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Operation Silk Purse was the United States' airborne nuclear command and control mission for the European theater of operations from 1961 through 1994.
The SILK PURSE mission were operated from Chateauroux Air Station in France by the 7120th Airborne Command and Control Squadron from the earlier 1960s using modified four-engined Douglas C-118 piston transports. The squadron moved to RAF Mildenhall in November 1965 and shortly after converted to the jet-powered Boeing EC-135H airborne command post (callsign Seabell). In 1970 the squadron was redesignated the 10th Airborne Command and Control Squadron.
The 10 ACCS transported an austere battle staff headed by a general or flag officer, designated the Airborne Emergency Action Officer (AEAO). This team stood ready to assume interim authority if European Command Command Center was destroyed or rendered inoperative. [1]
In the summer of 1984, Lajes Field in the Azores undertook a new mission known as "SILK PURSE." Boeing EC-135s began operating out of Lajes Field as an airborne command post for the U.S. Commander-in-Chief, Europe. Along with the aircraft came the U.S. European Command battle staff and flight crews from United States Air Forces in Europe. This mission was ended in late August 1991.
SILK PURSE Control Group (SPCGp) missions were flown using standardized flight plans. Durations of the flights varied between six and eight hours, depending on mission requirements. The flights were flown on randomly selected routes to insure that ground communications were used regularly. The SPCGp had six battle support staffs assigned, each consisting of a mini-headquarters staff to support an Airborne Emergency Action Officer (AEAO).
The operations of SILK PURSE aircraft fed into the following plans:
During practice missions, ground vans with telecommunication receiver equipment were used to test the signal and reliability of USCINCEUR ABNCP transmitting equipment.
Originally the SILK PURSE missions were operated with the Douglas C-118 aircraft. Four KC-135A were converted to airborne command posts as EC-135H SILK PURSE airframes in 1964, a fifth EC-135H was converted in 1968. One was modified to EC-135P standard in 1988 and the others were withdrawn by 1992. The modification included a dorsal saddle antenna and an airborne trailing wire antenna (TWA), consisting of a wire approximately 28,000 feet long for very low frequency (VLF) communications on the 487L Survivable Low Frequency Communications System. [2] The aircraft retained the boom aerial refueling equipment and the receptacle system. All the aircraft we re-engined in 1982 with TF33-PW-102 engines.
The Boeing RC-135 is a family of large reconnaissance aircraft built by Boeing and modified by a number of companies, including General Dynamics, Lockheed, LTV, E-Systems, and L3 Technologies, and used by the United States Air Force and Royal Air Force to support theater and national level intelligence consumers with near real-time on-scene collection, analysis and dissemination capabilities.
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense (DoD) Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command (MAJCOM), responsible for Cold War command and control of two of the three components of the U.S. military's strategic nuclear strike forces, the so-called "nuclear triad", with SAC having control of land-based strategic bomber aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMs.
Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the primary provider of air combat forces for the Air Force, and it is the direct successor to Tactical Air Command. Air Combat Command is headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia, United States.
The Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post (AACP), the current "Nightwatch" aircraft, is a strategic command and control military aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). The E-4 series are specially modified from the Boeing 747-200B for the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP) program. The E-4 serves as a survivable mobile command post for the National Command Authority, namely the President of the United States, the Secretary of Defense, and successors. The four E-4Bs are operated by the 1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron of the 595th Command and Control Group located at Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha, Nebraska. An E-4B when in action is denoted a "National Airborne Operations Center".
Royal Air Force Mildenhall or RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a Royal Air Force station, it primarily supports United States Air Force (USAF) operations, and is currently the home of the 100th Air Refueling Wing.
Lajes Field or Lajes Air Base, officially designated Air Base No. 4, is a multi-use airfield, home to the Portuguese Air Force Base Aérea N º4 and Azores Air Zone Command, a United States Air Force detachment unit, and a regional air passenger terminal located near Lajes and 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Angra do Heroísmo on Terceira Island in the Azores, Portugal. Located about 3,680 km (2,290 mi) east of New York City and about 1,600 km (990 mi) west of Lisbon, Portugal; the base sits in a strategic location midway between North America and Europe in the north Atlantic Ocean.
