Postwar, Stalin ordered Myasishchev to produce a strategic bomber using German jet engine and wing technologies. The order was given in 1949 and by 1954 the prototype was unveiled. The BISON (US Bomber Codename) aka "Molot" or "Sledgehammer" was a large bomber weighing 352,000 lbs when loaded with a span of 167' and was 155' long. It has a nose radar, ventral bomb radar, and 10x 23mm cannons (8x remote + 2x radar guided in tail). It had swept wings, a large tail, and bomb bay situated between two sets of bicycle main gear. It was powered by 4x Mikulin AM-30 turbojets @ 19,180 lb st each for a speed of 620 mph max, height of almost 56,000 ft, and range of 6600 miles. While this was impressive and formidable for the time, the SAC review overestimated its strategic range badly and so during the Cold War it was a high-priority target that needed interception over the N Pole on its way to nuke the eastern seaboard. Myasishchev initially wanted to develop a 8-engined massive machine, but was denied. Therefore, the four-engine aircraft was roughly 2000 miles short of reaching the US mainland from air bases in their north. Over time the BISON became a maritime aircraft and a tanker, never living up to its nuclear strategic bomber image. When the START talks began, 40 of the bombers were scrapped as part of the deal. The plane was phased out in the 1980s but used as a transport for oversize space loads as redesigned and redesignated VM-T Atlant with split tail, carrying loads piggyback to space facilities. Myasishchev later developed two huge bombers, the M-50 and M-52 to counter US developments but the engine tech fell short. Neither could reach supersonic speed and were scrapped. A single M-50 BOUNDER is in an aviation museum outdoors rotting...