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Strategic Air Command equipment includes weapon systems and ordnance (e.g., strategic weapons such as ICBMs), ground radars and computers (e.g., at SSN 1979-82), and other Cold War devices of the USAF major command.
This system (SWESS), also known informally as the dead man's switch, was a nuclear bomb release system that the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command built into bombers such as the B-52 Stratofortress. The system's purpose was to ensure that an aircraft's payload of nuclear weapons would detonate in the event of the crew becoming debilitated by enemy defences such as missiles. [1] Once armed, the system would ensure that the onboard nuclear weapons detonated if the aircraft dropped below a predetermined altitude.
| SAC Equipment | |||||
| Type | Model | Start | End | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat aircraft | B-1 Lancer | 1986 | 1992 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-17 Flying Fortress (RB-17G) | 1946 | 1951 | ||
| Combat aircraft | A-26 Invader (RB-26) | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-29 Superfortress | 1946 | 1953 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-36 Peacemaker | 1948 | 1958 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-45 Tornado | 1950 | 1953 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-47 Stratojet | 1951 | 1965 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-50 Superfortress | 1948 | 1954 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-52 Stratofortress | 1955 | 1992 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-57 Canberra | 1956 | 1962 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-58 Hustler | 1960 | 1969 | ||
| Combat aircraft | C-119 Flying Boxcar | 1956 | 1973 | ||
| Combat aircraft | DC-130 Hercules | 1966 | 1976 | ||
| Combat aircraft | EC-135 Looking Glass | 1963 | 1992 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-2 Expeditor (F=Fotorecon; C-45) | ||||
| Combat aircraft | F-6 Mustang (F=Fotorecon; P-51) | ||||
| Combat aircraft | F-9 Flying Fortress (F=Fotorecon; B-17F/G) | ||||
| Combat aircraft | F-13 Superfortress (F=Fotorecon; B-29A) | ||||
| Combat aircraft | F-47 Thunderbolt (P-47) | 1946 | 1947 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-51 Mustang (P-51) | 1946 | 1949 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-82 Twin Mustang | 1947 | 1950 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-80 Shooting Star | 1946 | 1948 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-84 Thunderjet | 1948 | 1957 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-86 Sabre | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-102 Delta Dagger | 1960 | 1976 | ||
| Combat aircraft | FB-111 Aardvark | 1969 | 1990 | ||
| Combat aircraft | KC-10 Extender | 1981 | 1992 | ||
| Combat aircraft | KB-29 | 1949 | 1956 | ||
| Combat aircraft | KC-97 Stratofreighter SAC | 1951 | 1964 | ||
| Combat aircraft | KC-135 Stratotanker SAC | 1957 | 1991 | ||
| Combat aircraft | RC-45 Expeditor | ||||
| Combat aircraft | RC-135 | ||||
| Combat aircraft | SR-71 Blackbird | 1966 | 1991 | ||
| Combat aircraft | U-2 Dragon Lady | 1962 | 1991 | ||
| Combat aircraft | TR-1 Dragon Lady | 1989 | 1991 | ||
| Support aircraft | UC-45 Expeditor | ||||
| Support aircraft | AT-11 Kansan | ||||
| Support aircraft | B-26 Invader | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-45 Expeditor | 1946 | 1951 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-47 Skytrain | 1946 | 1947 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-54 Skymaster | 1946 | 1975 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-82 Packet | 1946 | 1947 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-97 Stratofreighter | 1949 | 1978 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-118 Liftmaster | 1957 | 1975 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-124 Globemaster II | 1959 | 1962 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-131 Samaritan | ||||
| Support aircraft | C-135 Stratolifter | ||||
| Support aircraft | CH-3 Sea King SAC c. 1960s | ||||
| Support aircraft | HU-16 Albatross SAC c. 1950s/1960s | ||||
| Support aircraft | L-4 Grasshopper | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Support aircraft | L-5 Sentinel | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Support aircraft | L-13 Grasshopper | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Support aircraft | PBY Catalina | ||||
| Support aircraft | T-38 Talon | 1981 | 1991 | ||
| Support aircraft | UH-1 Iroquois | 1966 | 1992 | ||
| Missile | ADM-20 Quail | ||||
| Missile | AGM-28 Hound Dog | ||||
| Missile | AGM-69 SRAM | ||||
| Missile | AGM-84 Harpoon | ||||
| Missile | AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile | ||||
| Missile | AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile | ||||
| Missile | HGM-16 Atlas | ||||
| Missile | HGM-25A Titan I | ||||
| Missile | LGM-25 Titan II | ||||
| Missile | LGM-30A/B Minuteman I | ||||
| Missile | LGM-30F Minuteman II | ||||
| Missile | LGM-30G Minuteman III | ||||
| Missile | LGM-118A Peacekeeper | ||||
| Missile | SM-62 Snark | ||||
| Missile | PGM-17A Thor | ||||
| Missile | PGM-19A Jupiter | ||||
