6 ms·

E-6B Mercury airborne command just went active on east/west coasts

75 points by themgt 6y ago

jonny_eh 6y ago
According to Twitter this is related to Trump's covid diagnosis, but I don't get why. What's an E-6B?
- sbierwagen 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_E-6_Mercury https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_E-6_Mercury >The Boeing E-6 Mercury (formerly E-6 Hermes) is an airborne command post and communications relay based on the Boeing 707-320. The original E-6A manufactured by Boeing's defense division entered service with the United States Navy in July 1989, replacing the EC-130Q. This platform, now modified to the E-6B standard, conveys instructions from the National Command Authority to fleet ballistic missile submarines.
- remote_phone 6y ago
  Show of force. Basically telling everyone that the US is still ready for war even though Trump could be sick.
  - mihaaly 6y ago
    Was he ever been a healthy person? ;) I am sorry for this cheap tease.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
numpad0 6y ago
Not to be confused with EA-6B Prowler; this one is modified cargo Boeing 707 upgraded with 737NG/A340 engines for strategic command purposes under doomsday scenarios. (TIL)
dividedbyzero 6y ago
If I understand this correctly those planes play a role in coordinating nuclear strikes; is this just normal posturing in case someone might think of launching at the US in the confusion a severe progression of Trump's illness would cause? Is this something to be worried about?
- sbierwagen 6y ago
  It's a backup command center, in case of a decapitation strike. You could make a case for being more nervous, since a higher state of alert could either provoke more mistakes, or cause ambiguous moves to be interpreted as hostile ones. Or, from a perspective of posterior probability, you could not be worried at all, since nuclear war has never before happened.
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    "Domestic animals expect food when they see the person who usually feeds them. We know that all these rather crude expectations of uniformity are liable to be misleading. The man who has fed the chicken every day throughout its life at last wrings its neck instead, showing that more refined views as to the uniformity of nature would have been useful to the chicken." I understand communications from boomers' spouses are sent by radio in the clear (from platforms such as an E-6B?), so everyone gets to appreciate the rare occasions when double entendres are slipped in past the censors.
- baybal2 6y ago
  Yes, and what so? I think this is a standard protocol for almost all countries to activate reserve command centres in case of military leadership being incapacitated/dead/or in risk of captivity.
- remote_phone 6y ago
  I was in Singapore the day that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. All of Singapore was on high alert and soldiers were everywhere even though it’s half a world away. It’s basically a basic level of readiness when something out of the ordinary happens. It shows the world that even if you tried to sneak attack the US with nukes that the US was capable of retaliating. The entire point of Mutually Assured Destruction requires the ability to strike back as part of the defense otherwise attacking first becomes a better solution.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
redis_mlc 6y ago
China is in an undeclared war with the US. Xi has threatened to use nuclear weapons. Right now is eerily similar to the Cuban missile crisis, or Japan pre-WW2. You can view the NTD/Epoch Times Youtube channels to learn more.
pengaru 6y ago
Will they stay active with E6 planes continuously in the air until the president recovers?
Reedx 6y ago
Before we get too excited: How often do they do this? When was the last time?
phjesusthatguy3 6y ago
There's a story on aljazeera.com about how the Trumps have tested positive for COVID-19. I think I got there from this article but the internet seems to have melted down for me at the moment. EDIT: FWIW there's a story on my local paper's site about it too.
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  The news first broke, AFAIK, from Trump's own Twitter account.
detaro 6y ago
Counterclaims: https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1311930485959004161 https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1311930485959004161 > There's a lot of chatter about those “airborne nuclear command centers”, but these two Boeing E6A Mercury aircraft were indeed flying almost daily since over the past month, publicly available flight data shows: the AE0414 flew at least on 20 days, and the AE0415 at least 14. https://twitter.com/marcambinder/status/1311921340354564096 https://twitter.com/marcambinder/status/1311921340354564096 > And again, these planes fly daily and there’s a squadron at PAX. This is noise. Attend to your thought patterns and cognitive biases here. I will try do the same. Reality is unsettling enough!
- arethuza 6y ago
  I suspect if there was thought to be a real threat then those flights wouldn't be visible on commercial flight tracking sites!
  - jacobush 6y ago
    I don't believe there was something unusual going on, but I would not put any weight on visible on commercial tracking on or not. If it's something clandestine, it may be smarter to hide in "normality" rather than looking obviously "stealthy".
    - arethuza 6y ago
      Well, I guess one reason for keeping it public is literally to demonstrate to other nations that the US is prepared for this kind of thing - but I suspect everyone who needed to know that already knew... "Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you keep* it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world, EH?"
      - 082349872349872 6y ago
        Given that JCS seems to have leveller heads than POTUS (witness their responses to his suggestions of persian gulf aggression or of domestic deployment), I find it reassuring. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War room!" Gutmang na kang du kombat xiya, fo xidawang da imbobo da kombat!
runarb 6y ago
There are some scenes in the movie The Day After showing the mission I believe these plans flyes: https://youtu.be/jlPEBROvR9w?list=FLrpVP7xy6WjESfTl1-XV-hw&t=160 https://youtu.be/jlPEBROvR9w?list=FLrpVP7xy6WjESfTl1-XV-hw&t... The US used to have one or two airborne at all times during the cold war. Quits scary.
coolspot 6y ago
Wide knowledge about these planes basically makes them worthless. Theoretical agressor would make sure to track and take all of these planes out first, together with other command centers, satellites, relaying stations, etc. Russian version - “dead hand”, uses hidden underground rocket silos (and mobile as well AFAIK). Upon loss of “ping” from a command center, rocket is launched across whole country, broadcasting launch codes for all nuclear rockets to start. Likely US has something similar as well. Maybe even E-6B is a decoy/honey pot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand_(nuclear_war) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand_(nuclear_war)

