Boeing E-6 Mercury

E-6 Mercury
Boeing E-6 Mercury
Role	Airborne command and control Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Boeing
First flight	19 February 1987
Introduction	August 1989
Status	In service
Primary user	United States Navy
Number built	16
Developed from	Boeing 707

The Boeing E-6 Mercury (formerly Hermes) is an airborne command post and communications relay based on the Boeing 707-300. 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 (see communication with submarines), a mission known as TACAMO ("Take Charge And Move Out").

The E-6B model deployed in October 1998 has the ability to remotely control Minuteman ICBMs using the Airborne Launch Control System. The E-6B replaced Air Force EC-135Cs in the Looking Glass role, providing command and control of U.S. nuclear forces should ground-based control become inoperable. With production lasting until 1991, the E-6 was the final new derivative of the Boeing 707 to be built.^[1]