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
The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. AFGSC provides combat-ready fo ...
's (AFGSC)
625th Strategic Operations Squadron (STOS) and
United States Strategic Command
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_weap ...
(USSTRATCOM). The 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.
Overview
In the mid-1960s,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
civilian and military leadership became concerned about the possibility of a
decapitating attack from the
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
s, destroying any land-based communication links to the nuclear forces of the
Strategic Air Command
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 compon ...
. One solution to the communication problem was placing radio equipment on board an aircraft, and allow it to fly over the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and use radio broadcasts to pass along information. This concept would allow communication to missile launch crews to pass along
Emergency Action Message
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) ...
s (EAMs), but would not duplicate the missile combat crew's function of actually launching the missiles. The key characteristic added to ALCS (versus other communication methods such as
ERCS) was giving the airborne crews the same degree of access to the launch facilities as the
underground missile crews.
George Washington University's "USAF Ballistic Missile Programs 1967-1968", September 1969, pg 17
/ref>
Minuteman launch facilities contained an ultra high frequency
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
(UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
) receiver that would pick up commands from the ALCS; the destruction of the launch control center or the hardened intersite cable system would not prevent retaliation.[George Washington University: "United States Ballistic Missile Programs: 1964-1966", March 1967, pg 7](_blank)
/ref>
History
ALCS' first generation equipment was declared operational on 31 May 1967.
Operational information
ALCS-configured aircraft
The ALCS mission has been held by multiple aircraft during the last 50 years:
* EC-135 – performed Looking Glass and ALCC mission for the Strategic Air Command
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 compon ...
(1967–1998)
** EC-135A (ALCC)
** EC-135C (ABNCP and ALCC)
** EC-135G (ALCC and ABNCP)
** EC-135L PACCS Radio Relay
* E-4B Advanced Airborne Command Post – Aircraft tail number 75-0125 performed Looking Glass on a trial basis from 1980 to 1981 to assess possibility of replacing EC-135 fleet. Deemed too expensive and ALCS was subsequently removed from the E-4B.
* E-6B Mercury – performs Looking Glass, ALCC, and TACAMO
TACAMO (Take Charge And Move Out) is a United States military system of survivable communications links designed to be used in nuclear warfare to maintain communications between the decision-makers (the National Command Authority (United State ...
mission for United States Strategic Command
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_weap ...
(1998–Present)
** E-6B
ICBMs remotely controlled
* LGM-30A/B Minuteman I (1967–1975)
* LGM-30F Minuteman II (1967–1992)
* LGM-30G Minuteman III (1971–present)
* LGM-118A Peacekeeper (1987–2005)
Units
Units with ALCS crewmembers assigned
* 68th Strategic Missile Squadron (Ellsworth AFB, SD: 1967-1970)
* 91st Strategic Missile Wing (Minot AFB, ND: 1967-1969)[ opkins III, Robert S. 1997. Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker: More Than Just a Tanker. Leicester, England: Midland Publishing Limited/ref>
* ]4th Airborne Command and Control Squadron
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama
...
(Ellsworth AFB, SD: 1970-1992)
* 2nd Airborne Command and Control Squadron (Offutt AFB, NE: 1970-1994)
* 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron (Offutt AFB, NE: 1994-1998)
* 625th Missile Operations Flight/ USSTRATCOM (Offutt AFB, NE: 1998-2007)["625th STOS Fact Sheet"](_blank)
/ref>
* 625th Strategic Operations Squadron/ USSTRATCOM (Offutt AFB, NE: 2007–Present)
Units with ALCS-equipped aircraft
* 28th Air Refueling Squadron
Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight.
Eighth may refer to:
* One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole
* Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet)
* Octave, an interval b ...
(Ellsworth AFB, SD: 1967-1970)
** EC-135A, EC-135G
* 906th Air Refueling Squadron (Minot AFB, ND: 1967-1969
** EC-135A, EC-135L
* 38th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (Offutt AFB, NE: 1967-1970)
** EC-135C
* 4th Airborne Command and Control Squadron
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama
...
(Ellsworth AFB, SD: 1970-1992)
** EC-135A, EC-135C, EC-135G, EC-135L
* 2nd Airborne Command and Control Squadron (Offutt AFB, NE: 1970-1994)
** EC-135C
* 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron (Offutt AFB, NE: 1994-1998)
** EC-135C
* STRATCOMWING ONE (Tinker AFB, OK: 1998–Present)
** Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VQ-3)
*** E-6B Mercury
** Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 4 (VQ-4)
*** E-6B Mercury
ALCS personnel
The Airborne Launch Control System Flight of the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron provides training and crewmembers for two ALCS positions on board the E-6B Mercury.
ALCS-assisted launches
A test of the ALCS, both ground and air components, is called a GIANT BALL.
:''This list does not contain any launches after the initial Test and Evaluation phase of the system.''
See also
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References
External links
* {{Commons category-inline
E-6B ABNCP Factsheet
LGM-30G Minuteman III Factsheet
Missile launchers
Military radio systems of the United States
Nuclear warfare
Military communications
United States nuclear command and control