97-518: Download coordinates as: Operation Ivy was the eighth series of American nuclear tests , coming after Tumbler-Snapper and before Upshot–Knothole . The two explosions were staged in late 1952 at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific Proving Ground in the Marshall Islands . The Operation Ivy test series was the first to involve a hydrogen bomb rather than an atomic bomb, further to
194-546: A $ 179.7 billion budget and is the second largest service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, with 321,848 active duty airmen , 147,879 civilian personnel, 68,927 reserve airmen, 105,104 Air National Guard airmen, and approximately 65,000 Civil Air Patrol auxiliarists . According to the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat . 502), which created the USAF: Section 9062 of Title 10 US Code defines
291-426: A broader dimension of time or space than do tactics; they provide the means by which tactical successes are exploited to achieve strategic and operational objectives. Tactical Level Command and Control is where individual battles and engagements are fought. The tactical level of war deals with how forces are employed, and the specifics of how engagements are conducted and targets attacked. The goal of tactical level C2
388-438: A cleanup plan for drinking water around Tucson, Arizona after the region's groundwater was contaminated by PFAS runoff from nearby Air Force bases. The United States Air Force has been involved in many wars, conflicts and operations using military air operations. The USAF possesses the lineage and heritage of its predecessor organizations, which played a pivotal role in U.S. military operations since 1907: In addition since
485-452: A commander in planning, directing, coordinating, and controlling forces and operations in the accomplishment of the mission" (JP 1-02). This core function includes all of the C2-related capabilities and activities associated with air, cyberspace, nuclear, and agile combat support operations to achieve strategic, operational, and tactical objectives. At the strategic level command and control,
582-894: A force multiplier. It allows air assets to more rapidly reach any trouble spot around the world with less dependence on forward staging bases or overflight/landing clearances. Air refueling significantly expands the options available to a commander by increasing the range, payload, persistence, and flexibility of receiver aircraft. Aeromedical evacuation is "the movement of patients under medical supervision to and between medical treatment facilities by air transportation" (JP 1-02). JP 4-02, Health Service Support, further defines it as "the fixed wing movement of regulated casualties to and between medical treatment facilities, using organic and/or contracted mobility airframes, with aircrew trained explicitly for this mission." Aeromedical evacuation forces can operate as far forward as fixed-wing aircraft are able to conduct airland operations. Global precision attack
679-461: A multi-megaton thermonuclear weapon ("hydrogen bomb") using the Teller-Ulam design . Unlike later thermonuclear weapons, Mike used deuterium as its fusion fuel, maintained as a liquid by an expensive and cumbersome cryogenic system. The bomb was detonated on November 1, 1952, on Elugelab Island yielding 10.4 megatons , almost 500 times the yield of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki , resulting in
776-520: A nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. The Air Force maintains and presents credible deterrent capabilities through successful visible demonstrations and exercises that assure allies, dissuade proliferation, deter potential adversaries from actions that threaten US national security or the populations, and deploy military forces of the US, its allies, and friends. Nuclear strike is the ability of nuclear forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which
873-445: A posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross for his service. In 2002, a memorial stone at Virginia's Arlington National Cemetery was erected. As a result of the collection of samples from the explosion by U.S. Air Force pilots, scientists found traces of the isotopes plutonium-246 and plutonium-244 , and confirmed the existence of the predicted but undiscovered elements einsteinium and fermium . The second test, King , fired
970-405: A precondition" (Annex 3–70, Strategic Attack). Air Interdiction is defined as "air operations conducted to divert, disrupt, delay, or destroy the enemy's military potential before it can be brought to bear effectively against friendly forces, or to otherwise achieve JFC objectives. Air Interdiction is conducted at such distance from friendly forces that detailed integration of each air mission with
1067-483: A rapid cessation of hostilities. Post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. The Air Force may present a credible force posture in either the Continental United States , within a theater of operations, or both to effectively deter the range of potential adversaries envisioned in the 21st century. This requires the ability to engage targets globally using
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#17330935155681164-747: A sharp reduction in flight hours for crew training since 2005 and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel directing Airmen's Time Assessments. On 5 June 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates accepted the resignations of both the Secretary of the Air Force , Michael Wynne , and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force , General T. Michael Moseley . In his decision to fire both men Gates cited "systemic issues associated with... declining Air Force nuclear mission focus and performance". Left unmentioned by Gates
