Boeing E-6 Mercury
The Boeing E-6 Mercury, built on the same 707-derived airframe as the E-3 Sentry, serves as an airborne relay station for communicating with the US Navy's ballistic missile submarines, which must stay submerged and largely unreachable by normal radio. It trails a very long wire antenna that can transmit extremely low frequency radio signals capable of penetrating seawater, one of the few reliable ways to reach a submerged submarine. Some E-6s also carry the equipment and staff needed to serve as an airborne nuclear command post, able to direct a retaliatory strike if ground-based command centres were destroyed. It remains a critical, if rarely publicised, link in the US nuclear command and control system today.
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Did you know?
The E-6 Mercury trails a very long wire antenna to relay radio orders to US Navy submarines hidden deep underwater.
Specifications
| Length | 46.6 m (153 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 44.4 m (146 ft) |
| Height | 12.9 m (42 ft) |
| Persons on board | 22 |
| Crew | 14 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 153.9 t |
| Range | 6,600 NM (12,223 km) |
| Service ceiling | 42,000 ft (12,802 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 33,000 ft (10,058 m) |
| Rate of climb | 3,500 ft/min (17.8 m/s) |
| Fuel capacity | 90,300 l |
| Engines | 4x CFM International CFM56-2A2 |
| Units built | 16 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the Boeing E-6 Mercury starts as a Legendary catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you. The first catch of a legendary type pays a bonus of its own.
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