This ICBM-Launched Satellite Could Transmit Nuclear Codes When Nothing Else Was Left To

The ERCS was essentially an autonomous nuclear launch code delivery system launched into sub-orbital space via a rocket. Once there, the system will be able to send emergency action messages on any of the 10 classified frequencies for up to 30 minutes. Urgent Action Messages direct nuclear forces to initiate large-scale limited pre-planned attack options. As emphasized in the past:

“The AN/DRC-8 Emergency Rocket Communication System (ERCS) … consisted of a UHF signal repeater on top of the rocket capable of broadcasting emergency action messages, including launch codes.

During a nuclear attack, the Air Force can launch rockets with AN/DRC-8s as needed, which will fly very low in space across missile ranges that broadcast launch codes. Some have speculated that if the operator of the underground missile warning facility had died or otherwise become incapacitated, the backup system in place would have received the code and automatically executed the launch sequence. right. There would have to have been a positive decision to adopt ERCS in the first place. ”

ERCS development began in 1961. On September 21 of that year, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) issued specific operational requirements for this system, which Allied Signal Aerospace Communications Systems acquired. This came amid heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, particularly over the threat of nuclear weapons deployment. Only a few years ago, in 1959, the Department of Defense devised the Defense Conditional Condition (DEFCON) system as a way to systematically and coordinately raise military alert levels in preparation for a nuclear attack.

Originally, the AN/DRC-8 payload was launched by: blue scout junior The rocket was originally designed as follows. Supporting various scientific research efforts, although this was an interim system. The Blue Scout Jr. version of the ERCS, also known as Project 279, was finalized in 1961 with an initial configuration consisting of three Blue Scout Jr. rockets with 1-kilowatt transmitters stationed around Omaha, Nebraska. It started to take shape in December.

The system’s first successful test launch took place on May 31, 1962 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. In his July of that year, Project 279 reached Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with his three UHF signal repeaters attached to his three Blue Scout Junior rockets. At the Tekama site, West Point, Wisner, Nebraska.

July 1963, Air Force declares Three Blue Scout Junior rocket launch sites in operation around Nebraska as a first aidMeanwhile, trials at Vandenberg Air Force Base continued with the ERCS until December 1963. Prior to this, however, SAC had already begun planning a transition from the Blue Scout Junior rocket as a means of launching his ERCS system.

One of the most pressing issues with using Blue Scout Jr. was their vulnerability.system was technically mobile on the road, consisting of one trailer with a Blue Scout Junior missile in its launcher and another with the control system needed to actually launch it. This would have made them less likely to be targeted by moving from one location to another. However, they are always used from a ground or outdoor position.

So in June 1962 the SAC proposed the following: Minuteman MissileTo benefit from enhanced silo protection, it must be used in conjunction with the Blue Scout Junior rocket to launch the ERCS. By September 1962, the SAC recommended that Program 279 be scrapped and the ERCS completely transferred to Minuteman missiles.

The first successful test launch of the system with a Minuteman missile, the Minuteman version of the ERCS, known as Project 494L, took place at Vandenberg Air Force Base on December 13, 1966. that day, Minuteman II ICBM ERCS launched into space. successfully sent your message before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. In late 1967, the ERCS became fully operational with his six Minuteman II missiles at Whiteman Air Force Base.

The communications payload portion of the ERCS Minuteman II was approximately 8 feet long, 32.6 inches wide and weighed approximately 875 pounds.

The Minuteman version now allows all ERCS-enabled Launch Control Centers to program the system via the ERCS Control-Monitor console. Pre-recorded messages can be stored in payloads for broadcast via cassette.

Airborne EC-135s can also launch ERCS via ALCS if desired, adding an extra layer of assurance to their ability to communicate directly with Minuteman ICBM sites. In April 1967, a modified version of his EC-135 command post aircraft was tested. Minuteman II with ERCS configuration launched An ICBM launched via ALCS from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

ERCS trials continued at Vandenberg Air Force Base into the 1970s. For example, in 1974 his ERCS was launched into space and the Pacific Command (PACOM) was able to keep his message clear for 22 minutes. The last test was carried out on October 26, 1977. By the mid-1980s, the ERCS system was Carries up to 12 Minuteman II missiles Whiteman’s 351st Strategic Missile Wing, 510th Strategic Missile Squadron.

In 1991, the ERCS was suspended following President George HW Bush’s decision to end the ongoing nuclear alert at the end of the Cold War. The 10 of his ERCS that remained at Whiteman were removed after he was de-energized from the end of September 1991 until he was in October.

Air Force data show that from 1980 to 1990, the total number of ERCS on alert ranged from 8 to 10 in any given year.

Of course, the United States was not alone in developing semi-autonomous systems for transmitting nuclear launch commands. The exact details of this system remain questionable, but the Soviets developed and operated the system. border. This was a semi-automatic retaliation system, a backup option in case the Soviet leadership was annihilated.

Over the years, the Perimeter has been described as a so-called “dead hand” system that could, under certain circumstances, initiate the launch of a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile without any human intervention. From what is now known, as previously discussed, it appears that there were indeed similarities to the ERCS, involving rockets equipped with a system for communicating launch order instructions to lower-tier strategic missile forces. Ta. Also, it still required human input to start the sequence.

Although the ERCS is no longer functional, the United States retains the ability to remotely send launch orders to the mission control center responsible for the Minuteman III silo via the E-6B Mercury aircraft’s ALCS. His three missile wings in the Air Force oversee his 400 Minuteman IIIs in silos across Montana, Nebraska and North Dakota. The E-6B can also communicate with the navy Ohio Ballistic missile class nuclear submarine. You can read more about that particular mission called Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) here.

The U.S. military has been working in recent years to improve and improve the capabilities of its nuclear command and control structure. This is not only to protect critical systems from a variety of threats, including cyberattacks, but also to update our arsenal for better deterrence in the face of technological change. New strategic weapons like the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM are on the way.

The future of the ALCS remote launch concept is not entirely clear at this time. The U.S. Navy is considering deploying new C-130-based aircraft to take over TACAMO duties from its decommissioned E-6B fleet. However, these aircraft are not equipped with an ALCS and are not configured to support the Air Force’s strategic “Looking Glass” Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) missions. The Air Force has yet to detail its plans for how it will continue to carry out what has long been a mission that never fails.

The U.S. ERCS thankfully didn’t have to be used operationally in what would probably have been Armageddon, but it does form a fascinating piece of engineering and the darkest challenges of communications and command and control. worked as a unique solution to