Looking Glass Aircraft - Here's the thing to remember: While Mercury has demonstrated its usefulness as an airborne communications center to support troops on the ground, an airborne command post will be considered a success if it never has to carry out its primary mission.
In a military that operates Raptor stealth fighters, A-10 tank destroyers, B-52 bombers and Harrier jets, the US Navy's sedate E-6 Mercury, based on the 707 airliner, looks particularly inoffensive. But don't let the looks fool you. Although the Mercury carries no weapons of its own, it may in some ways be the deadliest aircraft the Pentagon operates, as it is tasked with commanding the launch of land-based and sea-based nuclear ballistic missiles.
Looking Glass Aircraft
Of course, the US military has a strategic global operations center on the ground in Nebraska and ground transmitters to communicate with the nuclear triad. However, the sinister purpose of the E-6 is to maintain the communications link between the national command (starting with the president and the secretary of defense) and US nuclear forces, even if the country's command centers are destroyed first by an enemy strike. In other words, you can cut off the head of America's nuclear forces, but the body will keep coming for you, thanks to these doomsday planes.
Looking Into The Aviation Future
The E-6's primary mission is known as Download Load Everything and Move Out (TACAMO). Before the development of the E-6, the TAKAMO mission was carried out by a ground transmitter, and later by EC-130G and Q Hercules aircraft, which had very low radio frequencies to communicate with naval submarines. Interestingly, France also operated its own TAKAMO aircraft until 2001, four modified Transall C-160H
A long line of military variants of the venerable Boeing 707 aircraft, notably the 707-320B Advanced, which was also used in the E-3 Sentry. With thirty-one communications antennas, the E-6As were originally tasked solely with communicating with submerged Navy submarines. Additionally equipped with more fuel-efficient CFM-56 turbojet engines and enlarged fuel tanks, the E-6A can stay in the air for up to fifteen or seventy-two hours with in-flight refueling.
To use very low frequency radio, the E-6 must fly in continuous orbit at high altitude, with its VLF fuselage-mounted radios and tail wire antennas one and five miles long in a nearly vertical position! VLF signals can be received by Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines hidden deep underwater, thousands of miles away. However, the limited bandwidth of VLF transmitters means that they can only send raw data at a rate of about thirty-five alphanumeric characters per second - making them
Slower even than the old 14k internet modems from the 1990s. However, it is sufficient to convey messages of immediate action, instructing ballistic missile carriers to launch one of a diverse menu of pre-planned nuclear strikes, ranging from limited to full-scale nuclear strikes. The E-6 systems are also hardened to survive the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear weapon detonated below.
The Air Crew Of An Ec 135 Stratolifter Aircraft, Background, Which Functions As The Backup Command And Control Post Of Strategic Air Command (sac), Poses For A Group Photograph Prior To A Mission
Between 1997 and 2006, the Pentagon upgraded the entire E-6A fleet to dual-role E-6Bs, which expanded the Mercury's capabilities by allowing it to serve as an airborne nuclear command station with its own combat personnel for the job. In this role, it serves as a backup for four large E-4 aircraft at the command post based on the 747 Jumbo jet. The E-6B has an ultra-high frequency radio in its airborne launch control system that allows it to remotely launch ballistic missiles from its underground silos, a task previously assigned to the US Air Force's EC-135 Looking Glass aircraft - another variant of the 707. Crew E -6 expanded from fourteen to twenty-two for the command post mission, usually involving an admiral or general. Additional UHF radios give the E-6B access to the sustainable MILSTAR satellite communications network, while the cockpit has been upgraded with new avionics and instruments from the 737NG aircraft. The E-6B can be distinguished from the photos by the additional wings mounted on the wings.
Mercury's extensive communications equipment also enables it to perform non-nuclear command, control and communications (C3) operations. For this reason, E-6s are sometimes deployed to Europe and the Middle East to serve as C3 flight centers. For example, VQ-4 was deployed to Qatar for three years from 2006 to 2009, where it relayed information such as reports of IED detonations and medical evacuation requests for US troops in Iraq who were out of touch with their headquarters.
Two Navy fleet air reconnaissance squadrons currently operate the E-6: VQ-3 "Ironmen" and VQ-4 "Shadows," both under Naval Strategic Communications Wing 1. They are based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, but also routinely deploy from Travis Air Force Base, California, and Naval Station Patuxent River, Maryland. At least one E-6 is constantly in the air. The E-6 on a communications mission submarines often circle over the ocean at the slowest possible speed - as much as ten hours at a time. Those conducting the nuclear command mission typically remain on alert near Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. The E-6 nuclear mission also made its operations occasional fodder for conspiracy theorists and foreign propaganda media.
The E-6 platform is expected to remain in service until 2040 thanks to a service life extension program and ongoing modifications to its systems and radios. While Mercury has demonstrated its usefulness as an airborne communications hub to support troops on the ground, the airborne command post will be considered a success if it never has to perform its primary mission. The core of nuclear deterrence, after all, is convincing potential adversaries that no first strike will be sufficient to prevent a devastating response. E-6s are a vital component in making that threat credible.
Aircraft 61 0291 (1961 Boeing Ec 135h Stratotanker C/n 18198) Photo By Peter Nicholson (photo Id: Ac541310)
Sebastien Roblin earned a master's degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He also worked on the education, settlement and resettlement of refugees in France and the United States. He currently writes on security and military history for At the height of the Cold War, the Strategic Air Command operated air command posts (aka "Operation Looking Glass") that mirrored the underground nuclear command located at Offutt Air Force Base. One of the last remaining Boeing EC-135 Looking Glass aircraft is undergoing restoration for a permanent display at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland. Volunteers and former crew members of "The Glass," as it's called, reflect on the pride and loyalty they have for this Cold War icon.
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If the ground command centers are destroyed (Minuteman Launch Control Facilities/Launch Control Centers) to the point that they are no longer able to perform their role in sending commands to the Launch Facility for launch, Operation Looking Glass will then step in and provide command and control of the ground nuclear forces.
An Air To Air Right Side View Of An Ec 135 Stratotanker Aircraft Flown By The 10th Air Command Control Squadron, Raf Mildenhall
Boeing EC-135C Looking Glass aircraft were in the air 24 hours a day for more than 29 years, and their constant vigilance ended on July 24, 1990, when the Air Force ended its continuous air alert. After that date, the Air Command Center remained on the ground or on air standby 24 hours a day. This new strategy lasted until October 1, 1998. The Boeing EC-135C was in service for a total of 37 years, beginning in February 1961 and ending its last mission on October 1, 1998.
In the early stages of the Looking Glass program, the Air Force used Boeing's military-only KC-135A and KC-135B aircraft. The KC-135A was modified and redesigned as the EC-135A. When they modified the KC-135B, they then redesignated it the EC-135C, of which SAC deployed 8 EC-135Cs. From a historical perspective, there were 4 EC-135 models. Model A, C, G and L.
The EC-135C airborne command post was nicknamed the "Looking Glass" because its mission "mirrored" ground command, control and communications, which was located at the USSTRATCOM Global Operations Center (GOC) at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
While actively flying the EC-135 aircraft, both the pilot and copilot must wear an eye patch when they reach DEFCON 2 or higher. The Band-Aid was in the plane's emergency war gear. It was based on opportunity
Aircraft 61 0291 (1961 Boeing Ec 135h Stratotanker C/n 18198) Photo By Peter Nicholson (photo Id: Ac417884)
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