Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker The Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker is a Cold War hardened installation with NORAD centers and associated computer systems in warm standby such as the Alternate Command Center for the nearby Peterson AFB NORAD - NORTHCOM Command Center . Built after more than 11 previous US command bunkers ( e . g . , 1953 Raven Rock & 1960 Ft MacArthur DC ) , Cheyenne Mountain was designed for a 30 megaton nuclear explosion within . The bunker is tunneled within part of a spur of the Cheyenne Mountain massif at the Rocky Mountains ' eastern " Front Range " . The bunker ' s standby centers are controlled by a NORAD division , and support services are provided by Air Force Space Command ' s 721st Mission Support Group . < br > Description . The bunker includes the renovated Missile Warning Center and prior to the 2006 - 08 realignment , operations were " conducted at five major centers … the Command Center , Air Warning , Missile Correlation , Operations Intelligence Watch , and Space Control — by approximately 658 people , including support personnel . " The Weather Support Unit was a major center , and the Unified Space Vault and the Space Control Center were moved " from Cheyenne Mountain to the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB " . Main chambers . The main chambers are a rectangular grid with buildings that stand free of the rock , are joined by flexible vestibule connections , and are supported by 1 , 380 steel springs ( 937 under the original 11 buildings ) for earthquakes or NUDET ground shocks . The springs are ~ each and support the buildings ' structural steel frames that hold the building shells of ⅜ inch ( 9 . 5 mm ) continuously welded low carbon steel plates , which along with connecting passages provide EMP shielding . Services include a cafeteria , medical / dental facility , a two - bed ward , pharmacy , a small base exchange , barber shop , and physical fitness center ( cf . " outside , the TSF " ) . At the tunnel B and tunnel 2 command center chamber ( intersection B - 2 ) , a shear zone within the overhead granite is supported by a dome ( " concrete sphere " ) of diameter over the " Center Buildings " . The bunker also uses 115 , 000 bolts extending into the overhead granite and torqued for 40 kg / m to prevent fracturing . Netting is used to stop falling rock , and drainage is provided to channel water dripping from the rock . Access Tunnel . The Access Tunnel ( colloq . " blast tunnel " ) of includes a curved North Access Tunnel of " for use by personnel and vehicles " that is , a South Access Tunnel with a slight curve , and the connecting straight Central Access Tunnel . The tunnel with blast doors closed after a " button - up period " can withstand a nuclear explosion causing up to overpressure at the exterior surface of the mountain ( e . g . , blast valves automatically close ) . A short turnaround tunnel near the North blast door provides a larger area for shuttle buses to reverse direction from / to the exterior parking lots — the original 412 car lot is on of granite fill " dumped in a canyon " . Support area . The support area stores of diesel at the bunker ' s lowest excavated level four banks of batteries and six 1 , 750 KW diesel generators to back up Colorado Springs Utilities electricity into the bunker . The 4 water reservoirs ( 1 for freshwater ) hold drinking water and over " industrial water " . Incoming air mainly through blast valves in the South Access Tunnel may be filtered to remove chemical , biological , radiological , and nuclear pathogens / particles . History . United States defense plans in 1945 and 1947 " recommended moving ADC Headquarters from Mitchel Field [ New York ] to a more central location … in a protected command center … designed to withstand attack by all foreseeable weapons " ( e . g . , " German A - 4 type " missiles ) . The subsequent concrete block command post at Ent AFB , Colorado , was completed in May 1954 and supported October 1953 ' s " The New Look " strategy : " to minimize the [ Soviet ] threat " , " the major purpose of air defense was not to shoot down enemy bombers - - it was to allow SAC " bombers " to get into the air [ and ] not be destroyed on the ground [ to allow ] massive retaliation " . In December 1956 the CONAD commander requested a bunker to replace the above - ground Ent blockhouse , and the 1957 Gaither Commission identified " little likelihood of SAC ' s bombers surviving since there was no way to detect an incoming attack until the first [ ICBM ] warhead landed " . In the 1950s American Telephone and Telegraph " hardened many of its switching centers , putting them in deep underground bunkers " , and in 1959 Canada ' s NORAD bunker was begun . On February 11 , 1959 , the JCS approved the US bunker project and assigned development to the USAF which selected the " NORAD cave " site based on RAND ' s recommendation . JCS site approval was March 18 , 1959 , and the firm of Parsons , Brinkerhoff , Hall , and MacDonald was contracted for the design . Following an August 1959 Nike ABM interception of a test missile , the mission was expanded to " a hardened center from which CINCNORAD would supervise and direct operations against space attack as well as air attack " ( NORAD assumed " operational control of all space assets with the formation of " SPADATS in October 1960 . ) After DoD cut back of planned SAGE " Super Combat Centers " ( SCCs ) with underground solid state computers in 1959 , a presidential committee cancelled all SCCs in February 1960 . In 1963 , the NORAD command center operations were moved from Ent AFB to the Chidlaw Building ' s partially underground Combined Operations Center ( " war room " ) . Construction . On May 2 , 1961 , " for the excavation work of the granite mountain " , Utah Construction & Mining was selected from 13 bidders for the ~ $ 6 million mining contract . Excavation for roads and a base camp began May 18 , 1961 ; blasting began May 25 ; tunneling from the South began June 20 ( North on July 10 ) ; and the 2 tunnel excavations had met by November 16 . Colorado School of Mines ' Dr Livingston designated precision blasting to prevent later fracture of remaining granite and on December 21 , 1961 , with excavation 53 % complete there were 200 workers on a wildcat strike . On February 21 , 1963 , for " NORAD Phase II Facilities " ( $ 6 , 969 , 000 plus $ 106 , 000 additional funds ) Continental Consolidated was contracted for interior construction that began in March and included clearing the water reservoirs and erecting 11 buildings with of space : 8 three - story buildings in the " main chambers " and 3 two - story buildings in the support area . On June 5 , 1963 , visiting President Kennedy was briefed on the bunker ' s status ( his chair is at the Peterson Air and Space Museum . ) Grafe - Wallace , Inc and J . M . Foster Co . received " a joint $ 7 , 212 , 033 contract for installation of utilities and blast - control equipment in April 1964 " ( e . g . , the original six 956 - KW diesel powered generators ) . Burroughs had the $ 40 million prime contract for the electronics which included an $ 800 , 000 camera / projector system for images from the custom - built RCA Display Information Processor . On May 1 , 1964 , " excavations for the hardened COC " ended , and the main chambers B - 2 dome was completed in May . The " NORAD / CONAD Combat Operations Center " was ready for initial manning on May 18 , 1964 ( NORAD began manning the COC on October 30 . ) On January 20 , 1965 , the Cheyenne Mountain Complex was renamed to " NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex " ( NCMC ) and on May 7 , " the first piece of major equipment , a Philco 212 Computer , had been placed in the NORAD Combat Operations Center " ( NCOC ) for the 425L system . In June , 3 buildings began occupancy ( " South Center Building " on the 11th , " North Center Building " : 17th , " Center Building " : 28th ) , basic testing was satisfactory on December 15 , and all 11 underground buildings were complete in December . In 1966 , the Electronic Systems Division ( ESD ) turned the bunker ' s COC over to NORAD on January 1 , the NCMC was accepted on February 8 , and a 3rd Philco 212 became operational on March 31 for the bunker ' s 496L system . The Chidlaw " Combined " Operations Center mission transferred to the bunker on April 20 when the 425L system became operational , the NORAD Attack Warning System ( NAWS ) became operational on May 20 , and Cheyenne Mountain systems became " the nucleus of the worldwide Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment ( ITW / AA ) system " . On July 1 , 1966 , full operational capability ( FOC ) of the COC ( 425L " Command / Control and Missile Warning system " ) was achieved , integrating data from other " Big L " systems : " " the Intelligence Data Handling