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Customer:
U.S. Navy under subcontract to Rockwell Collins
Mission:
A mark of America's strategic excellence is its preeminent ability to command, control, and communicate with its nuclear forces. An essential element of that ability is U.S. Strategic Command's Airborne Command Post, also called "Looking Glass." Its highly-trained crew and staff ensure there is always an aircraft ready to direct bombers and missiles from the air should ground-based command centers become inoperable. Looking Glass guarantees that U.S. strategic forces will act only in the precise manner dictated by the president.
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The now-deactivated Strategic Air Command began the mission on February 3, 1961. It took the nickname Looking Glass because the mission mirrored ground-based command, control, and communications. From that date, an Air Force EC-135 Looking Glass aircraft was in the air at all times 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for more than 29 years. On July 24, 1990, Looking Glass ceased continuous airborne alert, but remained on ground or airborne alert 24 hours a day. Crews accumulated more than 281,000 accident-free flying hours, an aviation phenomenon. On Oct. 1, 1998, the Navy's E-6B Mercury replaced the EC-135 in the Looking Glass mission.
L-3 Integrated Systems’ role:
We created the E-6B platform by combining the mission systems of the E-6A and the EC-135 platforms. Today, we're working with Rockwell Collins to perform a mission system upgrade on the aircraft.
Did you know:
The E-6B is a Boeing 707 airframe loaded with high-tech communication equipment. The E-6B has the ability to communicate directly with the nation's ballistic submarine fleet. Its battle staff, when airborne, is under the command of a flag officer -- an Air Force general officer or a Navy admiral. General and flag officers are from USSTRATCOM, the Air Force's Air Mobility Command (AMC) and Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), the Navy's Commander, Submarine Group NINE, Pacific (COMSUBGRU NINE) and Commander, Submarine Group TEN, Atlantic (COMSUBGRU TEN), and the Air Force and Navy Reserve. |
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