page_title: Post-Attack Command and Control System
hierarchical_section_title: Post-Attack Command and Control System
caption_attribution_description: Post Attack Command and Control System (PACCS) EC-135 peacetime orbit areas (circa 1972)
context_page_description: The Post Attack Command and Control System was a network of communication sites for use before, during and after a nuclear attack on the United States. PACCS was designed to ensure that National Command Authority would retain sole, exclusive, and complete control over US nuclear weapons. Among other components, it included Strategic Air Command assets such as the Looking Glass aircraft and mission, and various hardened command and control facilities.
  The belief by the Soviet Union in the reliability of PACCS was a crucial component of the US mutual assured destruction doctrine, ensuring a long term stalemate.
context_section_description: The Post Attack Command and Control System (PACCS) was a network of communication sites (both ground and airborne) for use before, during and after a nuclear attack on the United States. PACCS was designed to ensure that National Command Authority would retain sole, exclusive, and complete control over US nuclear weapons. Among other components, it included Strategic Air Command assets such as the Looking Glass aircraft and mission, and various hardened command and control facilities.
  The belief by the Soviet Union in the reliability of PACCS was a crucial component of the US mutual assured destruction doctrine, ensuring a long term stalemate.
caption: Peacetime Orbits of PACCS aircraft (c. 1972)
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