Boeing E-6 Mercury

what is it?

The Boeing E-6 Mercury (formerly E-6 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.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · 45.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 967 km/htop speed
• range 12,223 kmwithout refuelling
• size 155.1 tmax take-off weight
• built 16made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 39 years ago, in 1987.
• 🏎️Top speed is 7.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 45.2 m: about 10 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 26 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 12,223 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1987-02-19

introduced

1989

status

still flying

number built

16

role

airborne command and control

makers

Boeing

engines

4× CFM International CFM56-2A-2

crew

22

length

45.8 m

wingspan

45.2 m

height

12.9 m

max take-off weight

155.1 t

top speed

967 km/h

cruise speed

843 km/h

range

12,223 km

ceiling

12,192 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

family