1261-486: A strategic nuclear bomber fleet. The bomber force consists of 51 nuclear-armed B-52 Stratofortresses , and 20 B-2 Spirits . All 64 B-1s were retrofitted to operate in a solely conventional mode by 2007 and thus don't count as nuclear platforms. In addition to this, the U.S. military can also deploy smaller tactical nuclear weapons either through cruise missiles or with conventional fighter-bombers . The U.S. maintains about 400 nuclear gravity bombs capable of use by
1358-448: A strong focus on the improvement of Basic Military Training (BMT) for enlisted personnel. While the intense training has become longer, it also has shifted to include a deployment phase. This deployment phase, now called the BEAST, places the trainees in a simulated combat environment that they may experience once they deploy. While the trainees do tackle the massive obstacle courses along with
1455-503: A test. ) The U.S. also investigated a wide range of possible nonlethal, psychobehavioral chemical incapacitating agents including psychedelic indoles such as LSD and marijuana derivatives, as well as several glycolate anticholinergics. One of the anticholinergic compounds, 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate , was assigned the NATO code BZ and was weaponized at the beginning of the 1960s for possible battlefield use. Alleged use of chemical agents by
1552-510: A variety of methods; therefore, the Air Force should possess the ability to induct, train, assign, educate and exercise individuals and units to rapidly and effectively execute missions that support US NDO objectives. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of nuclear operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations. Because of their political and military importance, destructive power, and
1649-455: Is "the acquisition of information and the provision of this information to processing elements" (JP 2-01). It provides the ability to obtain required information to satisfy intelligence needs (via use of sources and methods in all domains). Collection activities span the Range of Military Operations (ROMO). Processing and exploitation is "the conversion of collected information into forms suitable to
1746-417: Is "the employment of limited offensive action and counterattacks to deny a contested area or position to the enemy" (JP 1-02). It includes both ballistic missile defense and airborne threat defense and encompasses point defense, area defense, and high-value airborne asset defense. Passive defense is "measures taken to reduce the probability of and to minimize the effects of damage caused by hostile action without
1843-563: Is a military service branch organized within the Department of the Air Force , one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense . The Air Force through the Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force , who reports to the Secretary of Defense and is appointed by the President with Senate confirmation . The highest-ranking military officer in
1940-425: Is defined as "all the defensive measures designed to detect, identify, intercept, and destroy or negate enemy forces attempting to penetrate or attack through friendly airspace" (JP 1-02). In concert with OCA operations, a major goal of DCA operations is to provide an area from which forces can operate, secure from air and missile threats. The DCA mission comprises both active and passive defense measures. Active defense
2037-534: Is defined as "offensive operations to destroy, disrupt, or neutralize enemy aircraft, missiles, launch platforms, and their supporting structures and systems both before and after launch, but as close to their source as possible" (JP 1-02). OCA is the preferred method of countering air and missile threats since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source and typically enjoys the initiative. OCA comprises attack operations, sweep, escort, and suppression/destruction of enemy air defense. Defensive Counter-Air (DCA)
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#17330935155682134-513: Is known for using civilian populations to test the effects of bioweapons. In 1950, the US Navy conducted a secret experiment on the civilian population of the San Francisco Bay Area during operation Operation Sea-Spray , in which over 800,000 residents were unknowingly sprayed with pathogens. This led to at least one death and claims that the ecology had been changed irreversibly. In 1951,
2231-407: Is known to have possessed three types of weapons of mass destruction : nuclear , chemical , and biological weapons . As the country that invented nuclear weapons, the U.S. is the only country to have used nuclear weapons on another country, when it detonated two atomic bombs over two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II . It had secretly developed the earliest form of
2328-486: Is the ability to hold at risk or strike rapidly and persistently, with a wide range of munitions, any target and to create swift, decisive, and precise effects across multiple domains. Strategic attack is defined as "offensive action specifically selected to achieve national strategic objectives. These attacks seek to weaken the adversary's ability or will to engage in conflict, and may achieve strategic objectives without necessarily having to achieve operational objectives as
