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Operation Chrome Dome was a United States Air Force Cold War-era mission from 1960 to 1968 in which Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, B-52 strategic bomber aircraft armed with thermonuclear weapons remained on continuous airborne alert and flew routes to points on the Soviet Union's border.
The program was involved in the following List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1960–1969), nuclear-weapons accidents:
* 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crashThe Goldsboro Broken Arrow, 2011,
* 1961 Yuba City B-52 crash
* 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crashAccident happened while the aircraft was returning to its home base, having already completed its alert mission.
* 1966 Palomares B-52 crash
* 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash. The Thule accident signaled the end of the program on January 22, 1968.
SAC'S Deadly Daily Dozen
at Time Magazine 1960 establishments in the United States 1960 in international relations 1960 in military history 1960s in the United States 1960s in the Soviet Union Nuclear history of the United States Nuclear warfare Soviet Union–United States relations Military operations of the Cold War United States nuclear command and control 1960 in politics
Operation Chrome Dome was a United States Air Force Cold War-era mission from 1960 to 1968 in which Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, B-52 strategic bomber aircraft armed with thermonuclear weapons remained on continuous airborne alert and flew routes to points on the Soviet Union's border.
Background
During the Cold War, General Thomas S. Power initiated a program whereby B-52s performed airborne-alert duty under code names such as ''Operation Head Start, Head Start'', ''Chrome Dome'', 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash#Thule Monitor Mission, ''Hard Head'', ''Operation Round Robin, Round Robin'', and ''Operation Giant Lance''. Bombers loitered near points outside the Soviet Union to provide rapid first-strike or retaliation capability in case of nuclear war.Primary mission
The missions in 1964 involved a B-52 Stratofortress#B-52D, B-52D that left Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, and flew across the United States to New England and headed out to the Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft refueled over the Atlantic heading north to and around Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland. The bomber changed course and flew northwesterly over Baffin Bay towards Thule Air Base, Greenland. It then flew west across Queen Elizabeth Islands of Canada. Continuing to Alaska, it refueled over the Pacific Ocean, again heading southeast, and returned to Sheppard AFB. By 1966, three separate missions were being flown: one east over the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, another north to Baffin Bay, and a third over Alaska.Military units
The following military units were involved: * Strategic Air Command Division (military), Divisions: ** 306th Flying Training Group, 306th Bombardment Wing ** 494th Bombardment Wing, Sheppard Air Force Base ** 821st Strategic Aerospace Division ** 822d Air Division * Homestead Air Reserve Base, Homestead Air Force Base * Strategic Air Command in the United Kingdom * 2nd Bomb Wing, 62nd Bomb Squadron Barksdale AFB, Bossier City, Louisiana * Strategic Air Command 42 Bomb Wing Loring AFB, Limestone, Maine * 4126/456th bomb wing Beale AFB Marysville CaliforniaAccidents
The program was involved in the following List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1960–1969), nuclear-weapons accidents:
* 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crashThe Goldsboro Broken Arrow, 2011,
* 1961 Yuba City B-52 crash
* 1964 Savage Mountain B-52 crashAccident happened while the aircraft was returning to its home base, having already completed its alert mission.
* 1966 Palomares B-52 crash
* 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash. The Thule accident signaled the end of the program on January 22, 1968.
See also
* Fail-Safe (1964 film), a film about a strategic bomber aircraft that receives an attack order while patrolling the Soviet Union, Soviet border. * Dr. Strangelove (1964 film), a black comedy about a mad American general ordering nuclear bombers under his control on a Chrome Dome type alert, to attack the Soviet Union.References
Informational notes Citations {{reflistExternal links
SAC'S Deadly Daily Dozen
at Time Magazine 1960 establishments in the United States 1960 in international relations 1960 in military history 1960s in the United States 1960s in the Soviet Union Nuclear history of the United States Nuclear warfare Soviet Union–United States relations Military operations of the Cold War United States nuclear command and control 1960 in politics