US has 16 E-6B Doomsday Planes

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Hooligan

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He could even take over the Emergency Broadcast System and broadcast the "AMF YOYO" speech. ("Adios, *My Friends*; You're On Your Own.) The TACAMO mission was carried out by a pair of C-130's; one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast. The E-6 was developed to replace both aircraft and assume both of those missions. After the end of the Cold War (the main act, anyway), it was decided that it was no longer necessary to keep a Looking Glass flight up all the time. The AF still maintains a fleet of EC- and RC-135's for PACCS (Post-Attack Command & Control System) and ELINT (ELectronic INTelligence) purposes.

Aside from training missions and "Training Missions", everything pretty much stays on the ground now.

EBS broadcasts weren't part of Looking Glass/PACCS. That was an Executive Office of the President (WHMO/WHCA-->FEMA-->FCC) program.
PACCS is long-gone. Was re-named SCACS decades-ago, and please-advise what USAF airframes are still designated as EC-___ & used for the strategic airborne nuclear command, control & communications mission.

The E-6Bs fly daily. There's a US Strategic Command requirement that an E-6B 'Looking Glass' flies a certain amount of time each & every day, and other E-6Bs go airborne to support exercises, training, testing, maintenance, logistical flights (ferrying an aircraft/personnel from a forward operating location back to Tinker or Offutt, etc.) and real-world tasking from their higher headquarters/operational-control entities like US Strategic Command, USAF Global Strike Command, JCS, NAOC, or to provide basic TACAMO operations for submarines. At various times, E-6s have spent time in the Middle East, using some of their comms capability to provide radio-relay to US military conventional combat forces on the ground.

They're obviously still using VLF/LF for both TACAMO & SCACS-type missions (unless things have changed, the shorter trailing wire antenna is the actual radiator -- it the longer TWA passively re-radiates the signal), they're on HF & UHF AM & FM a little, but much of the operational voice & data traffic & chatter are via SHF/EHF satcom & the Multi-Role Tactical Common Data Link direct LOS + SATCOM system.

Sometimes they're transmitting ADS-B, sometimes they're not, but when they are, it's nice the cockpit crew have finally figured-out how to GO into their Flight Management System & input callsign data instead of just leaving the default GOTO FMS value!
 

drdispatch

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EBS broadcasts weren't part of Looking Glass/PACCS. That was an Executive Office of the President (WHMO/WHCA-->FEMA-->FCC) program.
PACCS is long-gone. Was re-named SCACS decades-ago, and please-advise what USAF airframes are still designated as EC-___ & used for the strategic airborne nuclear command, control & communications mission.
You're right: The E-4 had EBS capability but not the EC-135.
I was under the impression that the AF still maintained some EC-135 airframes; if that is not the case, I stand corrected.
 

RadioDitch

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The EC-135 hasn't been around in 20+ years.

Mostly true. The last one exited Nightwatch service in 1971 best that anyone knows. Two were modified as EC-135Y and hung around in the 310th AS out of MacDill until 2003 as executive transport and supporting airborne command and control for the CO of CENTCOM. C37A's have the CENTCOM duties now.
 

drdispatch

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Mostly true. The last one exited Nightwatch service in 1971 best that anyone knows. Two were modified as EC-135Y and hung around in the 310th AS out of MacDill until 2003 as executive transport and supporting airborne command and control for the CO of CENTCOM. C37A's have the CENTCOM duties now.
They were still being used for Looking Glass missions until 1998.
 
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