75 points by themgt 6y ago

jonny_eh 6y ago

According to Twitter this is related to Trump's covid diagnosis, but I don't get why. What's an E-6B?

sbierwagen 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_E-6_Mercury https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_E-6_Mercury >The Boeing E-6 Mercury (formerly E-6 Hermes) is an airborne command post and communications relay based on the Boeing 707-320. The original E-6A manufactured by Boeing's defense division entered service with the United States Navy in July 1989, replacing the EC-130Q. This platform, now modified to the E-6B standard, conveys instructions from the National Command Authority to fleet ballistic missile submarines.
remote_phone 6y ago
Show of force. Basically telling everyone that the US is still ready for war even though Trump could be sick.
- mihaaly 6y ago
  Was he ever been a healthy person? ;) I am sorry for this cheap tease.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

numpad0 6y ago

Not to be confused with EA-6B Prowler; this one is modified cargo Boeing 707 upgraded with 737NG/A340 engines for strategic command purposes under doomsday scenarios. (TIL)

dividedbyzero 6y ago

If I understand this correctly those planes play a role in coordinating nuclear strikes; is this just normal posturing in case someone might think of launching at the US in the confusion a severe progression of Trump's illness would cause? Is this something to be worried about?

sbierwagen 6y ago
It's a backup command center, in case of a decapitation strike. You could make a case for being more nervous, since a higher state of alert could either provoke more mistakes, or cause ambiguous moves to be interpreted as hostile ones. Or, from a perspective of posterior probability, you could not be worried at all, since nuclear war has never before happened.
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  "Domestic animals expect food when they see the person who usually feeds them. We know that all these rather crude expectations of uniformity are liable to be misleading. The man who has fed the chicken every day throughout its life at last wrings its neck instead, showing that more refined views as to the uniformity of nature would have been useful to the chicken." I understand communications from boomers' spouses are sent by radio in the clear (from platforms such as an E-6B?), so everyone gets to appreciate the rare occasions when double entendres are slipped in past the censors.
baybal2 6y ago
Yes, and what so? I think this is a standard protocol for almost all countries to activate reserve command centres in case of military leadership being incapacitated/dead/or in risk of captivity.
remote_phone 6y ago
I was in Singapore the day that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. All of Singapore was on high alert and soldiers were everywhere even though it’s half a world away. It’s basically a basic level of readiness when something out of the ordinary happens. It shows the world that even if you tried to sneak attack the US with nukes that the US was capable of retaliating. The entire point of Mutually Assured Destruction requires the ability to strike back as part of the defense otherwise attacking first becomes a better solution.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

