 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Equipment of Strategic Air Command" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Strategic Air Command equipment includes weapon systems and ordnance (e.g., strategic weapons such as ICBMs), ground radars and computers (e.g., at SSN 1979-82), and other Cold War devices of the USAF major command.
Special Weapons Emergency Separation System
This system (SWESS), also known informally as the dead man's switch, was a nuclear bomb release system that the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command built into bombers such as the B-52 Stratofortress. The system's purpose was to ensure that an aircraft's payload of nuclear weapons would detonate in the event of the crew becoming debilitated by enemy defences such as missiles. Once armed, the system would ensure that the onboard nuclear weapons detonated if the aircraft dropped below a predetermined altitude.
SAC Equipment
| SAC Equipment | |||||
| Type | Model | Start | End | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat aircraft | B-1 Lancer | 1986 | 1992 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-17 Flying Fortress (RB-17G) | 1946 | 1951 | ||
| Combat aircraft | A-26 Invader (RB-26) | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-29 Superfortress | 1946 | 1953 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-36 Peacemaker | 1948 | 1958 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-45 Tornado | 1950 | 1953 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-47 Stratojet | 1951 | 1965 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-50 Superfortress | 1948 | 1954 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-52 Stratofortress | 1955 | 1992 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-57 Canberra | 1956 | 1962 | ||
| Combat aircraft | B-58 Hustler | 1960 | 1969 | ||
| Combat aircraft | C-119 Flying Boxcar | 1956 | 1973 | ||
| Combat aircraft | DC-130 Hercules | 1966 | 1976 | ||
| Combat aircraft | EC-135 Looking Glass | 1963 | 1992 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-2 Expeditor (F=Fotorecon; C-45) | ||||
| Combat aircraft | F-6 Mustang (F=Fotorecon; P-51) | ||||
| Combat aircraft | F-9 Flying Fortress (F=Fotorecon; B-17F/G) | ||||
| Combat aircraft | F-13 Superfortress (F=Fotorecon; B-29A) | ||||
| Combat aircraft | F-47 Thunderbolt (P-47) | 1946 | 1947 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-51 Mustang (P-51) | 1946 | 1949 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-82 Twin Mustang | 1947 | 1950 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-80 Shooting Star | 1946 | 1948 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-84 Thunderjet | 1948 | 1957 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-86 Sabre | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Combat aircraft | F-102 Delta Dagger | 1960 | 1976 | ||
| Combat aircraft | FB-111 Aardvark | 1969 | 1990 | ||
| Combat aircraft | KC-10 Extender | 1981 | 1992 | ||
| Combat aircraft | KB-29 | 1949 | 1956 | ||
| Combat aircraft | KC-97 Stratofreighter SAC | 1951 | 1964 | ||
| Combat aircraft | KC-135 Stratotanker SAC | 1957 | 1991 | ||
| Combat aircraft | RC-45 Expeditor | ||||
| Combat aircraft | RC-135 | ||||
| Combat aircraft | SR-71 Blackbird | 1966 | 1991 | ||
| Combat aircraft | U-2 Dragon Lady | 1962 | 1991 | ||
| Combat aircraft | TR-1 Dragon Lady | 1989 | 1991 | ||
| Support aircraft | UC-45 Expeditor | ||||
| Support aircraft | AT-11 Kansan | ||||
| Support aircraft | B-26 Invader | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-45 Expeditor | 1946 | 1951 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-47 Skytrain | 1946 | 1947 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-54 Skymaster | 1946 | 1975 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-82 Packet | 1946 | 1947 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-97 Stratofreighter | 1949 | 1978 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-118 Liftmaster | 1957 | 1975 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-124 Globemaster II | 1959 | 1962 | ||
| Support aircraft | C-131 Samaritan | ||||
| Support aircraft | C-135 Stratolifter | ||||
| Support aircraft | CH-3 Sea King SAC c. 1960s | ||||
| Support aircraft | HU-16 Albatross SAC c. 1950s/1960s | ||||
| Support aircraft | L-4 Grasshopper | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Support aircraft | L-5 Sentinel | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Support aircraft | L-13 Grasshopper | 1949 | 1950 | ||
| Support aircraft | PBY Catalina | ||||
| Support aircraft | T-38 Talon | 1981 | 1991 | ||
| Support aircraft | UH-1 Iroquois | 1966 | 1992 | ||
| Missile | ADM-20 Quail | ||||
| Missile | AGM-28 Hound Dog | ||||
| Missile | AGM-69 SRAM | ||||
| Missile | AGM-84 Harpoon | ||||
| Missile | AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile | ||||
| Missile | AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile | ||||
| Missile | HGM-16 Atlas | ||||
| Missile | HGM-25A Titan I | ||||
| Missile | LGM-25 Titan II | ||||
| Missile | LGM-30A/B Minuteman I | ||||
| Missile | LGM-30F Minuteman II | ||||
| Missile | LGM-30G Minuteman III | ||||
| Missile | LGM-118A Peacekeeper | ||||
| Missile | SM-62 Snark | ||||
| Missile | PGM-17A Thor | ||||
| Missile | PGM-19A Jupiter | ||||
| Ground system | Athena computer | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MPS-9 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-1 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-2 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-35 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-77 | 1965 | |||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-81 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/MSQ-96 | ||||
| Ground system | AN/TLQ-11 | ||||
| Ground system | BMEWS | 1979 | 1982 | ||
| Ground system | GWEN | ||||
| Ground system | train: Big Star (ICBM) | ||||
| Ground system | trains: RBS Express (3) | 1961 | c. 1971 | ||
| Ground system | SACCCS | ||||
See also
References
- Sagan, Scott Douglas (1995). The Limits of Safety. Princeton University Press. pp. 187–188. ISBN 0-691-02101-5. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
 | This military aviation article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |