Operation Chrome Dome
![1964 Operation Chrome Dome Map from Sheppard Air Force Base, TX](/Images/godic/202501/04/ChromeDome1964B52Mission5115.JPG")
![1966 overview of Operation Chrome Dome related or derivative flights](/Images/godic/202501/04/Operation_Chrome_Dome5115.png")
![B-52 Airborne Nuclear Alert route from Homestead AFB, FL to Italy.](/Images/godic/202501/04/Operation_Chrome_Dome_route5115.jpg")
Operation Chrome Dome was a United States Air Force Cold-War era mission from 1960 to 1968 in which B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber aircraft armed with thermonuclear weapons remained on continuous airborne alert, flying routes to points on the Soviet Union border.