2425-580: Is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission. Positive nuclear command, control, communications; effective nuclear weapons security; and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. Command and control is "the exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission. Command and control functions are performed through an arrangement of personnel, equipment, communications, facilities, and procedures employed by
2522-650: Is to achieve commander's intent and desired effects by gaining and keeping offensive initiative. The origins of the United States Air Force can be traced back to the Union Army Balloon Corps of the American Civil War . The Union Balloon Corps, established by aeronaut Thaddeus S. C. Lowe , provided aerial reconnaissance for the Union Army . This early use of balloons for military purposes marked
2619-571: Is unclear because some tests involved multiple devices while a few failed to explode or were designed not to create a nuclear explosion. The last nuclear test by the United States was on September 23, 1992; the U.S. has signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty . Currently, the United States nuclear arsenal is deployed in three areas: The United States is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under
2716-661: The Bomber Mafia ), followed by fighters ( Fighter Mafia ). In response to a 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident , Secretary of Defense Robert Gates accepted in June 2009 the resignations of Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force General T. Michael Moseley . Moseley's successor, General Norton A. Schwartz , a former airlift and special operations pilot,
2813-696: The F/A-18 Hornet , F-15E , F-16 , F-22 and F-35 . Some 350 of these bombs are deployed at seven airbases in six European NATO countries; of these, 180 tactical B61 nuclear bombs fall under a nuclear sharing arrangement. The U.S. Navy currently has 18 Ohio -class submarines deployed, of which 14 are ballistic missile submarines . Each submarine is equipped with a maximum complement of 24 Trident II missiles. Approximately 12 U.S. attack submarines were equipped to launch nuclear Tomahawk missiles , but these weapons were removed from service by 2013. The number of Deployed and Non-Deployed SLBMs on
2910-979: The Geneva Protocol on January 22, 1975. The U.S. ratified the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) which came into effect in March 1975. Negotiations for a legally binding verification protocol to the BWC proceeded for years. In 2001, negotiations ended when the Bush administration rejected an effort by other signatories to create a protocol for verification, arguing that it could be abused to interfere with legitimate biological research. The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases , located in Fort Detrick, produces small quantities of biological agents, for use in biological weapons defense research. According to
3007-672: The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons , which the U.S. ratified in 1968. On October 13, 1999, the U.S. Senate rejected ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty , having previously ratified the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963. The U.S. has not, however, tested a nuclear weapon since 1992, though it has tested many non-nuclear components and has developed powerful supercomputers to duplicate
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3104-480: The United States Congress in 2004 eliminated funding for some of this research including the " bunker-busting or earth-penetrating" weapons. The exact number of nuclear weapons possessed by the United States is difficult to determine. Different treaties and organizations have different criteria for reporting nuclear weapons, especially those held in reserve, and those being dismantled or rebuilt: In 2002,
3201-476: The Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force retain administrative authority over their members. Along with conducting independent air operations, the United States Air Force provides air support for land and naval forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2020 , the service operates approximately 5,500 military aircraft and approximately 400 ICBMs . The world's largest air force, it has
3298-517: The Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force , who exercises supervision over Air Force units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . As directed by the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force, certain Air Force components are assigned to unified combatant commands . Combatant commanders are delegated operational authority of the forces assigned to them, while the Secretary of
3395-410: The Air Force states as global vigilance, global reach, and global power. Air superiority is "that degree of dominance in the air battle of one force over another which permits the conduct of operations by the former and its related land, sea, air, and special operations forces at a given time and place without prohibitive interference by the opposing force" (JP 1-02). Offensive Counter-Air (OCA)
3492-422: The Air Force's readiness to carry out the nuclear strike operations mission as well as from specific actions taken to assure allies as a part of extended deterrence. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD and delivering them contributes to promoting security and is also an integral part of this mission. Moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are
