Air Force Technical Applications Center

The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), based out of Patrick AFB, Florida is an Air Force surveillance organization subordinate to the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency. Their mission is primarily the detection of Nuclear Detonations (NUDET), accomplished via seismic, hydroacoustic, and satellite detection systems.

AFTAC's global network of monitoring is referred to as the U. S. Atomic Energy Detection System (USAEDS)cite web |url=http://www.afisr.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10309 |title=Fact Sheets : Air Force Technical Applications Center |accessdate=2008-08-17 |work= |publisher=U.S. Air Force |date=June 2007 ] . Once the USAEDS senses a disturbance underground, underwater, in space, or in the atmosphere, AFTAC's laboratories analyze the event for nuclear identification and report the findings to national command authorities.

AFTAC's nuclear event detection mission is directly linked to its nuclear treaty monitoring mission. AFTAC monitors signatory countries' compliance with the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty; the treaty limits nuclear testing to underground, and furthermore prohibits the venting of nuclear debris or radiation from those tests outside the testing country's national borders.

Based on the organization's extensive nuclear monitoring experience, AFTAC leads development the international cooperative system to monitor the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. This treaty bans all nuclear testing by signatory nations. AFTAC is also the designated U.S. laboratory system responsible for supporting U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency.

Two other treaties AFTAC monitors are the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT) of 1974 and the Peaceful Nuclear Explosion Treaty (PNET) of 1976. The 1974 treaty limits the size of underground nuclear tests to 150 kilotons, while the 1976 treaty monitors the testing of nuclear devices outside agreed-upon treaty sites.

History

In 1947, General Dwight D. Eisenhower directed the Army Air Corps to coordinate detection of nuclear detonations anywhere in the world. In 1949, the project led to the detection of Russia's first nuclear test, via debris sampling on a B-29.cite web | url=http://fas.org/irp/agency/aftac/intro.htm |title=Introduction: Air Force Technical Applications Center |accessdate=2008-08-29 |work= |publisher=U.S. Air Force |date=1997-10-02 ]

Following this success, 1963 brought around the Threshold Test Ban Treaty, and AFTAC was created as the United States primary method of enforcing it. Soon, work expanded into other treaties and areas of research. AFTAC survives to this day as the United States primary organization for nuclear detection.

ee also

Patrick Air Force Base

External links

* [http://www.aftac.gov/ Air Force Technical Applications Center's official website]
* [http://www.tt.aftac.gov/ AFTAC TT] , home of the U.S. National Data Center
* [http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/aftac/ Air Force Technical Applications Center] at Federation of American Scientists
* [http://www.aftacalumni.org/ AFTAC Alumni Association]

References