"The mission of the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center
(AMARC) is to support our customer's Storage, Regeneration, Reclamation
and Disposal needs....in war and peace."
Now known as the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC), this facility was first established as an aircraft storage site at the end of WWII. Located on Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson Arizona, AMARC is sometimes unfairly called the "Desert Boneyard." In reality, this Air Force facility is a combination maintenance center, storage site, reclamation facility and disposal center which provides services to all branches of the U.S. military as well as other federal agencies such as NASA. The low humidity and alkaline soil of this desert locale help create an comparatively inexpensive storage place for aircraft away from damaging moisture and corrosion. AMARC presently holds over 4,500 aircraft divided into four categories.
Type 1000, or "long term storage," aircraft may be stored for years after undergoing a detailed preservation process. Type 2000, or "storage for reclamation," aircraft are inventoried and stored while various components and systems are removed and returned to service in similar aircraft that are still being flown. Type 3000, or "flyable hold," aircraft are kept for shorter durations while they await their next assignment. Finally Type 4000, or "disposal," aircraft are brought to AMARC as a final step before they are sold to U.S. allies, scrapped or turned over to museums. Contrary to the "Desert Boneyard" image almost twenty-five percent of the aircraft coming into AMARC have gone back into flying status.
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| In the 1980's Pakistan purchased 28 F-16 jet fighters from the General Dynamics corporation. However delivery of the aircraft was blocked in 1990 when Congress cut off military sales due to Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons. The Pakistani government was eventually reimbursed for the purchase, but the planes remain in storage at AMARC. |
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| B-52 Stratofortresses hold a special place among the aircraft being disposed of at AMARC. First entering service in 1955, the B-52 has been a core part of the nation's strategic nuclear triad. The G model of this huge aircraft has a combat range of 4,100 miles with a 10,000 lb. bomb load. Signed in 1991, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) put into motion a reduction in the number of "Strategic Nuclear Delivery Vehicles." As part of complying with this treaty, AMARC was given the task of destroying over 350 B-52s. C, D, E, and F model B-52s have been destroyed so far and AMARC is in the process of destroying G models. H models are still part of the Air Force fleet and the venerable B-52 will probably set longevity records as it continues to serve far into the future. |
| The START treaty calls for verification by "National Technical
Means," e.g. satellite. The B-52s being destroyed at AMRAC are chopped
into sections and left sitting for 90 days so that Russian and Ukrainian
satellites can verify the number being destroyed.
Most of AMARC's B-52s have met their fate by means of a 13,000 lb. steel guillotine blade dropped from a crane. While quick and inexpensive, this destruction method makes it difficult to later reclaim still-usable components from the wreckage. In order to provide easier access to parts, AMARC is experimenting with a "Surgical Destruction" that involves slicing the aircraft into pieces with a power saw. The open ends of the airframe can then be covered with a white "Spraylat" material to help preserve components for later retrieval. |
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| Called the "Looking Glass" for it's ability to mirror the capability of the Strategic Air Command's underground Command Center, the EC-135 was an airborne nuclear command post. From 1961 to 1990, EC-135s conducted continuous airborne operations, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, constantly prepared to take control of America's nuclear arsenal in the event a surprise Soviet attack destroyed the ground-based control center. During this time, there was always a "One Star" General or equivalent on board to direct a retaliatory response should the National Command Authority order it. Flown out of Offutt, Nebraska, the Looking Glass aircraft had the ability to transmit launch codes to ICBMs in their silos and to direct America's strategic bombers. In 1990, Looking Glass aircraft were taken off continuous airborne alert. In 1998, the Looking Glass aircraft was retired and its mission was transferred to the Navy's E-6B TACAMO (Take Charge and Move Out) aircraft. After more than 280,000 hours of accident-free flying time, these 135s now sit in the Arizona desert awaiting an uncertain future. |
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