3589-582: The BEAST, the other portions include defending and protecting their base of operations, forming a structure of leadership, directing search and recovery, and basic self aid buddy care. During this event, the Military Training Instructors (MTI) act as mentors and opposing forces in a deployment exercise. In November 2022, the USAF announced that it will discontinue BEAST and replace it with another deployment training program called PACER FORGE. In 2007,
3686-770: The Navy , and the newly created Department of the Air Force. Prior to 1947, the responsibility for military aviation was shared between the Army Air Forces and its predecessor organizations (for land-based operations), the Navy (for sea-based operations from aircraft carriers and amphibious aircraft), and the Marine Corps (for close air support of Marine Corps operations). The 1940s proved to be important for military aviation in other ways as well. In 1947, Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager broke
3783-644: The Ohio-Class SSBNs as of 2018 is 280, of which 203 SLBMs are deployed. The United States offensive biological weapons program was instigated by President Franklin Roosevelt and the U.S. Secretary of War in October 1941. Research occurred at several sites. A production facility was built at Terre Haute, Indiana , but testing with a benign agent demonstrated contamination of the facility so no production occurred during World War II . The US government and military
3880-457: The ROMO. The purpose of nuclear deterrence operations (NDO) is to operate, maintain, and secure nuclear forces to achieve an assured capability to deter an adversary from taking action against vital US interests. In the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. The sub-elements of this function are: Assure/Dissuade/Deter is a mission set derived from
3977-512: The U.S. government, this research is performed in full accordance with the BWC. In September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States, there was a series of anthrax attacks aimed at U.S. media offices and the U.S. Senate which killed five people. The anthrax used in the attacks was the Ames strain , which was first studied at Fort Detrick and then distributed to other labs around
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4074-543: The U.S. in the Korean (1950–53) conflict has never been substantiated. In late 1969, President Richard Nixon unilaterally renounced the first use of chemical weapons (as well as all methods of biological warfare). He issued a unilateral decree halting production and transport of chemical weapons which remains in effect. From 1967 to 1970 in Operation CHASE , the U.S. disposed of chemical weapons by sinking ships laden with
4171-461: The U.S. to destroying all chemical weapons and renounced the right to chemical weapon retaliation. In 1993, the U.S. signed the CWC, which required the destruction of all chemical weapon agents, dispersal systems, chemical weapons production facilities by 2012. Both Russia and U.S. missed the CWC's extended deadline of April 2012 to destroy all of their chemical weapons. The United States destroyed 89.75% of
4268-647: The U.S. was party. Stockpile reductions began in the 1980s, with the removal of some outdated munitions and destruction of the entire stock of BZ beginning in 1988. In 1990, destruction of chemical agents stored on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific began, seven years before the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) came into effect. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan began removal of the U.S. stockpile of chemical weapons from Germany (see Operation Steel Box ). In 1991, President George H. W. Bush unilaterally committed
4365-606: The UK and the Warsaw Pact, separately, introduced proposals to the UN to ban biological weapons, which would lead to a treaty in 1972. The U.S. cancelled its offensive biological weapons program by executive order in November 1969 (microorganisms) and February 1970 (toxins) and ordered the destruction of all offensive biological weapons, which occurred between May 1971 and February 1973. The U.S. ratified
4462-543: The US determines national or multinational security objectives and guidance, and develops and uses national resources to accomplish these objectives. These national objectives in turn provide the direction for developing overall military objectives, which are used to develop the objectives and strategy for each theater. At the operational level command and control, campaigns and major operations are planned, conducted, sustained, and assessed to accomplish strategic goals within theaters or areas of operations. These activities imply
4559-560: The US military also released fungal spores at the Norfolk Naval Supply Center on African-American workers to see if they are more susceptible to the pathogen than Caucasians. In 1966, the US government released Bacillus globigii on the New York Subway to research how a civilian population can be used to spread pathogens. It is claimed many of those exposed were later found to exhibit long-term medical conditions of which
4656-510: The USAF dwarfs all other U.S. and allied air components, it often provides support for allied forces in conflicts to which the United States is otherwise not involved, such as the 2013 French campaign in Mali . The USAF has also taken part in numerous humanitarian operations. Some of the more major ones include the following: The culture of the United States Air Force is primarily driven by pilots, at first those piloting bombers (driven originally by
