As nuclear threats increase around the world, United State Air Force aircraft designed to “sniff” nuclear activities are becoming a crucial part of the U.S. deterrence strategy.
The three planes that make up the WC-135R Constant Phoenix fleet, based at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, Nebraska, are equipped with an onboard atmospheric collection suite that allows the mission crew to detect radioactive “clouds” in real time. The aircraft conduct sampling missions collecting particulate and gaseous effluents and debris from accessible
regions of the atmosphere. The missions support the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which prohibits nuclear weapons testing in the air, underwater and in space. The WC-135R began replacing the legacy WC-145W fleet in 2019,with the third aircraft delivered to Offutt in December 2023.
The fleet routinely flies in airspace around the world.
“It’s the only capability like this in the world. Our friends and Allies don’t have this,” Aaron Prupas, a retired Air Force major general who commanded the National Air and Space
Intelligence Center, told Florida Today newspaper. “The global power competition with China and Russia: We’re really in a third nuclear age. And having the ability to do the detections that this airplane does is vital to our national security.And really, to our Allies and Partners as well.”
The Constant Phoenix fleet is part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) nuclear forensics capabilities that support the nation’s larger deterrence strategy and, working with Allies and Partners, contribute to global security. The cockpit crew is from the 45th Reconnaissance
Squadron and special equipment operators are assigned to Detachment 1, Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC).
AFTAC, based at Patrick Space Force Base in Florida, detects and analyzes nuclear particulates around the globe via anetwork of more than 3,600 sensors to monitor nuclear treaty compliance for signatory countries. Once a disturbance is detected underground, underwater, in the atmosphere or in space, the event is analyzed for nuclear identification, and the findings are reported to authorities.
AFTAC has been a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) network of labs since 1991. It provides analytical support to both the DOD and IAEA to monitor treaty adherence and nuclear proliferation activities.
To support treaty monitoring for CTBT and IAEA while also providing National Technical Forensics for homeland security AFTAC has a vast network of world-class laboratories to assist with nuclear deterrence and promotion of safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies. Maintaining a world-class nuclear forensics enterprise is a DOD priority and sends a powerful message to potential adversaries: Any nuclear activity, no matter how well concealed, issubject to detection and will be met with accountability, Drew Walter, deputy secretary of defense for nuclear matters, told attendees at the November 2024 Nuclear Forensics Research and Development Innovation Workshop in Washington, D.C.
“We are no longer responding to the threats of yesterday,” Walter said. “Today’s adversaries are more capable, bettercoordinated and more emboldened, [and] the work you do here must reflect that urgency.”