US aerospace command moving comms gear back to Cold War bunker

[FrodosPet]

http://news.yahoo.com/us-aerospace-command-moving-comms-gear-back-cold-015320113.html

April 7, 2015 9:53 PM

Washington (AFP) - The US military command that scans North America's skies for enemy missiles and aircraft plans to move its communications gear to a Cold War-era mountain bunker, officers said.

The shift to the Cheyenne Mountain base in Colorado is designed to safeguard the command's sensitive sensors and servers from a potential electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, military officers said.

~ snip ~

Admiral William Gortney, head of NORAD and Northern Command, said that "because of the very nature of the way that Cheyenne Mountain's built, it's EMP-hardened."

~ snip ~

The Cheyenne mountain bunker is a half-acre cavern carved into a mountain in the 1960s that was designed to withstand a Soviet nuclear attack. From inside the massive complex, airmen were poised to send warnings that could trigger the launch of nuclear missiles.

~ snip ~

[gordianot]

1. At one time NORAD and the Russians shared information to the point of having a representative

.. in the room.

I wonder if that is still in place?

Interesting

[FrodosPet]

3. Perhaps not after this incident

[FrodosPet]

2. Electromagnetic Pulse damage is another good reason for rooftop solar

Our power grid is the most sensitive part of our survival. A massive Carrington event, or a successful EMP weapon, could bring the grid down for months, even years. No electricity for a prolonged period would cause a major disruption to the economy. It would shut down transportation within hours. No fresh water for millions of people. No cold storage for perishable foods. It would be devastating.

We need the utilities to spend a few $$$ to harden the grid. We need every large grocery store, warehouse, gas station, and water works to have emergency power immediately or at least quickly available.

On an individual level, we need more Ham Radio operators with old fashioned analog equipment, as the Internet and the mobile phone systems will be down hard in such an emergency.

[2naSalit]

5. Point Source

power generation is the only way to go as far as I can tell. Centralized systems lend themselves to too many vulnerabilities from EMP to terrorist attack to other natural disaster problems to ENRON type problems..

[DustyJoe]

4. Military Moves

Now isn't that a comforting thought on the current state of nuclear/conventional threat standoffs, that the Military think it's expedient to move back to the shelter ? I guess the last few years Russian, Chinese, North Korean and Iranian constant litany of threats, overflights of nuclear bombers, running nuke subs up and down our coasts, missile tests and images of a nuke fireball over DC etc. finally got noticed by someone. Waiting for the "it's all propoganda", don't worry about it explainations. One wonders how long till the kids hiding under desks drill start. Welcome back to the Kruschev 60's, never thought i'd see that again.

[2naSalit]

6. I did.

I only thought we would be "safe" from such things for a very brief period. I recall the "under-the-desk" drills quite well having been in grade school in Key West, FL during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

And I am not surprised one bit.

[Ghost Dog]

10. Were you to investigate, I think you would find that the sabre-rattling,

the agressive posturing, and your propaganda-feed, are just about 100% made in USA.

[stevenleser]

7. I was assigned to Cheyenne Mtn when I was in the USAF. I remember when Soviet military was allowed

in circa 1991. I don't know if it was the first time, I just remember it was a big deal and watching them go inside.

[FrodosPet]

8. Do you think there is anything significant to this move?

Or is it just something the Pentagon is doing as a form of sabre rattling?

[stevenleser]

9. Sounds like the opposite of sabre rattling. It sounds like they are downplaying it and

purposefully not publicly aiming this at the Russians or anyone else. If the US Military said they were doing this because of the Russians, that would be a significant escalation and a fairly provocative statement.

I think it is prudent given the increased hostility level from the Russians toward us and the rest of the West to include the new provocative flights of nuclear capable bombers into our airspace and the airspace of various European countries.

I don't know enough about the threats re: EMP. I will research that more to see. It's possible a rose is just a rose. But I have been thinking myself in the last year or so that this would be a reasonable response to increased hostility from Putin.