4753-464: The USAF established the nuclear-focused Air Force Global Strike Command on 24 October 2008, which later assumed control of all USAF bomber aircraft. On 26 June 2009, the USAF released a force structure plan that cut fighter aircraft and shifted resources to better support nuclear, irregular and information warfare. On 23 July 2009, The USAF released their Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Flight Plan, detailing Air Force UAS plans through 2047. One third of
4850-509: The USAF undertook a Reduction-in-Force (RIF). Because of budget constraints, the USAF planned to reduce the service's size from 360,000 active duty personnel to 316,000. The size of the active duty force in 2007 was roughly 64% of that of what the USAF was at the end of the first Gulf War in 1991. However, the reduction was ended at approximately 330,000 personnel in 2008 in order to meet the demand signal of combatant commanders and associated mission requirements. These same constraints have seen
4947-519: The United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947 . It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence . The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy , global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance , rapid global mobility , global strike , and command and control . The United States Air Force
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#17330935155685044-522: The United States and Russia agreed in the SORT treaty to reduce their deployed stockpiles to not more than 2,200 warheads each. In 2003, the U.S. rejected Russian proposals to further reduce both nation's nuclear stockpiles to 1,500 each. In 2007, for the first time in 15 years, the United States built new warheads. These replaced some older warheads as part of the Minuteman III upgrade program. 2007 also saw
5141-526: The ability to fulfill their primary mission. Rapid Global Mobility is essential to virtually every military operation, allowing forces to reach foreign or domestic destinations quickly, thus seizing the initiative through speed and surprise. Airlift is "operations to transport and deliver forces and materiel through the air in support of strategic, operational, or tactical objectives" (Annex 3–17, Air Mobility Operations). The rapid and flexible options afforded by airlift allow military forces and national leaders
5238-407: The ability to integrate, evaluate, and interpret information from available sources to create a finished intelligence product for presentation or dissemination to enable increased situational awareness. Dissemination and integration is "the delivery of intelligence to users in a suitable form and the application of the intelligence to appropriate missions, tasks, and functions" (JP 2-01). It provides
5335-425: The ability to present information and intelligence products across the ROMO enabling understanding of the operational environment to military and national decision-makers. Rapid global mobility is the timely deployment, employment, sustainment, augmentation, and redeployment of military forces and capabilities across the ROMO. It provides joint military forces the capability to move from place to place while retaining
5432-455: The ability to respond and operate in a variety of situations and time frames. The global reach capability of airlift provides the ability to apply US power worldwide by delivering forces to crisis locations. It serves as a US presence that demonstrates resolve and compassion in humanitarian crisis. Air refueling is "the refueling of an aircraft in flight by another aircraft" (JP 1-02). Air refueling extends presence, increases range, and serves as
5529-481: The atomic weapon during the 1940s under the title " Manhattan Project ". The United States pioneered the development of both the nuclear fission and hydrogen bombs (the latter involving nuclear fusion ). It was the world's first and only nuclear power for four years, from 1945 until 1949, when the Soviet Union produced its own nuclear weapon . The United States has the second-largest number of nuclear weapons in
5626-430: The beginning of modern aerial warfare and set the stage for the development of the United States Air Force. The U.S. War Department created the first antecedent of the U.S. Air Force, as a part of the U.S. Army, on 1 August 1907, which through a succession of changes of organization, titles, and missions advanced toward eventual independence 40 years later. In World War II , almost 68,000 U.S. airmen died helping to win
5723-448: The detonation. Robinson hit an area of severe turbulence, entering a spin and barely retaining consciousness. He regained control of his plane at 20,000 feet, but the electromagnetic storm had disrupted his instruments. In rain and poor visibility, without working instruments, Hagan and Robinson were unable to find the KB-29 tanker aircraft to refuel. By the time they were successful in finding
5820-422: The enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. If a crisis occurs, rapid generation and, if necessary, deployment of nuclear strike capabilities will demonstrate US resolve and may prompt an adversary to alter the course of action deemed threatening to our national interest. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level and lead to
5917-483: The fire and movement of friendly forces is not required" (Annex 3-03, Counterland Operations). Close Air Support is defined as "air action by fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets that are in close proximity to friendly forces and which require detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of those forces" (JP 1-02). This can be as a pre-planned event or on demand from an alert posture (ground or airborne). It can be conducted across
