The Cold War dominated this period. Six American spies, socially related, from the New York-NY area gave to the USSR's communist leadership the secrets of the atomic bomb from the Manhattan Engineering District Project. These traitors gave to the USSR the ability to quickly match the Free World in nuclear weapons power. Thus they greatly enabled theCold War to be launched against the USA. Strategic Air Command (SAC) came into being in 1946 and theStrategic Bomber became the prevailing weapon. The US faced an adversary equally and as terrible armed; first with a strategic bomber fleet, and later with intercontinental range ballistic missiles. Both Communist and Democratic powers became technically capable of delivering nuclear warheads to far distant targets. Thousands of nuclear warheads were manufactured by both sides. Air breathing cruise missiles such as the Matador, Mace and Snark were deployed, and a longer range model, the Navaho was tested. The first radio-beacon satellites were placed into low orbits. Strategic Air Command (SAC) gained command of over 2,000 nuclear laden bombers. Along with the bombers SAC crewed large fleets of in-flight refueling tankers. Both of these aircraft fleets required navigators and/or navigator-bombardiers. Most of the navigators and bombardiers were Aviation Cadets who were trained at Ellington, Harlingen, James Connally and Mather Air Force Bases. The USAF developed some 33 airplanes during this period. A small number of intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) such as the Redstone (an Army Missile), Jupiter and Thor were also deployed.

Navigator developments in this period:

• Polar Grid flight gyro-steered navigation was mastered by the Strategic Air Command (SAC) allowing for the SAC forces to operate over the polar regions where the magnetic compass is unreliable. The first crews to master grid were crews flying the B-29 designated as the F-13 recci photo planes out of Alaska and Greenland. Ref. AFM 51-40 1 June, 1951 by Order of the Secretary of the Air Force, Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Chief of Staff, USAF. Pages 428 to 438.
  
• Radar-bombardiers using the Norden M9 with the Maxon X-1 reflex sight, visual bomb sights mated to the C-1 autopilot andEagle System  AN/APQ-7 and AN/APQ-13 radars and long range strategic navigation aids such as the AN/APN-4 and APN-9 Lorans and using the SCR-718 radar altimeter for pressure pattern geostrophic wind determinations at altitude, and newly developed grid-polar gyro steering techniques were welded together to enable the newly formed Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-29 nuclear bombers (Silverplates, later code named Saddletree) to reach far distant targets where the Norden Visual Bomb sight mated to the C-1 autopilot could be used in the final minutes of the bomb-run. The Radar-bombardier had full control of the B-29 during the bomb run. It was hands off to the pilots.  Note: the Sperry S-1 bomb sight integrated to the A-5 autopilot system, where installed. Some B-25s and B-26s were equipped with the D-8 bomb sights, for low level bombing and acute angle/slant range delivery. Ref. Big Bombers of WW-II, by William N. Hess, Frederick A. Johnsen, Chester Marshall, published by Lowe and B. Hould, Ann Arbor MI. Page 396, and 413.
  
• Radar bombardment by radar-bombardier/navigators was designed into the light, medium, and heavy bombers that were developed on a large scale after WW-II as can be seen in R&D and sometimes production of the B-35, B-36, B-43, B-45, B-46, B-47, B-48, B-49, B-50, B-52, B-57, B-58. Note: all of these bombers were to be in the end, capable of delivering a nuclear bomb or bombs. Ref. Building a Strategic Air Force by Walton S. Moody, AF History and Museums Program, 1996. Pages 99 and 130 and Building A Strategic Air Force by Walton S. Moody, Air force History and Museums programs, 1996, reference war plans JCS 1745 -5, Offtackle, Halfmoon, and Darkhorse.
  
• Strategic navigation and bombing systems such as the APQ-23/24 were miniature nixie-tube-electronic systems known as the K-1 and K-2 on the B-36 and the K-3 and on the B-47. The overall K-system weighed well over 1,000 pounds, had 41 major components and over 370 tubes in it. Also both the B-36 and B-47 had an optical/radar co-bore-sighted bomb sights known as Y-scopes. The K bombing systems replaced all of the Norden and Sperry types of earlier years as they integrated all of the bombing requirements with the navigation and flight control requirements. The navigator, navigator-bombardier, and/or the radar bombardier through theirsecond station control (a joy stick much like that on the now F-16) controlled the aircraft in flight. The overall updated system was the K-4 with APS-23 radar and MA-6A/7A system electronics allowing for the adoption of the Sharkey  method of off-set radar bombing. Note: A number of MA-6A/7A radar bombing systems with Y optical scopes were installed in T-29 navigator training aircraft, thus the AT-11and TB-25 were replaced too.
  
• What was the bombardier, or the navigator, or the observer, now became one man; the radar Bomb/Nav. Mather AFB, California became the home base for radar Bomb/Nav training using the T-29 with the K system mounted in the rear area of the cabin. Ref. K-system photos on web site www.usaf-nav-history.com by USAF Ret. Navigator Mike Radowski.
  
• Nuclear bombs were the standard bombs of the cold war and production peaked in 1962 at six warheads a day. The US inventory reached over 30,000 nuclear warheads during the cold war. The Bombardier-Navigator was trained to use specific nuclear bomb delivery systems as there were over two dozen types of bombs and/or warheads in the inventory at anyone time such as the: B6, B7, T4, B28, B12, B15, W19, W44, W30, W31, W33, W34, W45, B52, W47, B41, W49, W-40, B36, B39, W39, B27, W-27 and W38. Some of the nuclear weapons were bombs as we know a free-fall-bomb, tossed bombs(LAPS), drogue-chute laydown bombs, and others were such as the AGM-28Hound Dog which was a Bomb/Nav air launched cruise missile on the B-52. Ref. Nuclear weapons of the United States by James N. Gibson, 1996 and Aviation History by Anne Millbrooke, Published by Jeppesen-Sanderson 1999, Pages 8-48 and 8-49 and personal experiences of Ronald P. Barrett, USAF Ret., Air Force Navigators Observers Association (AFNOA) ( www.afnoa.org ) in MA/6A-7A K-system Radar Bombardier Graduate Navigator Training Class 63-23, MAFB, 1962.
  
• Guided bombs and/or powered bombs had been in existence, in limited manner since WW-I. However it was the advent of the smaller nuclear warhead, developed in the late 50's that gave impetus to the development of the long range unmanned cruise missile that could make a real difference in strategic bombardment. USAF Weapon System 104A, the X-10/G-26 Navaho led the way. The X-10 Navaho's inertial navigation (today on nuclear subs as the Mk2 Mod 7 SINS) system, stellar tracker (later used on the B-58), first use of transistors in aircraft black boxes, modular circuits, and rocket boosters made possible the Jupiter, Thor and Redstone Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs). From this time on, nuclear bombardment did not require a Bomb/Nav and/or a manned bomber. Thus began the age of the reliable, cheaper, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), cruise missile and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) of today and notable this began the reduced need of a Bomb/Nav and/or the manned bomber. Ref. The Navaho Missile Project by James N. Gibson, A Schiffer Military History Book, 1996.