| Ground system | Athena computer | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MPS-9 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-1 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-2 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-35 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-77 | 1965 | |||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-81 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-96 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/TLQ-11 | ||||
| Ground system | BMEWS | 1979 | 1982 | ||
| Ground system | GWEN | ||||
| Ground system | train: Big Star (ICBM) | ||||
| Ground system | trains: RBS Express (3) | 1961 | c. 1971 | ||
| Ground system | SACCCS | ||||
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile components of the United States military's strategic nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992. SAC was also responsible for the operation of strategic reconnaissance aircraft and airborne command post aircraft as well as most of the USAF's aerial refueling fleet, including aircraft from the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and Air National Guard (ANG).
Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy which posits that a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by an attacker on a nuclear-armed defender with second-strike capabilities would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. It is based on the theory of rational deterrence, which holds that the threat of using strong weapons against the enemy prevents the enemy's use of those same weapons. The strategy is a form of Nash equilibrium in which, once armed, neither side has any incentive to initiate a conflict or to disarm.
A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, penetrators, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft, which are used in air interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment, strategic bombers are designed to fly into enemy territory to destroy strategic targets. In addition to strategic bombing, strategic bombers can be used for tactical missions. There are currently only three countries that operate strategic bombers: the United States, Russia and China.
The nuclear arms race was an arms race competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During this same period, in addition to the American and Soviet nuclear stockpiles, other countries developed nuclear weapons, though none engaged in warhead production on nearly the same scale as the two superpowers.
Canada has not officially maintained and possessed weapons of mass destruction since 1984 and, as of 1998, has signed treaties repudiating possession of them. Canada ratified the Geneva Protocol in 1930 and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1970.
The Strategic Forces Command (SFC), sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, forms part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and administration of the country's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile. It was created on 4 January 2003 by the Vajpayee Government. Air Marshal Teja Mohan Asthana became its first commander-in-chief.
The Douglas AIR-2 Genie was an unguided air-to-air rocket with a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead. It was deployed by the United States Air Force and Canada during the Cold War. Production ended in 1962 after over 3,000 were made, with some related training and test derivatives being produced later.
The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence, global strike, and operating the Defense Department's Global Information Grid. It also provides a host of capabilities to support the other combatant commands, including integrated missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This command exists to give "national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly".
A hardened aircraft shelter (HAS) or protective aircraft shelter (PAS) is a reinforced hangar to house and protect military aircraft from enemy attack. Cost considerations and building practicalities limit their use to fighter size aircraft.
In the United States military's strategic nuclear weapon nuclear command and control (NC2) system, an Emergency Action Message (EAM) is a preformatted message that directs nuclear-capable forces to execute specific Major Attack Options (MAOs) or Limited Attack Options (LAOs) in a nuclear war. They are the military commands that the US military chain of command would use to launch a nuclear strike. Individual countries or specific regions may be included or withheld in the EAM, as specified in the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP). The SIOP was updated annually until February 2003, when it was replaced by Operations Plan (OPLAN) 8044. Since July 2012, the US nuclear war plan has been OPLAN 8010-12, Strategic Deterrence and Force Employment.
The militarisation of space involves the placement and development of weaponry and military technology in outer space. The early exploration of space in the mid-20th century had, in part, a military motivation, as the United States and the Soviet Union used it as an opportunity to demonstrate ballistic-missile technology and other technologies having the potential for military application. Outer space has since been used as an operating location for military spacecraft such as imaging and communications satellites, and some ballistic missiles pass through outer space during their flight. As of 2018, known deployments of weapons stationed in space include only the Almaz space-station armament and pistols such as the TP-82 Cosmonaut survival pistol.