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#17330935155686014-729: The first Minuteman III missiles removed from service as part of the drawdown. Overall, stockpiles and deployment systems continue to decline in number under the terms of the New START treaty. In 2014, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists released a report, stating that there are a total of 2,530 warheads kept in reserve, and 2,120 actively deployed. Of the warheads actively deployed, the number of strategic warheads rests at 1,920 (subtracting 200 tactical B61s as part of Nato nuclear weapon sharing arrangements). The amount of warheads being actively disabled rests at about 2,700 warheads, which brings
6111-603: The globe to conduct current and future operations. Planning and directing is "the determination of intelligence requirements, development of appropriate intelligence architecture, preparation of a collection plan, and issuance of orders and requests to information collection agencies" (JP 2-01, Joint and National Intelligence Support to Military Operations). These activities enable the synchronization and integration of collection, processing, exploitation, analysis, and dissemination activities/resources to meet information requirements of national and military decision-makers. Collection
6208-401: The highest-yield (500 kilotons) nuclear fission (A-bomb) weapon to date using only nuclear fission (no fusion nor fusion boosting ). This test used an unretarded free-fall bomb from a B-36 bomber. The bomber suffered minor heat and blast damage and safely returned to base. This "Super Oralloy Bomb" was intended as a backup to the earlier "Mike" test, if the fusion weapon had failed. In
6305-442: The intention of taking the initiative" (JP 1-02). It includes detection and warning; chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense; camouflage, concealment, and deception; hardening; reconstitution; dispersion; redundancy; and mobility, counter-measures, and stealth. Airspace control is "a process used to increase operational effectiveness by promoting the safe, efficient, and flexible use of airspace" (JP 1-02). It promotes
6402-461: The knowledge gained from testing without conducting the actual tests themselves. In the early 1990s, the U.S. stopped developing new nuclear weapons and now devotes most of its nuclear efforts into stockpile stewardship , maintaining and dismantling its now-aging arsenal. The administration of George W. Bush decided in 2003 to engage in research towards a new generation of small nuclear weapons, especially "earth penetrators". The budget passed by
6499-727: The mid-2030s. On 22 October 2023, the USAF conducted its first-ever trilateral exercise with the South Korean and Japanese air forces near the Korean Peninsula. On 29 November 2023, a USAF Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey crashed in the Japan island of Yakushima killing 1 airman. In 2024, citing the Supreme Court 's ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo , the Air Force refused to comply with an EPA order that they develop
6596-585: The military has denied causation. The US government continued similar experiments on civilian populations in other cities across the country until the early 1970s. The Dugway Proving Ground facility in Utah , opened in 1942, to this day tests and stores biological weapons. In 1968, the facility infamously poisoned 6,000 sheep with the nerve agent VX. The 800,000 acre facility has reportedly weaponized fleas, mosquitoes, as well as conducted experiments on both animal and human subjects. A more advanced production facility
6693-547: The most nuclear warheads sitting at 5,977, while the United States has 5,428 warheads. The U.S. Air Force currently operates 400 Minuteman III ICBMs , located primarily in the northern Rocky Mountain states and the Dakotas . Peacekeeper missiles were phased out of the Air Force inventory in 2005. All USAF Minuteman II missiles were destroyed in accordance with the START treaty and their launch silos imploded and buried then sold to
6790-529: The nascent 1211th Test Squadron flew into the stem of the explosion first. In five minutes, he had gathered all the samples he could, and exited. Jimmy Priestly Robinson, age 28, a captain with the 561st Fighter-Day Squadron , was lost near the end of his mission. After re-emerging from the cloud, both he and his wingman , pilot Captain Bob Hagan, encountered difficulties picking up rendezvous and runway navigational beacons due to "electromagnetic after effects" of
6887-478: The order of President Harry S. Truman made on January 31, 1950, that the US should continue research into all forms of nuclear weapons. The bombs were prepared by the US Atomic Energy Commission and Defense Department aboard naval vessels, and were capable of being detonated remotely from the control ship Estes . The first Ivy shot, codenamed Mike , was the first successful full-scale test of
6984-535: The original stockpile of nearly 31,100 metric tons (30,609 long tons ) of nerve and mustard agents under the terms of the treaty. Chemical weapons destruction resumed in 2015. The country's last stockpile was at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. The U.S. destroyed its final chemical weapon on July 7, 2023. The final weapon to be destroyed was a sarin nerve agent -filled M55 rocket . The total cost for