The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy's Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) and the United States Air Force's Air Transport Command (ATC) into a single joint command. It was inactivated and discontinued on 8 January 1966, superseded by the Air Force's Military Airlift Command (MAC) as a separate strategic airlift command, and it returned shore-based Navy cargo aircraft to Navy control as operational support airlift (OSA) aircraft.
The 55th Operations Group is a component of the 55th Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Offut Air Force Base, Nebraska.
Since 1942 the United States has maintained air bases in the United Kingdom. Major Commands of the USAF having bases in the United Kingdom were the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Strategic Air Command (SAC), and Air Mobility Command (AMC).
A launch control center (LCC), in the United States, is the main control facility for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). A launch control center monitors and controls missile launch facilities. From a launch control center, the missile combat crew can monitor the complex, launch the missile, or relax in the living quarters. The LCC is designed to provide maximum protection for the missile combat crew and equipment vital to missile launch. Missile silos are common across the midwestern United States, and over 450 missiles remain in US Air Force (USAF) service.
The Boeing EC-135 is a retired family of command and control aircraft derived from the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter. During the Cold War, the EC-135 was best known for being modified to perform the Looking Glass mission where one EC-135 was always airborne 24 hours a day to serve as flying command post for the Strategic Air Command in the event of nuclear war. Various other EC-135 aircraft sat on airborne and ground alert throughout the Cold War, with the last EC-135C being retired in 1998. The EC-135N variant served as the tracking aircraft for the Apollo program.
The 65th Air Base Group is a group of the United States Air Force based at Lajes Field, Azores, Portugal.
Looking Glass is the code name for an airborne command and control center operated by the United States. In more recent years it has been more officially referred to as the ABNCP. It provides command and control of U.S. nuclear forces in the event that ground-based command centers have been destroyed or otherwise rendered inoperable. In such an event, the general officer aboard the Looking Glass serves as the Airborne Emergency Action Officer (AEAO) and by law assumes the authority of the National Command Authority and could command execution of nuclear attacks. The AEAO is supported by a battle staff of approximately 20 people, with another dozen responsible for the operation of the aircraft systems. The name Looking Glass, which is another name for a mirror, was chosen for the Airborne Command Post because the mission operates in parallel with the underground command post at Offutt Air Force Base.
The 906th Air Refueling Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. It is an active associate squadron and part of the 375th Air Mobility Wing at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
The 42d Electronic Combat Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. Its current assignment is with the 55th Electronic Combat Group at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona as a geographically separated unit from its parent wing, the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The squadron is the Air Force's sole Lockheed EC-130H Compass Call formal training unit.
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.
The Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) provides a survivable launch capability for the United States Air Force's LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force. The ALCS is operated by airborne missileers from Air Force Global Strike Command's (AFGSC) 625th Strategic Operations Squadron (STOS) and United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The weapon system is located on board the United States Navy's E-6B Mercury, which serves as USSTRATCOM's "Looking Glass" Airborne Command Post (ABNCP). The ALCS crew is integrated into the ABNCP battle staff and is on alert around the clock.
The United States Air Force's 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron was an airborne command and control unit located at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The squadron was an integral part of the United States' Post Attack Command and Control System, performing the Operation Looking Glass mission with the Boeing EC-135 aircraft.
The 57th Rescue Squadron is part of the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The squadron recently moved to Italy from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England. As part of the 31st Operations Group it conducts pararescue operations in support of higher command directives, at times utilizing HH-60G Pave Hawk and Lockheed HC-130 Hercules aircraft. The 57th Rescue Squadron is a combat-ready squadron of pararescue personnel capable of performing combat rescue and personnel retrieval missions in theaters of operations worldwide.
The 10th Airborne Command and Control Squadron in an inactive United States Air Force unit that flew airborne command post aircraft from RAF Mildenhall, England from January 1970 to December 1991. Through a unit consolidation in September 1985, the squadron has roots in units that participated in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War