The B-50 Superfortress was a strategic bomber built by Boeing. The Boeing B-50 Superfortress was a post-World War II revision of the wartime United States B-29 Superfortress with larger Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, a taller vertical stabilizer, and other improvements. Accommodations for crewmen included a total of ten personnel with access to 12 x .50 caliber machine guns in remotely-controlled barbettes throughout the aircraft design. Additionally, a 20mm cannon was part of the arsenal, as was up to 20,000lbs of internal ordnance in the form of drop bombs. The B-50’s development was approved in 1944, when the aircraft was known as the B-29D.

Changes distinguishing the B-50 from its predecessor (B-29 Superfortress) included an all new aluminum wing design that made the aircraft more resilient and efficient. Vertical tail surfaces were now designed to fold down, allowing the massive bomber the capability to be housed in air force hangars. Essentially, the B-50 was a further development of the B-29 that debuted towards the latter part of the war, though it became an aircraft worthy of the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command position as a bomber with true nuclear capabilities and reach. Boeing built 371 of the various B-50 models and variants between 1947 and 1953, the tanker versions serving until 1965.