forecasters used it to track weather balloons, measure the wind's direction and speed, temperature, humidity and air pressure by

  • Berlin Airlift Dog Parachute

    This parachute was specially made for "Vittles," a dog that flew 131 missions with his owner, 1Lt. Russ Steber, during the Berlin Airlift. Gen. Curtis LeMay named the dog and ordered the parachute made for him. Vittles, a boxer, accumulated around 2,000 flying hours, but never had to use the

  • Berlin: City Held Hostage

    1948-1949: Humanitarian TriumphThe Berlin Airlift was one of the defining events of the Cold War. The 464-day effort to supply a city's needs solely through the air demonstrated the resolve of democratic nations to oppose communist repression. The massive humanitarian effort was an early triumph for

  • Berlin Wall: Concrete Symbol of the Iron Curtain

    In 1961, Berlin became the focal point of increased tensions between the Western democracies and the Soviet Union. Dissatisfied with the economy and the political conditions in East Germany, thousands of East German refugees fled into West Berlin, the only gap in the Iron Curtain running from the

  • BLU-107/B Durandal

    The Durandal is an airfield denial weapon used by several air forces around the world. Designed by the French company Matra in the early 1970s, it entered service with the U.S. Air Force in the late 1980s. After being dropped from low altitude, the unguided Durandal deploys a parachute from its

  • Bomb Live Unit (BLU-82/B)

    During the Vietnam War, the USAF used 10,000-pound M121 bombs left over from World War II, to blast Helicopter Landing Zones in the dense undergrowth. As the supply of M121 bombs dwindled, the USAF developed the Bomb Live Unit-82/B (BLU-82/B) as a replacement. Weighing a total of 15,000 pounds, the

  • B53 Thermonuclear Bomb

    An enduring symbol of the Cold War, the B53 was one of the longest-lived nuclear weapons fielded by the United States, and it remained a key element of nuclear deterrence until retired in 1997. First produced in 1962, the Mk-53 "hydrogen" bomb -- later redesignated B53 -- was carried internally by

  • Boeing AGM-86B ALCM

    The AGM-86B cruise missile is an air-to-ground nuclear weapon launched from B-52 or B-1 bombers. The ALCM is self-guided -- it finds its preselected target by comparing prerecorded contour maps with terrain "seen" by its sensors. The cruise missiles wings, tail surfaces and engine inlet are folded

  • Beech T-34A Mentor

    The U.S. Air Force used the T-34A for primary flight training during the 1950s. The original Mentor, a Beechcraft Model 45 derived from the famous Beechcraft Bonanza, was first flown in December 1948. The first military prototype, designated YT-34 by the USAF, made its initial flight in May

  • Boeing YCGM-121B Seek Spinner

    The BRAVE 200 was designed and built by Boeing Military Airplane Co. in the early 1980s and received the military designation YCGM-121B. It is an unmanned aerial vehicle designed to seek out and attack the radars that control enemy anti-aircraft artillery or surface-to-air missile defenses. (Some