This curve led to the forecast that new technology would have to be used for the B-58.

Noble and his colleagues in 1952 examined the number of circuits in the B-17, B-29, B-50 and B-47. Then they extrapolated the trend to determine the number of circuits in the B-52 and B-58. Using the existing failure rates of vacuum tubes, they projected that the B-58 would always be broken. This led them, together with other research, to invest in integrated circuits that had the potential of higher reliability.