The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) of India is the authority responsible for command, control and operational decisions regarding India's nuclear weapons programme. It comprises a Political Council headed by the Prime Minister of India and an Executive Council headed by the National Security Advisor.
A tactical nuclear weapon (TNW) or non-strategic nuclear weapon (NSNW) is a nuclear weapon that is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations, mostly with friendly forces in proximity and perhaps even on contested friendly territory. Generally smaller in explosive power, they are defined in contrast to strategic nuclear weapons, which are designed mostly to be targeted at the enemy interior far away from the war front against military bases, cities, towns, arms industries, and other hardened or larger-area targets to damage the enemy's ability to wage war. As of 2024, tactical nuclear weapons have never been used.
The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) is a USAF Named Unit, assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The AFNWC operates at the Center level of the AFMC. It is currently under the command of Major General John P. Newberry.
The Mark 21 nuclear bomb was a United States thermonuclear gravity bomb first produced in 1955. It was based on the TX 21 "Shrimp" prototype that had been detonated during the Castle Bravo test in March 1954. While most of the Operation Castle tests were intended to evaluate weapons intended for immediate stockpile, or which were already available for use as part of the Emergency Capability Program, Castle Bravo was intended to test a design which would drastically reduce the size and costs of the first generation of air-droppable atomic weapons.
The 498th Nuclear Systems Wing was a wing of the United States Air Force based at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.
National technical means of verification (NTM) are monitoring techniques, such as satellite photography, used to verify adherence to international treaties. The phrase first appeared, but was not detailed, in the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) between the US and USSR. At first, the phrase reflected a concern that the "Soviet Union could be particularly disturbed by public recognition of this capability [satellite photography]...which it has veiled.". In modern usage, the term covers a variety of monitoring technologies, including others used at the time of SALT I.
Operation Chrome Dome was a United States Air Force Cold War-era mission from 1961 to 1968 in which B-52 strategic bomber aircraft armed with thermonuclear weapons remained on continuous airborne alert, flying routes that put them in positions to attack targets in the Soviet Union if they were ordered to do so. The exact routes varied by year, but in general there were routes that went to positions over the Canadian arctic, Alaska, Greenland, and the Mediterranean Sea. Many American Air Force Bases in the 1960s allocated at least one bomber crew to "Chrome Dome" duty on a regular basis, and many other bases, including foreign bases, were involved in the refueling operations. Over the years the mission involved overflights of American, Canadian, Danish (Greenland), and Spanish territory, among others. The goal of "Chrome Dome" was to keep a number of nuclear-armed aircraft in a position to help guaranteed nuclear retaliation against the Soviet Union in the event that the latter was somehow able to destroy the majority of US nuclear weapons still on the ground, while also ensuring that Strategic Air Command bomber crews had experience with airborne alert procedures so that, in the event of heightened concern, the number of patrolling bombers could be increased dramatically. Several high-profile nuclear accidents were associated with the "Chrome Dome" program, including the accidental release of nuclear weapons on foreign territory, and it was shut down in the wake of one such accident in 1968.
The 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash was an accident that occurred near Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, on 24 January 1961. A Boeing B-52 Stratofortress carrying two 3.8-megaton Mark 39 nuclear bombs broke up in mid-air, dropping its nuclear payload in the process. The pilot in command, Walter Scott Tulloch, ordered the crew to eject at 9,000 ft (2,700 m). Five crewmen successfully ejected or bailed out of the aircraft and landed safely; another ejected, but did not survive the landing, and two died in the crash. Information declassified since 2013 has showed that one of the bombs was judged by nuclear weapons engineers at the time to have been only one safety switch away from detonation, and that it was "credible" to imagine conditions under which it could have detonated.
The Post Attack Command and Control System (PACCS) was a network of communication sites for use before, during and after a nuclear attack on the United States. PACCS was designed to ensure that National Command Authority would retain exclusive and complete control over US nuclear weapons. Among other components, it included Strategic Air Command assets such as the Looking Glass aircraft and mission, and various hardened command and control facilities.
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