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USAF Examining Follow-On to Airborne Launch Control System

USAF Examining Follow-On to Airborne Launch Control System
Pictured is a U.S. Navy E-6B Mercury before takeoff on Nov. 5, 2024 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. Personnel from Offutt AFB, Neb.'s 625th Strategic Operations Squadron flew on the plane to demonstrate the functioning of the Airborne Launch Control System. (U.S. Air Force Photo)

The U.S. Air Force is examining industry capacity to build "secondary launch capability"--a follow-on to the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) on the U.S. Navy's E-6B Mercury Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) aircraft. TACAMO planes are to connect the president and secretary of defense with Navy nuclear ballistic missile forces during a crisis and function as "Looking Glass" airborne command posts to aid launching of land-based nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) via ALCS, if an adversary destroys ICBM ground…

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