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Missile Combat Crew
A missile combat crew (MCC), is a team of highly trained specialists, often called missileers, staffing Intermediate Range and Intercontinental ballistic missile systems (IRBMs and ICBMs, respectively). In the United States, personnel, officially coded as Nuclear and Missile Operations Officers ( AFSC 13NX), of the United States Air Force, operate underground missile systems at launch control centers located throughout the country. There are also a select few missileers that have the chance to become part of a Missile Combat Crew-Airborne (MCC-A) operating the Airborne Launch Control System which provides a survivable launch capability for the Minuteman ICBM force. Crew size varies among the different missile systems, but the number is always greater than one, to abide by USSTRATCOM's two-man rule for positive control of nuclear weapons. Origins The first missile combat crews were composed of trained aviators (e.g., B-47, B-36), but later generations had no aviation experience and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. Russia, the United States, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs. Early ICBMs had limited precision, which made them suitable for use only against the largest targets, such as cities. They were seen as a "safe" basing option, one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack. Attacks against military targets (especially hardened ones) still demanded th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French ICBM System
The ''Force de frappe'' ( French: "strike force"), or ''Force de dissuasion'' ("deterrent force") after 1961,Gunston, Bill. Bombers of the West. New York: Charles Scribner's and Sons; 1973. p104 is the designation of what used to be a triad of air-, sea- and land-based nuclear weapons intended for ''dissuasion'', the French term for deterrence. The French Nuclear Force, part of the French military, is the fourth largest nuclear-weapons force in the world, after the nuclear triad of the United States, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. France has deactivated all land-based nuclear missiles. On 27 January 1996, France conducted its last nuclear test in the South Pacific and then signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in September 1996. In March 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed reports giving the actual size of France's nuclear arsenal and he announced that France would reduce its French Air Force-carried nuclear arsenal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Command And Control
Nuclear command and control (NC2) is the command and control of nuclear weapons. The U. S. military's ''Nuclear Matters Handbook 2015'' defined it as the "activities, processes, and procedures performed by appropriate military commanders and support personnel that, through the chain of command, allow for senior-level decisions on nuclear weapons employment." The current ''Nuclear Matters Handbook 2020 evised' defines it as "the exercise of authority and direction, through established command lines, over nuclear weapon operations by the President as the chief executive and head of state." United States In the United States, leadership decisions are communicated to the nuclear forces via an intricate Nuclear Command and Control System (NCCS). The NCCS provides the President of the United States with the means to authorize the use of nuclear weapons in a crisis and to prevent unauthorized or accidental use. It is an essential element to ensure crisis stability, deter attack again ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Missile Launch Control Center
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 (depending on the ICBM system). 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. Due to modern conventional weapons, missile launch control centers are becoming rarer in the US, and it is expected that the number of missiles will stay at 450 Minuteman III. General information All LCCs are dependent on a ''missile support base'' (MSB) for logistics support. For example, Minot AFB is the MSB for the 91st Missile Wing. Three types of Minuteman LCCs exist: # Alter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Missile Badge
The Missile Badge is a military decoration of the United States Air Force which was first created on 23 May 1958. The "pocket rocket" badge recognizes those commissioned officers and enlisted personnel of the US Air Force who have qualified as missile personnel (both TAC and SAC (now AFGSC)) that have been trained in the maintenance or launching of land-based and air-launched nuclear weapons under the direction of the National Command Authority. Originally known as the ''Missileman Badge,'' the Missile Badge later became known as the ''Missileer Badge'' or more informally the ''Pocket Rocket'' and is still often referred to by this name. History Following its creation in 1958, the badge came in only one style. In 1963 the name was changed to the Missileman Badge and the three levels of Basic, Senior and Master were added. Although primarily issued to Atlas, Titan I/Titan II, Minuteman I/II/III and Peacekeeper missile crews of the Strategic Air Command (SAC), it was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Force Global Strike Command
Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. AFGSC provides combat-ready forces to conduct strategic nuclear deterrence and global strike operations in support of combatant commanders. Air Force Global Strike Command is the Air Force's service component to the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). Air Force Global Strike Command is the direct descendant unit of the Cold War–era Strategic Air Command ( SAC). It holds the lineage, history and honors of SAC. History : ''See: Strategic Air Command for history prior to 2009'' Following the 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident when six AGM-129 Air-Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCM), each loaded with a W80-1 variable yield nuclear warhead, were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52H at Minot AFB and transported to Barksdale AFB, and the 2008 incident in which four MK-12 forward-section reentry vehicle assembl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995. After attending the , Chirac began his career as a high-level civil servant, entering politics shortly thereafter. Chirac occupied various senior positions, including Minister of Agriculture and Minister of the Interior. In 1981 and 1988, he unsuccessfully ran for president as the standard-bearer for the conservative Gaullist party Rally for the Republic. Chirac's internal policies initially included lower tax rates, the removal of price controls, strong punishment for crime and terrorism, and business privatisation. After pursuing these policies in his second term as prime minister, he changed his views. He argued for different economic policies and was elected president in 1995, with 52.6% of the vot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SSBS S3D
The S3 was a French land-based Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, equipped with a single 1.2-megatonne thermonuclear warhead. In France it is called an SSBS, for ''Sol-Sol Balistique Stratégique'', or Ground-Ground Strategic Ballistic Missile. Design The S3 is a two-stage, solid-propellant Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM). The first stage was inherited from the S2, with a P16 solid fuel engine and 4 exhausts. The first stage carries of fuel and burns for 72 seconds. The second stage carries and burns for 58 seconds. The nuclear warhead, a single 1.2 Mt TN 61, is hardened and carries penetration aids. Operational history From 1971, the main land-based component of the French nuclear deterrent (''force de dissuasion'') was the S2 missile. In 1973, a programme was started to develop a second-generation "ground-ground ballistic strategic" (SSBS in French) missile, completed in 1980. Two groups totaling 18 S2 missile silos were upgraded to the S3 standard. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hadès (missile)
The Hadès system was a short-range ballistic pre-strategic nuclear weapon system designed by France, as a last warning before use of strategic nuclear weapons, in the perspective of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe. It was designed from July 1984 as a replacement for the tactical road-mobile Pluton missile. Initially 120 missiles were planned to be deployed. A wheeled trailer and launcher, each carrying two missiles in containers, was planned for deploying the Hadès. The original design had a range of 250 km, which was later increased to 480 km. The guidance system was an inertial platform which could be programmed to execute evasive maneuvers before hitting the target. A version designed to hit hardened underground targets also had a final guidance system which used a GPS-based digital system, resulting in a Circular Error Probable of only 5 m, compared to a CEP of 100 m for the standard version. Development Hadès began with project definition in 1975 as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airborne Launch Control Center
Airborne Launch Control Centers (ALCC—pronounced "Al-see") provide a survivable launch capability for the United States Air Force's LGM-30 Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) force by utilizing the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) onboard which is operated by an airborne missileer crew. Historically, from 1967–1998, the ALCC mission was performed by United States Air Force Boeing EC-135 command post aircraft. This included EC-135A, EC-135C, EC-135G, and EC-135L aircraft. Today, the ALCC mission is performed by airborne missileers from Air Force Global Strike Command's (AFGSC) 625th Strategic Operations Squadron (STOS) and United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). Starting on October 1, 1998, the ALCS has been located on board the United States Navy's E-6B Mercury. The ALCS crew is integrated into the battle staff of the USSTRATCOM "Looking Glass" Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) and is on alert around-the-clock. Aircraft The ALCS mission has been held ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Force Specialty Code
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for liquid water to exist on the Earth's surface, absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes between day and night (the diurnal temperature variation). By mole fraction (i.e., by number of molecules), dry air contains 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases. Air also contains a variable amount of water vapor, on average around 1% at sea level, and 0.4% over the entire atmosphere. Air composition, temperature, and atmospheric pressure vary with altitude. Within the atmosphere, air suitable for use in photosynthesis by terrestrial plants and breathing of terrestrial animals is found only in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LGM-118A Peacekeeper
The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1985 to 2005. The missile could carry up to twelve Mark 21 reentry vehicles (although treaties limited its actual payload to 10), each armed with a 300-kiloton W87 warhead. Initial plans called for building and deploying 100 MX ICBMs, but budgetary concerns eliminated the final procurement; only 50 entered service. Disarmament treaties signed after the Peacekeeper's development led to its withdrawal from service in 2005. Studies on the underlying concept started in the 1960s. The idea was to allow the U.S. to absorb a sneak attack by the USSR with enough warheads surviving to attack the remaining Soviet missile silos. To do so, the missiles had to be highly accurate, be based in such a way that enough would survive a nuclear attack, carry a large number of warheads so the survivors would stil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