System , the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System , Defense Communications Agency ' s Continental United States network " [ e . g . , from 8 416L AN / FSQ - 8s ] " and the " [ Ent AFB ] " Space Defense Center " " . " Blast - resistant " communication with the DCA network ( 800 military installations ) was originally via Cheyenne Mountain ' s 2 radio data links and 4 ground lines of the Close - in Automatic Route Restoral System ( CARRS ) . CARRS nodes included the Black Forest Microwave Station of AT & T to the northeast and the Lamar Communications Facility east - southeast ( initially of the 47th ) . The Aviano Air Base correlation center for the Forward Scatter over the Horizon Radar network ( 440L system with AN / FRT - 80 transmitters & AN / FSQ - 76 receivers ) was also connected to the NORAD Combat Operation Center . By January 4 , 1967 , the Civil Defense National Warning Center was in the bunker for transmitting to public broadcasting stations . For the Group III Space Defense Center ( 496L System following the earlier 496L sites at Hanscom Field & then Ent ) , the ~ $ 5 million Delta I computer system became operational at the bunker on October 28 , 1966 , " adjacent to the NORAD command center " ( on February 6 , 1967 , the 1st Aero ' s SDC operations moved from Ent AFB to the bunker . ) The Ballistic Missile Defense Centre authorized in April 1970 and installed in January 1974 " collocated with the … Combat Operations Center " was " the highest echelon of command in the SAFEGUARD System " for the LIM - 49 Spartan ABM . Improvements . NORAD ' s Information Processing Improvement Program ( ESD program 427M contracted in 1972 , operational in 1979 ) was for 3 " major segments " at Cheyenne mountain : the Communication System Segment ( CSS ) , NORAD Computer System ( NCS , replacing the 425L system ) , and Space Computational Center ( SCC , replacing the SDC 496L system ) . On January 19 , 1973 , " System Development Corporation was awarded a $ 15 , 850 , 542 contract to update satellite information processing " ( a 2nd phase was mainly for SCC software / displays . ) In 1977 to replace the original UNIVAC 1106 of the " Command Center Processing system " , HQ USAF approved the acquisition of a UNIVAC 1100 / 42 for the Command and Control Processing and Display System ( CCPDS ) . By 1978 , the NORAD Combat Operations Center was " composed of a command post and five operating centers " : Battle Staff Support Center , Weather Support Unit , Intelligence Center , System Center ( consolidating all data to the Command Center ) , and Space Computational Center . In 1979 the Space Defense Operations Center ( SPADOC ) was established in the NCMC for command and control of the SSN ( the 1985 SPADOC backup was at Eglin AFB ) , and on July 11 , Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan visited Cheyenne Mountain . In 1981 the SCC and the System Center each had 2 H6080 computers . Under the Strategic Defense Architecture ( SDA - 2000 ) , on December 23 , 1980 , after a November NCS " exhaustive test " the USAF declared FOC for the 1st 7 JSS ROCCs providing aircraft tracks to Cheyenne Mountain . By 1981 Cheyenne Mountain was providing 6 , 700 messages per hour compiled via sensor inputs from the JSS , BMEWS ( 474L system ) , the SLBM " Detection and Warning System , COBRA DANE , and PARCS as well as SEWS and PAVE PAWS " for transmission to the NCA ( Pentagon ' s NMCC , Raven Rock ' s ANMCC , and SAC ' s Offutt / Notch command posts ) . The Air Defense Operations Center ( ADOC ) began an upgrade in 1986 , the Survivable Communications Integration System ( SCIS ) development was approved in 1986 , and GTE was the 1988 contractor for a $ 281 million computer communication improvement ( switchover to generators took too long ) . In 1988 for coordinating the SSN , development of the bunker ' s Space Surveillance Center ( SSC ) was approved . The Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade ( CMU ) of November 1988 consolidated 5 improvement programs for $ 968 million that had been delayed beyond the planned completion in 1987 : CCPDS Replacement ( CCPDS - R ) , CSS Replacement ( CSS - R ) , Granite Sentry upgrade , SCIS , & SPADOC 4 . SPADOC 4 was for upgrading the SCC with primary & backup ) , and SPADOC 4 block A achieved IOC in April 1989 . The CSS - R " first element " achieved IOC on April 12 , 1991 ; and the 427M system was replaced . The CSSR , SCIS , Granite Sentry , CCPDS - R , and their interfaces were tested in 1997 ( Granite Sentry NUDET data processing was " not adequate " ) . By 1992 , the U . S . Space Command Space Surveillance Center ( SSC ) was the " data analysis and tracking center " for Baker - Nunn camera images and Cheyenne Mountain was connected to the GWEN communication site toward Pueblo , Colorado . By 1995 the HAVE STARE radar had been upgraded to " relay data to Cheyenne Mountain " , and by October 1995 the 1CACS in the bunker was providing collision avoidance data to the " Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center ' s space control center " . In June 1993 , the " Cheyenne Mountain Complex Operations Center " included the " USSPACE and NORAD Command Center " , " NORAD Air Defense Operations Center ( ADOC ) " , " NORAD / USSPACECOM Combined Intelligence Watch Center ( CIWC ) " , " USSPACECOM Space Defense Operations Center ( SPADOC ) " , " USSPACECOM Space Surveillance Center ( SSC ) " , " AFSPACECOM Weather Operations Center " , and " AFSPACECOM Systems Center " . By July 1994 , an initiative had begun to " collocate the USSPACECOM and NORAD command centers " , and in February 1995 , the " missile warning center at Cheyenne Mountain AS [ was ] undergoing a $ 450 million upgrade program as part of Cheyenne Mountain ' s $ 1 . 7 billion renovation package " . The Combatant Commander ’ s Integrated Command and Control System ( CCIC2S ) program began in 2000 with a Lockheed Martin contract " to upgrade all of the mission systems within Cheyenne Mountain , which included the space surveillance systems " for delivery in 2006 . The portion of CCIC2S modernizing " attack warning systems within Cheyenne Mountain [ was to ] cost more than $ 700 million from fiscal years 2000 to 2006 " , and the delayed CCIC2S upgrades for space surveillance were superseded by systems for the Joint Space Operations Center ' s Space C2 program and Integrated Space Situational Awareness program . By 2003 , consoles for the Ground - Based Mid - Course Defense ( GMD ) had been contracted for Cheyenne Mountain , and the planned 18 month Cheyenne Mountain Realignment to move Command Center operations to Peterson AFB was complete by May 13 , 2008 . On August 3 , 2011 , a ribbon cutting was held for the January 2010 - June 30 , 2011 , Missile Warning Center renovation funded by USSTRATCOM . Units . Electronic Systems Division Detachment 10 at Ent AFB became the Cheyenne Mountain Complex Management Office ( CMCMO ) in 1963 , the year the Chidlaw Combined Operations Center began operations ; and on February 15 , 1980 , ESD Detachment 2 was established at the " Cheyenne Mountain complex " ( Det 2 became the AFSC focal point during the Cheynne Mountain Upgrade . ) Aerospace Defense Command organizations in the bunker became a specified command when the major command ended in 1980 ; e . g . , the J31 unit of HQ NORAD / ADCOM subsequently manned the Space Surveillance Center in the same room as the Missile Warning Center ( separated by partitions ) . The " HQ Cheyenne Mountain Support Group … was activated at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex " in October 1981 to support the Aerospace Defense Center ' s operation of the NORAD combat operations center " . In 1983 the Foreign Technology Division had an operating location at the bunker and in 1992 , an airman of the " 1010th Civil Engineering Squadron at Cheyenne Mountain AFB " developed a 3 - D AUTOCADD model of the bunker " to zoom in on a specific room " . By 1995 a " missile operations section " supported the missile warning center , and in 2001 the 1989 1CACS at Cheyenne Mountain AFS was renamed the 1st Space Control Squadron . On June 24 , 1994 , when the " Joint Task Force — Cheyenne Mountain Operations organization was brought online to take responsibility for the installation " , Brig . Gen . Donald Peterson was the commander of the JTF , which was renamed the " U . S . Space Command Cheyenne Mountain operations center " by March 1995 ( the unit had an exercise branch in June 1996 ) . On July 28 , 2006 , the Cheyenne Mountain Realignment redesignated the Cheyenne Mountain Directorate to the Cheyenne Mountain Division . Circa 2004 the bunker included the 17th Test Squadron ' s Detachment 2 and AFTAC ' s research laboratory , in 2008 Detachment 1 of the 392nd Training Squadron operated the Cheyenne Mountain Training System ( CMTS ) , and in 2011 the installation ' s 721st SFS was expanded .