redis_mlc 6y ago

China is in an undeclared war with the US. Xi has threatened to use nuclear weapons. Right now is eerily similar to the Cuban missile crisis, or Japan pre-WW2. You can view the NTD/Epoch Times Youtube channels to learn more.

pengaru 6y ago

Will they stay active with E6 planes continuously in the air until the president recovers?

Reedx 6y ago

Before we get too excited: How often do they do this? When was the last time?

phjesusthatguy3 6y ago

There's a story on aljazeera.com about how the Trumps have tested positive for COVID-19. I think I got there from this article but the internet seems to have melted down for me at the moment. EDIT: FWIW there's a story on my local paper's site about it too.

dragonwriter 6y ago
The news first broke, AFAIK, from Trump's own Twitter account.

detaro 6y ago

Counterclaims: https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1311930485959004161 https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1311930485959004161 > There's a lot of chatter about those “airborne nuclear command centers”, but these two Boeing E6A Mercury aircraft were indeed flying almost daily since over the past month, publicly available flight data shows: the AE0414 flew at least on 20 days, and the AE0415 at least 14. https://twitter.com/marcambinder/status/1311921340354564096 https://twitter.com/marcambinder/status/1311921340354564096 > And again, these planes fly daily and there’s a squadron at PAX. This is noise. Attend to your thought patterns and cognitive biases here. I will try do the same. Reality is unsettling enough!

arethuza 6y ago
I suspect if there was thought to be a real threat then those flights wouldn't be visible on commercial flight tracking sites!
- jacobush 6y ago
  I don't believe there was something unusual going on, but I would not put any weight on visible on commercial tracking on or not. If it's something clandestine, it may be smarter to hide in "normality" rather than looking obviously "stealthy".
  - arethuza 6y ago
    Well, I guess one reason for keeping it public is literally to demonstrate to other nations that the US is prepared for this kind of thing - but I suspect everyone who needed to know that already knew... "Of course, the whole point of a Doomsday Machine is lost, if you keep* it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world, EH?"
    - 082349872349872 6y ago
      Given that JCS seems to have leveller heads than POTUS (witness their responses to his suggestions of persian gulf aggression or of domestic deployment), I find it reassuring. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War room!" Gutmang na kang du kombat xiya, fo xidawang da imbobo da kombat!

runarb 6y ago

There are some scenes in the movie The Day After showing the mission I believe these plans flyes: https://youtu.be/jlPEBROvR9w?list=FLrpVP7xy6WjESfTl1-XV-hw&t=160 https://youtu.be/jlPEBROvR9w?list=FLrpVP7xy6WjESfTl1-XV-hw&t... The US used to have one or two airborne at all times during the cold war. Quits scary.

coolspot 6y ago

Wide knowledge about these planes basically makes them worthless. Theoretical agressor would make sure to track and take all of these planes out first, together with other command centers, satellites, relaying stations, etc. Russian version - “dead hand”, uses hidden underground rocket silos (and mobile as well AFAIK). Upon loss of “ping” from a command center, rocket is launched across whole country, broadcasting launch codes for all nuclear rockets to start. Likely US has something similar as well. Maybe even E-6B is a decoy/honey pot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand_(nuclear_war) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand_(nuclear_war)