Wednesday, March 22, 2023
  • About us
    • Write for us
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
  • RSS Feeds
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
DefenceTalk
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
DefenceTalk
No Result
View All Result

US aerospace command moving comms gear back to Cold War bunker

by Agence France-Presse
April 8, 2015
in Technology News
2 min read
0
US aerospace command moving comms gear back to Cold War bunker
11
SHARES
14
VIEWS

The US military command that scans North America’s skies for enemy missiles and aircraft plans to move its communications gear to a Cold War-era mountain bunker, officers said.

The shift to the Cheyenne Mountain base in Colorado is designed to safeguard the command’s sensitive sensors and servers from a potential electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, military officers said.

The Pentagon last week announced a $700 million contract with Raytheon Corporation to oversee the work for North American Aerospace Command (NORAD) and US Northern Command.

Admiral William Gortney, head of NORAD and Northern Command, said that “because of the very nature of the way that Cheyenne Mountain’s built, it’s EMP-hardened.”

“And so, there’s a lot of movement to put capability into Cheyenne Mountain and to be able to communicate in there,” Gortney told reporters.

“My primary concern was… are we going to have the space inside the mountain for everybody who wants to move in there, and I’m not at liberty to discuss who’s moving in there,” he said.

The Cheyenne mountain bunker is a half-acre cavern carved into a mountain in the 1960s that was designed to withstand a Soviet nuclear attack. From inside the massive complex, airmen were poised to send warnings that could trigger the launch of nuclear missiles.

But in 2006, officials decided to move the headquarters of NORAD and US Northern Command from Cheyenne to Petersen Air Force base in Colorado Springs. The Cheyenne bunker was designated as an alternative command center if needed.

That move was touted a more efficient use of resources but had followed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of modernization work at Cheyenne carried out after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Now the Pentagon is looking at shifting communications gear to the Cheyenne bunker, officials said.

“A lot of the back office communications is being moved there,” said one defense official.

Officials said the military’s dependence on computer networks and digital communications makes it much more vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse, which can occur naturally or result from a high-altitude nuclear explosion.

Under the 10-year contract, Raytheon is supposed to deliver “sustainment” services to help the military perform “accurate, timely and unambiguous warning and attack assessment of air, missile and space threats” at the Cheyenne and Petersen bases.

Raytheon’s contract also involves unspecified work at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

Tags: aerospaceBunkercold warcommunicationsEMPNORAD
Previous Post

US ‘concerned’ by China but not adversary: Pentagon chief

Next Post

Pakistan to Buy AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles

Related Posts

US moves closer to retaliation over hacking as cyber woes grow

White House gives federal agencies 30 days to enforce TikTok ban

March 1, 2023

The White House on Monday gave federal agencies 30 days to purge Chinese-owned video-snippet sharing app TikTok from all government-issued...

Artificial intelligence behind 21st Century spaceflight

Countries urge action for rules on AI use in war

February 20, 2023

Countries including the United States and China called Thursday for urgent action to regulate the development and growing use of...

Next Post
Pakistan to Buy AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles

Pakistan to Buy AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles

Latest Defense News

Hwasong-17 ICBM

North Korea fires ‘long-range’ missile as S. Korea president heads to Japan

March 16, 2023
North Korea fires multiple suspected cruise missiles

North Korea fires two ballistic missiles, Seoul says

March 14, 2023
Australia to get nuclear submarines in new US, British partnership

Australia to buy US nuclear subs in ambitious new pact

March 14, 2023
Su-35 Fighter Aircraft, Russian Air Force

Iran says deal reached to buy Russian fighter jets

March 13, 2023
Made in China: Saudi-Iran deal goes beyond Middle East, say analysts

Made in China: Saudi-Iran deal goes beyond Middle East, say analysts

March 13, 2023
North Korea says Kim ordered test of ‘new type’ of ICBM

North Korea adopts war deterrence measures: state media

March 13, 2023

Defense Forum Discussions

  • Royal New Zealand Air Force
  • Foreign Interference in Canada
  • NZDF General discussion thread
  • Royal Danish Navy
  • The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread
  • Australian Army Discussions and Updates
  • Royal New Zealand Navy Discussions and Updates
  • General Aviation Thread
  • Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates
  • China - Geostrategic & Geopolitical.
DefenceTalk

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com

Navigate Site

  • Defence Forum
  • Military Photos
  • RSS Feeds
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com