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The RB-57D was built strictly as a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. It originated in a December 1952 USAF study funded by the Wright Air Development Center for a turbojet-powered special reconnaissance aircraft with a radius of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) that could operate at altitudes of 65,000 feet (20,000 m).
The RB-57F was the result of an early-1960s program to produce a virtually new high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft out of the B-57. 21 produced. Developed from some RB-57As, RB-57Bs, and RB-57Ds in 1963 with newer engines and wider wings. Used for strategic reconnaissance. Transferred to Air Weather Service as WB-57Fs, 1968
RB-57D. 53-3982 - National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. This RB-57D is one of the 13 photoreconnaissance RB-57Ds. Painted as it appeared in the late 1950s while it served in the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 4025th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (L), it went on display in 2004. [76]
4025th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron emblem RB-57D, AF Ser. No. 53-3979, during Operation Hardtack I. The 4025th squadron received the initial RB-57D aircraft accepted by the Air Force. It also operated four B-57Cs, which were used for training. The first RB-57s arrived in May 1956 and eleven were on hand by the end of September. [1]
The prototype RB-57Fs incorporated many major changes from the RB-57D, the most obvious of which was an enlarged computer-designed wing to enable it to operate at extreme altitudes. The wing had a span of more than 122 feet (37 m), which was 16 feet (4.9 m) longer than the RB-57D and nearly twice the length of the B-57B fuselage on which it was ...
The service of the RB-57As was brief, as in 1957, air refueling capable RB-57D Canberras were deployed in 1957 to the 7407th to support USAFE operations. All RB-57D operations were under heavy security and very little information ever leaked out about their early operations.
RB-57A-2 Two RB-57As were modified with a bulbous nose containing AN/APS-60 mapping radar in 1957 under project SARTAC. Assigned to Germany, operational use still not disclosed. RB-57D Initial high-altitude reconnaissance version of the B-57 Canberra. Capable of operation at altitudes of 65,000 feet with range of 2,000 nautical miles.
B-57B Canberra, 1955–1963; RB-57D Canberra, 1957–1963; References. Notes Bibliography This ... Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.