Strategic Air Command definition of Strategic Air Command in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Strategic Air Command (SAC), former command of the U.S. air force (see Air Force, United States Department of the Air Force, United States Department of the, military department within the U.S. Dept. of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of ). The Air Force traces its roots to the founding of the Aeronautical Division of the Army Signal Corps (1907), variously
..... Click the link for more information. ) charged with organizing, training, equipping, administering, and preparing strategic air forces for combat; it was headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 1,907 acres (772 hectares), E Neb., S of Omaha; est. 1896 as Fort Crook, an army base. Converted to an airbase in the early 1900s and renamed in 1924, it is the headquarters of the Strategic Command, the successor to
..... Click the link for more information. . From 1946 to 1992, SAC controlled most U.S. strategic nuclear weapons nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction powered by atomic, rather than chemical, processes. Nuclear weapons produce large explosions and hazardous radioactive byproducts by means of either nuclear fission or nuclear fusion.
..... Click the link for more information. . Its bombers and guided missiles guided missile, self-propelled, unmanned space or air vehicle carrying an explosive warhead. Its path can be adjusted during flight, either by automatic self-contained controls or remote human control.
..... Click the link for more information. played a key role in the nuclear strategy nuclear strategy, a policy for the use of nuclear weapons . The first atomic bombs were used in the context of the Allies' World War II policy of strategic bombing. Early in the cold war , U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. of the cold war cold war, term used to describe the shifting struggle for power and prestige between the Western powers and the Communist bloc from the end of World War II until 1989.
..... Click the link for more information. .

SAC was abolished in 1992 as part of the reorganization of the Department of Defense, and the Strategic Command was created. The Space Command was merged into the Strategic Command in 2002. The interservice Strategic Command, also based at Offutt, now coordinates nuclear plans for both the U.S. air force and navy and oversees all U.S. nuclear forces, conducts reconnaissance for strategic targets, oversees the radar and satellites that detect ballistic missile launches, and protects military computers and networks.