Skip to content
Account Login Winnipeg Toll-Free: 1-800-561-1833 SK Toll-Free: 1-877-506-7456 Contact & Locations
parsed(2024-09-10) - pubdate: 07/24
turn:
pub date: 1725944400
today: 1739080800, pubdate > today = false

nyp: 0;

Chrome Dome 1960-68

The B-52s' high-stakes Cold War nuclear operation

September 10, 2024 | Trade paperback
ISBN: 9781472860545
$33.00
Reader Reward Price: $29.70 info
Out of stock. Available to order from publisher. We will confirm shipping time when order has been placed.
Checking Availibility...

Description

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.

About this Author

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 Original first-hand interviews and unpublished illustrative material are a hallmark of his work.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.

ISBN: 9781472860545
Format: Trade paperback
Series: Air Campaign
Pages: 96
Publisher: Osprey
Published: 2024-09-10

Reviews

"Osprey Publishing delivers a top-tier historical work that is both visually rich and deeply informative. This book is essential for anyone wanting to understand Cold War strategy, air power, and the incredible efforts behind nuclear deterrence." --Maverick Scale Models

"Well illustrated throughout, with archive photos and some more of the excellent artwork by Adam Tooby." --Military Model Scene

"This is a fascinating subject, dealt with in a degree of declassified detail" --Aeroplane Magazine

If the product is in stock at the store nearest you, we suggest you call ahead to have it set aside for you, or you may place an order online and choose in-store pickup.