The B52 was a strategic jet-powered bomber that was part of the main fleet used by the US Air Force from 1952. It was capable of carrying up to 32,000 kg of conventional weapons, as well as nuclear weapons, key to the Cold War deterrent.

Its design was modified over the course of the Cold War, and by 1971, it was capable of carrying 20 nuclear missiles (it later modified further to carry cruise missiles). It was a very versatile aircraft, because it could always be modified further to suit the needs of the US Air Force. Not every B52 was equipped in the same way, but with different kinds of nuclear weapons, giving it a wide and diverse use in combat. It could fly at subsonic speeds, and although it cost millions of dollars to build, it was relatively economical to run compared to other aircraft.

On 21 May 1956, as part of operation Cherokee, a B52 dropped the first test nuclear bomb on the Bikini Atoll on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.