Chrome Dome 196068 by Peter E Davies

Chrome Dome 196068 by Peter E Davies

In 1960, SAC’s B-52s began a nonstop, eight-year, nuclear-armed patrol. Fully illustrated, this study explains how one of the Cold War’s most challenging operations was conceived and flown.

Operation Chrome Dome was Strategic Air Command's unprecedented nuclear deterrence operation, a hugely elaborate and costly response to the perceived nuclear missile threat from the Soviet Union.

In this book, Cold War aviation historian Peter E. Davies explains how for eight years, Chrome Dome required 12 B-52 Stratofortresses to maintain a ceaseless airborne alert within striking distance of Soviet targets, orbiting over the Mediterranean and north of Alaska. Each bomber stayed aloft for 24 hours, flying for around 10,000 miles until relieved by another. In each cockpit a top-secret Combat Mission Folder contained details of the routes and procedures for a nuclear attack on a pre-determined Soviet target.

Dramatic and controversial, the years of unrelenting Chrome Dome missions saw several B-52 crashes and losses of nuclear weapons, most famously those in Greenland and off the Spanish coast. Drawing on first-hand information from the personnel who flew and supported these gargantuan efforts, and packed with archive photos, superb new artwork, maps and diagrams, this book offers an authoritative history of how SAC flew its most challenging operation of the Cold War.

Peter E. Davies is a specialist historian on US aircraft and operations of the Vietnam and Cold War periods, analyzing tactics, background politics and technologies in combat situations. Original first-hand interviews and unpublished illustrative material are a hallmark of his work. He has often sought to explore specific military incidents from past conflicts. Peter has written dozens of books for Osprey, and also contributed to Aeroplane Monthly, Aviation News and Aircraft Illustrated.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781472860545
Title	Chrome Dome 196068
Author	Peter E Davies
Series	Air Campaign
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	2024-07-18
Number of pages	96
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.