Yes, if you want to do anything meaningful.
Keep in mind that a bus can be as simple as a coupler with terminators and for completeness to adhere to the 1553 specification, both bus A and bus B should be used. A Mil-Std-1553 tutorial can be found here: MIL-STD-1553 Tutorial and Reference (71679 downloads )
The Mil-Std-1553 Specification can be found here: MIL-STD-1553B Notices (33803 downloads )
A diagram of Mil-Std-1553 bus components:
