The B-29 Superfortress is arguably the most important and controversial aircraft in human history.
With the dubious honour of being history’s deadliest bomber and the only aircraft to drop a nuclear weapon in combat, its story is one of ground-breaking innovation, unimaginable destruction and decisions that would dictate the course of the 20th century.
The development of the new super bomber would become the most expensive project of the entire war, totalling $3 billion, equivalent to $49 billion today. The cost of design and production exceeded even the Manhattan Project by $1 billion.
In this video, curator Hattie Hearn talks us through the world’s first super bomber, the B-29 Superfortress.
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