page_title: Airborne Launch Control System
section_title: Post-Cold War Era
hierarchical_section_title: Airborne Launch Control System / History / Post-Cold War Era
caption_attribution_description: English: A U.S. Navy Boeing E-6B Mercury airborne command post flies over Solomons Island, Maryland (USA), on 15 November 2014. The E-6B is a dual-mission aircraft providing either airborne command, control, and communications or serving as an airborne strategic command post and is equipped with an airborne launch control system capable of launching U.S. land based intercontinental ballistic missiles.
context_page_description: The Airborne Launch Control System provides a survivable launch capability for the United States Air Force's LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile force. The ALCS is operated by airborne missileers from Air Force Global Strike Command's 625th Strategic Operations Squadron and United States Strategic Command. The weapon system is located on board the United States Navy's E-6B Mercury, which serves as USSTRATCOM's "Looking Glass" Airborne Command Post. The ALCS crew is integrated into the ABNCP battle staff and is on alert around-the-clock.
context_section_description: With the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union and subsequent end of the Cold War, several unfortunate events for ALCS unfolded. First, the 4th ACCS was deactivated along with the retirement of most of the EC-135 aircraft in the Air Force's inventory. Looking Glass continuous airborne operations ceased, the Strategic Air Command was disbanded, and the 2nd ACCS was redesignated as the 7th ACCS. Even though times had changed and many were eager to cash in on the so-called “Peace Dividend” of the post-Cold War era, there were others that argued against these changes. In the end, it was impossible to stop the momentum of world events and all these changes. However, through all the turmoil, airborne missileers operating ALCS remained on alert and continued to remain vigilant, just like they always had. Although ALCS operations were no longer as wide spread as they once were with dedicated ALCCs on alert, ALCS remained on alert with the SAC and the US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) EC-135C ABNCPs. The Looking Glass alert posture was now a mix of both airborne and ground alert operations.
  Another big change to ALCS operations occurred on 1 October 1998. On this day, the Air Force's EC-135Cs ceased to perform USSTRATCOM Looking Glass operations and was subsequently retired. The Navy's E-6B Mercury took over USSTRATCOM's Looking Glass mission and associated ALCS mission.
  Originally, the E-6A was built to perform the TAke Charge And Move Out (TACAMO) mission of relaying Emergency Action Messages to Navy Ballistic Missile Submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, when it was decided to retire the remainder of the Air Force's EC-135C fleet, the E-6A was extensively modified. A battlestaff compartment was added, additional communications equipment was installed, and ALCS equipment was installed. Due to these extensive modifications, this new variant of the Mercury was redesignated from the E-6A to the E-6B. Now, whenever a USSTRATCOM battlestaff and ALCS crew are on board, the E-6B is known as the USSTRATCOM ABNCP.
caption: E-6B Mercury. Current ALCS equipped aircraft.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "141115-N-ZZ999-113\r\nSOLOMONS ISLAND, Md. (Nov. 15, 2015) A U.S. Navy P-8 Mercury airborne command post flies over Solomons Island, Md. The aircraft provides airborne command, control, and communications. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D800", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CC (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2015:06:23 14:11:31", "Image ExifOffset": "1684", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2502", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2354", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1250", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "640", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:11:15 12:51:10", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:11:15 12:51:10", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "321491/31250", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6918863/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "4294967295", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Fine weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "300", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "20", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "20", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2842", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1759", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1678051/8192", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1678051/8192", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "4", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "300", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "3023655", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[28, 300, 7/2, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6"}