- The Navy is planning to buy several recent aircraft to act as communications links between the U.S. government and nuclear forces worldwide.
- The E-XX will replace the older E-6 Mercury and shall be based on the C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft.
- The so-called “doomsday” aircraft can relay messages to missile submarines and other nuclear forces, transmitting the launch codes for nuclear weapons if mandatory.
The U.S. Navy is preparing to exchange what some describe because the “deadliest plane on the planet”—the E-6 Mercury. Designed to act as a flying communications link between the U.S. government and military forces worldwide, the E-6 Mercury is tasked with relaying orders to Ohio-class nuclear missile submarines on patrol, including orders to launch missiles. Unlike the present plane, which is predicated on a business airliner, the brand new plane could be based on the C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft.
The Navy, in response to Defense News, is preparing to release a requirements list for the brand new plane, dubbed E-XX. The prefix “E” stands for electronic, a broad category that features electronic attack, propaganda distribution, and other roles that involve transmitting on the electromagnetic spectrum. The service wants three test aircraft relatively quickly, with a contract for nine more by 2025.
The twelve recent aircraft would replace the 16 E-6s currently in service.
The E-XX is the following generation TACAMO aircraft, an acronym that stands for “take charge and move out.” The planes are designed to relay Emergency Motion Messages (EAMs) to submarines at sea. The submarines, armed with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, are tasked to vanish into the oceans and evade detection. Within the event of a surprise nuclear attack on the USA, the submarines can surface to launch a devastating counterattack. By providing this capability, they deter adversaries from launching an attack in the primary place.
TACAMO planes act as a flying message relay service, authenticating after which relaying EAMs between the National Command Authority, anyone who has the authorization to present orders to U.S. nuclear forces, and submarines at sea. In peacetime that’s the President of the USA, but when the President is killed, incapacitated, or goes missing during an attack, that authority could devolve to another person within the Cabinet or to military control. TACAMO planes be sure that the National Command Authority can command nuclear forces even within the midst of a nuclear war.
The 16-strong TACAMO fleet is split into two squadrons, VQ-3 “Ironmen” and VQ-4 “Shadows,” all controlled by the 1st Strategic Communications Wing positioned at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. E-6s also operate from alert facilities at Travis Air Force Base, California and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, where they’ll fly nearer to ballistic missile submarines on patrol.
One TACAMO plane is normally within the air in any respect times, and it’s not unusual for as much as six to be within the air without delay. Despite alarmist reports on social media, the variety of TACAMO planes within the air doesn’t necessarily indicate any form of imminent, nuclear-related crisis.
The older E-6 Mercury is predicated on the Boeing 707, one in every of many military planes based on the Nineteen Sixties-era civilian jetliner. The Navy wants the brand new E-XX TACAMO to be based on the C-130J Super Hercules as an alternative. Lockheed Martin’s entry for the E-XX competition is the EC-130J TACAMO, a plane it’s co-developing with Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. It isn’t clear which other defense contractors might throw their hats within the ring, though one obvious possibility is Boeing.
TACAMO aircraft are a few of a very powerful in the whole U.S. military arsenal, and their job as a vital link in nuclear command and control means they really do live as much as their hype because the “deadliest planes on the planet.” Regardless of how powerful a surprise attack is on the U.S. homeland, TACAMO aircraft be sure that surviving nuclear submarines can and can unleash a counterattack. In doing so, the planes also fulfill a greater mission: nuclear deterrence and keeping the peace.