Boeing E-6B Mercury FLAG BACKGROUND
by Arthur Eggers
Title
Boeing E-6B Mercury FLAG BACKGROUND
Artist
Arthur Eggers
Medium
Digital Art - Color Print
Description
Strategic Communications Wing One (STRATCOMWING ONE) is a nuclear command and control wing of the United States Navy. Its TACAMO ("Take Charge and Move Out") mission provides airborne communications links to nuclear missile units of United States Strategic Command. The wing's primary mission is to receive, verify and retransmit Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) to US strategic forces. The E-6 Mercury upgraded with the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) have also assumed the airborne command post mission for the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 4 (VQ-4) has a complement of 78 officers and 426 enlisted personnel. Since 1992, it has operated under Navy Strategic Communications Wing 1 at Tinker Air Force Base. It forward deploys aircraft to fly operational patrols out of NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. The Boeing E-6 Mercury (formerly E-6 Hermes) is an airborne command post and communications relay based on the Boeing 707-320. The E-6B replaced Air Force EC-135Cs in the "Looking Glass" role, providing command and control of U.S. nuclear forces should ground-based control become inoperable. VQ-4 received its first E-6As in January 1991, allowing the EC-130Q to be phased on in June that year. The E-6A was renamed Mercury in autumn 1991 by request of the US Navy. Sixteen were delivered up to 1992. The E-6B is an upgrade to the E-6A. It included a battlestaff area and updated mission equipment. The flight deck systems were later replaced with an off-the-shelf 737 Next Generation cockpit. This greatly increases the situational awareness of the pilot and saves significant cost over the previous custom avionics package. The first E-6B was accepted in December 1997. All 16 E-6A aircraft were modified to the E-6B standard, with the final delivery taking place on 1 December 2006.
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June 26th, 2016
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Arthur Eggers
The E-6 Mercury upgraded with the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) have also assumed the airborne command post mission for the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). The E-6B replaced Air Force EC-135Cs in the "Looking Glass" role, providing command and control of U.S. nuclear forces should ground-based control become inoperable.
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