A B-36 airframe undergoing structural stability tests. Johnson’s decision set off a minor war between the various military wings as both the Navy and Air Force wanted to be the provider of a means to carry nuclear weapons to all corners of the globe. The Navy planned to use the vessel to carry aircraft that would be able to drop nuclear bombs thousands of miles away from home soil. This carrier had been the center-point of the Navy’s strategic nuclear plan.
Johnson caused the Navy to have apoplexy when he canceled the order for their latest aircraft carrier, a week after the keel had been laid down. In 1949, Louis Johnson was appointed as the Secretary of Defense, and he was ordered by President Harry Truman to economize. The wings of the ‘Peacemaker’ were 7 feet (2.1 m) thick at the root. The huge new XB-36 alongside the first superbomber, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.