7081-415: The planes that the USAF planned to buy in the future were to be unmanned. According to Air Force Chief Scientist, Greg Zacharias , the USAF anticipates having hypersonic weapons by the 2020s, hypersonic unmanned aerial vehicles (also known as remotely-piloted vehicles, or RPAs) by the 2030s and recoverable hypersonic RPAs aircraft by the 2040s. The USAF intends to deploy a Sixth-generation jet fighter by
7178-540: The potential consequences of an accident or unauthorized act, nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon systems require special consideration and protection against risks and threats inherent in their peacetime and wartime environments. In conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, the Air Force achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. This program applies to materiel, personnel, and procedures that contribute to
7275-483: The production of intelligence" (JP 2-01). It provides the ability to transform, extract, and make available collected information suitable for further analysis or action across the ROMO. Analysis and production is "the conversion of processed information into intelligence through the integration, evaluation, analysis, and interpretation of all source data and the preparation of intelligence products in support of known or anticipated user requirements" (JP 2-01). It provides
7372-547: The program to destroy chemical weapons was $ 40 billion. United States Air Force The United States Air Force ( USAF ) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces , and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States . Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps , the USAF was established as a separate branch of
7469-540: The public under the START II . The U.S. goal under the SORT treaty was to reduce from 1,600 warheads deployed on over 500 missiles in 2003 to 500 warheads on 450 missiles in 2012. The first Minuteman III were removed under this plan in 2007 while, at the same time, the warheads deployed on Minuteman IIIs began to be upgraded from smaller W62s to larger W87s from decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles. The U.S. Air Force also operates
7566-409: The purpose of the USAF as: The five core missions of the Air Force have not changed dramatically since the Air Force became independent in 1947, but they have evolved and are now articulated as air superiority, global integrated ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control. The purpose of all of these core missions is to provide what
7663-491: The safe, efficient, and flexible use of airspace, mitigates the risk of fratricide, enhances both offensive and defensive operations, and permits greater agility of air operations as a whole. It both deconflicts and facilitates the integration of joint air operations. Global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) is the synchronization and integration of the planning and operation of sensors, assets, and processing, exploitation, dissemination systems across
7760-597: The safety, security, and control of nuclear weapons, thus assuring no nuclear accidents, incidents, loss, or unauthorized or accidental use (a Broken Arrow incident ). The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements. Adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Force's ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations
7857-409: The signal, they were dangerously low on fuel, and before reaching the runway on Enewetak, both had depleted their reserves. Hagan made a successful dead-stick landing on the runway, but Robinson was too far out and attempted to ditch. His jet crashed and sank 3.5 miles short of the island. Robinson's plane flipped and his body was never found. Approximately a year after his disappearance, he was awarded
7954-545: The sound barrier in his X-1 rocket-powered aircraft, beginning a new era of aeronautics in America. The predecessor organizations in the Army of today's Air Force are: During the early 2000s, two USAF aircraft procurement projects took longer than expected, the KC-X and F-35 programs. As a result, the USAF was setting new records for average aircraft age. Since 2005, the USAF has placed
8051-482: The success of the Castle Bravo shot two years later. The outcome of the test was reported to incoming president Eisenhower by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, Gordon Dean , as follows: “The island of Elugelab is missing!” Four USAF F-84G Thunderjets equipped with filters were flown through the mushroom cloud 's stem to collect radiochemical samples for analysis. "Red Flight" Leader Virgil K. Meroney of
8148-453: The total United States inventory to about 7,400 warheads. The U.S. government decided not to sign the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons , a binding agreement for negotiations for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, supported by more than 120 nations. As of early 2019, more than 90% of world's 13,865 nuclear weapons were owned by the United States and Russia. Russia has
8245-528: The total vaporization of the island. Eight megatons of the yield were from fast fission of the uranium tamper, creating massive amounts of radioactive fallout. The detonation left an underwater crater 6,240 ft (1.9 km) wide and 164 ft (50 m) deep where Elugelab Island had been. Following this successful test, the Mike design was weaponized as the EC-16 , but it was quickly abandoned for solid-fueled designs after
