'War Games' Mountain Complex Re-Opens To Protect US Military Against EMP Attack
Cold War Icon To Be Re-Opened To Protect US Against EMP Attack
Paul Vale— The Huffington Post UK
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NEW YORK -- One of America’s most potent symbols of the Cold War is to re-open more than a decade after it was abandoned. Cheyenne Mountain, the subterranean bunker and command centre built beneath Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, is being refurbished by the Pentagon to provide protection for America’s modern defense systems that could be targeted by an electromagnetic pulse attack.
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A scene from the 1983 film 'War Games' in which NORAD reacted to a perceived Soviet nuclear attack
The complex was closed in 2006 after the government deemed Russia to no longer be a threat, with NORAD, the North American Aerospace Command, moved to the nearby Peterson Air Force Base. NORAD was housed within the mountain for much of the bi-polar standoff, the organisation’s systems scanning the skies for sign of an impending Soviet nuclear attack.
Earlier this week, officials announced that sensitive communications equipment for the US military would be moved to the complex in a $700 million refit to protect it from EMP. “Because of the very nature of the way that Cheyenne Mountain’s built, it’s EMP-hardened,” said US Northern Command Admiral William Gortney.
The bunker was created in the Sixties, workmen carving a huge hole in the mountain designed to withstand a 30-megaton nuclear attack. The complex has featured several times in popular culture, most notably in the 1983 film "War Games".
The portal into the bowels of the Cheyenne Mountain complex is shown in this photograph taken on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006, near Colorado Springs, Colo. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(02 of09)
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A visitor to the Cheyenne Mountain Operations center walks into the facility past a 3 foot thick, 25 ton blast door in Colorado Springs, Co. Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(03 of09)
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The blast door stands open into the inner sanctum of Cheyenne Mountain, the blast-hardened command center for the nation's defense in this photograph taken on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006, near Colorado Springs, Colo. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(04 of09)
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Military personnel walk towards the entrance of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colo on Jan. 6, 1966. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(05 of09)
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This picture provided in 1970 by NORAD shows the entrance of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) at Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colo. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(06 of09)
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Entrance tunnel to the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) installation under Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colo., is seen in a May 24, 1965 file photo. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(07 of09)
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The heart of North America's system for warning of enemy attack is being buried deep in granite in Cheyenne Mountain, five miles from downtown Colorado Springs, Colo., shown June 4, 1964. This photo of part of the huge tunnel complex gives some idea of the size of the combat operations center being built for the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). it is scheduled to start operations late in 1965. (AP Photo/EG) (credit:EG/AP)
(08 of09)
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Louis Smoyer, chief of the National Warning Center inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Feb. 20, 1971, shows a newsman the warning tape erroneously transmitted to the nation's radio and television stations via news service broadcast wires. (AP Photo) (credit:AP)
(09 of09)
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An unidentified worker heads down one of the long hallways in one of the buildings that makes up the Cheyenne Mountain complex deep below Cheyenne Mountain south of Colorado Springs, Colo., on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006. Cheyenne Mountain, the nation's super-secret defense center, will be put on "warm standby" and operations moved to nearby Peterson Air Force Base in an effort to save money. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)