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We start with a look at General Curtis LeMay’s time in command of Strategic Air Command, and the aircraft that were developed to satisfy his requirements for a long range bomber capable of reaching the Soviet Union from US bases. The most famous result of this was the Boeing B-52, which made its maiden flight in 1952 and is still in front line service over seventy years later!
Chrome Dome itself was an operation that saw some of America’s nuclear bombers flying at all times. The biggest problem with operating SAC’s nuclear bombers was how long it would take to prepare a nuclear bomb, load it into the aircraft and get airborne. Against a possible missile attack this could have left the bombers dead on the ground. Having bombers already in the air, with bombs ready to be armed, was seen as the best way of ensuring the credibility of America’s deterent (and also of providing a rapid way of making a preemptive strike if that was decided on).
The Attacker’s Capabilities section looks at the incredibly complex systems that were needed to make this operation work, including air to air refuelling systems, airborne command aircraft, and a network of ground bases. The map of bases has 38 military bases and Boeing at Seattle marked!
The Defender’s Capabilities chapter would have been been renamed Soviet Capabilities, as it starts with a look at the Soviet offensive forces Chrome Dome was meant to be countering. One notable feature of these forces is that they were never as strong as the American’s feared, with the non-existant ‘Missile Gap’ and then ‘Bomber Gap’ being used to justify US defence spending. The picture is different in the Defences section – here we see the West underestimating the capabilities of Soviet radar, leading to the shooting down of Gary Powers’ U-2C in 1960 and quickly making it too dangerous for the even faster SR-72 Blackbird to overfly the Soviet Union. SAMs were the main threat, until they eventually became so effective and so numerous that plans for high level bombing had to be abandoned.
The Crews chapter focuses on the American crews. Technical ability is a given, but personal reliability was also judged to be crucial, especially to make sure nobody went rogue and attempted to launch a bomb by themselves! The failsafe systems around these nuclear bombers were very extensive – unless two code words were successfully received as the bombers approached enemy territory they would simply turn back.
Campaign Objectives looks at the constantly evolving details of the American nuclear plans, with targets being changed, although often involving a massive first strike. Kennedy’s doctrine of a flexible response changed this for some time, allowing for smaller scale attacks, but always with the MAD option in the background.
The Campaign chapter starts with a look at the physical effort required to actually carry out these patrols. This involved individual aircraft being in the air for 24 hours, flying out from the US to a position near the Soviet Union or Warsaw Pact (such as over the Adriatic or over the Arctic) where they would patrol for hours before returning home.
We also look at the biggest danger that was actually posed by Chrome Dome – the increased risk of ‘Broken Arrow’ events, where an aircraft carrying nuclear bombs crashed. The first of these came very early in the operation, when a bomber crashed while attempting to land at Seymour-Johnson AFB near Goldsboro, North Carolina. Two bombs were onboard, one of which came very close to exploding. The most famous incident came over Spain in 1966 when a B-52 collided with a KC-135A tanker. Four bombs were involved, two of which scattered radioactive materials forcing the US to ship 1,400 tons of contaminated soil and vegetation back to the US. The scandal caused by the admission that nuclear armed bombers were flying over foreign soil, combined with a second crash over Greenland in 1968 helped end the entire Chrome Dome project in that year.
As a Cold War operation that thankfully never had to go into action it is hard to judge Chrome Dome. It was certainly technically very impressive, although also massively costly. It’s also certainly a good topic for a book, bringing together many features of the 1950s and 60s cold war and the most advanced military technology of the period.
Chapters
Introduction
Chronology
Attacker’s Capabilities
Defender’s Capabilities
The Crews
Campaign Objectives
The Campaign
Analysis and Conclusion
Author: Peter E. Davies
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 98
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2024