8342-490: The video game Sid Meier's Civilization VI , Operation Ivy is a late game project that the player can construct at one of their cities. Completing the project allows the player to construct thermonuclear devices, which are more powerful than nuclear devices (which are the game's version of an atomic bomb). There was an American punk rock band called Operation Ivy , named after the real-life nuclear tests. United States and weapons of mass destruction The United States
8439-478: The war, all of the former Allies pursued further research on the three new nerve agents developed by the Nazis: tabun , sarin , and soman . Over the following decades, thousands of American military volunteers were exposed to chemical agents during Cold War testing programs, as well as in accidents. (In 1968, one such accident killed approximately 6,400 sheep when an agent drifted out of Dugway Proving Ground during
8536-463: The war, with only the infantry suffering more casualties. In practice, the U.S. Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) was virtually independent of the Army during World War II, and in virtually every way functioned as an independent service branch, but airmen still pressed for formal independence. The National Security Act of 1947 was signed on 26 July 1947, which established the Department of the Air Force , but it
8633-443: The weapons in the deep Atlantic . The U.S. began to research safer disposal methods for chemical weapons in the 1970s, destroying several thousand tons of mustard gas by incineration and nearly 4,200 tons of nerve agent by chemical neutralization. The U.S. entered the Geneva Protocol in 1975 (the same time it ratified the Biological Weapons Convention ). This was the first operative international treaty on chemical weapons to which
8730-626: The world, after the Russian Federation . Nuclear weapons have been used twice in combat: two nuclear weapons were used by the United States against Japan during World War II in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . Altogether, the two bombings killed 105,000 people and injured thousands more while devastating hundreds or thousands of military bases , factories , and cottage industries . The U.S. conducted an extensive nuclear testing program. 1054 tests were conducted between 1945 and 1992. The exact number of nuclear devices detonated
8827-490: The world. In World War I , the U.S. had its own chemical weapons program, which produced its own chemical munitions, including phosgene and mustard gas . The U.S. only created about 4% of the total chemical weapons produced for that war and just over 1% of the era's most effective weapon, mustard gas. (U.S. troops suffered less than 6% of gas casualties.) Although the U.S. had begun a large-scale production of Lewisite , for use in an offensive planned for early 1919, Lewisite
8924-518: Was carrying mustard gas. The presence of the gas was highly classified, and, according to the U.S. military account, "Sixty-nine deaths were attributed in whole or in part to the mustard gas, most of them American merchant seamen" out of 628 mustard gas military casualties. The affair was kept secret at the time and for many years. After the war, the U.S. both participated in arms control talks involving chemical weapons and continued to stockpile them, eventually exceeding 30,000 tons of material. After
9021-504: Was constructed in Pine Bluff, Arkansas , which began producing biological agents in 1954. Fort Detrick , Maryland , later became a production facility as well as a research site. The U.S. developed anti-personnel and anti-crop biological weapons. Several deployment systems were developed including aerial spray tanks, aerosol spray canisters, grenades, rocket warheads and cluster bombs. (See also U.S. Biological Weapon Testing ) In mid-1969,
9118-585: Was not deployed during World War I. The United States also created a special unit, the 1st Gas Regiment, which used phosgene in attacks after being deployed to France. Chemical weapons were not used by the Allies or Germany during World War II for military purposes, but such weapons were deployed to Europe from the United States. In 1943, German bombers attacked the port of Bari in Southern Italy, sinking several American ships – among them John Harvey , which
9215-487: Was not until 18 September 1947, when the first secretary of the Air Force, W. Stuart Symington , was sworn into office that the Air Force was officially formed as an independent service branch. The act created the National Military Establishment (renamed Department of Defense in 1949), which was composed of three subordinate Military Departments, namely the Department of the Army , the Department of
9312-429: Was that he had repeatedly clashed with Wynne and Moseley over other important non-nuclear related issues to the service. This followed an investigation into two incidents involving mishandling of nuclear weapons : specifically a nuclear weapons incident aboard a B-52 flight between Minot AFB and Barksdale AFB , and an accidental shipment of nuclear weapons components to Taiwan. To put more emphasis on nuclear assets,
9409-519: Was the first officer appointed to that position who did not have a background as a fighter or bomber pilot. The Washington Post reported in 2010 that General Schwartz began to dismantle the rigid class system of the USAF, particularly in the officer corps. In 2014, following morale and testing/cheating scandals in the Air Force's missile launch officer community, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James admitted that there remained
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