E-6 Mercury
Role	Command and Control
Manufacturer	Boeing
First flight	February 1987
Introduced	August 1989
Primary user	United States Navy
Number built	16
Unit cost	US$141.7 million
Developed from	Boeing 707-320

The Boeing E-6 Mercury is an American military aircraft. It operates as an airborne command post and communications center, relaying instructions from the National Command Authority. Its role in relaying to the fleet ballistic missile submarines gives one of its missions the acronym TACAMO ("Take Charge and Move Out").

[edit] Design and development

Like the E-3 Sentry AWACS, the E-6 Mercury is adapted from Boeing's 707-320 commercial airliner. Only one version of the E-6 currently exists, the E-6B. The E-6B is an upgraded version of the E-6A that now includes a battlestaff area and new flight deck systems replacing the aging 1970s-style cockpit with an off-the-shelf 737 Next Generation cockpit. This greatly increases the situational awareness of the pilot and saves significant cost over a custom avionics package.

Navy E-6 Mercury at the Mojave Airport

The first E-6A was accepted by the US Navy in August 1989, sixteen were delivered up to 1992. The first E-6B was accepted in December 1997 and the entire E-6 fleet was modified to the E-6B standard, with the final delivery taking place on 1 December 2006.^[1]

Navy E-6 Mercury at the Mojave Airport

[edit] Operational history

Codenamed Looking Glass, it is USSTRATCOM's Airborne Command Post, designed to take over in case the Global Operations Center (GOC), located at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, is destroyed or incapable of communicating with strategic forces. The term 'looking glass' is used because it "mirrors" the abilities of the GOC to control nuclear forces. Looking Glass was said to be airborne 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with one plane taking off to replace another landing.

[edit] Specifications

Detail of the E-6's wingtip

Data from Navy Fact File^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: 12-14
• Capacity: 23
• Length: 150 ft 4 in (45.8 m)
• Wingspan: 148 ft 4 in (45.2 m)
• Height: 42 ft 5 in (12.9 m)
• Loaded weight: 342,000 lb (154,400 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 342,000 lb (154,400 kg)
• Powerplant: 4× CFMI CFM-56-2A-2 high-bypass turbofans

Performance

• Maximum speed: 522 knots (600 mph, 960 km/h)
• Range: 6,600 nm (7,590 sm, 12,144 km with 6 hours loiter time)
• Service ceiling: > 40,000 ft (12,200 m)

[edit] See also

Related lists

• List of active military aircraft of the United States
  

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Boeing E-6

• E-6 page at Boeing.com
• E-6 MERCURY (TACAMO) page at FAS.org
• Aircraft Fact Data at Navy.mil