Its six engines were reminiscent of the huge German bombers of WWII. During the Cold War it struck fear in the hearts of Soviet generals and inspired awe in the minds of the American public. The fictional film "Fail Safe" was based on its existence. It was the forerunner of the TU 144 and the Concorde, but it was a plane that was not to be.

Here is a little bit of useless information, you stated "The AIR-2A or 2B were the nuke
air-to-ground fire-spears of the time." I remember LMAO when I read about these things
while in weapons training in the Air Force. They were air-to-air nukes! It was designed
back when they thought waves of Bear bombers would cloud the skies. The F-106 actually
carried `em, and were to wipe a cubic mile of these Soviets hordes! Talk about a one
way mission!

Although I do think you are wrong about the cost of these aircraft. I feel certain they would have turned out prohibitively expensive.

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