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Doomsday plane[1] is an unofficial denomination of a class ofaircraft which is used as anairborne command post in an event of nuclear war, disaster or other large scale conflict that threatens key military and government infrastructure.
The only countries known to have designed and manufactured such aircraft are theUnited States and theRussian Federation.
Known officially to the United States as National Airborne Operations Centers (NAOC),[2] these planes allow leaders to issue commands and wage war from the sky. They also feature a vast array of defense mechanisms, including the ability to withstandelectromagnetic pulses. The jet's crews also use traditional analogflight instruments to navigate as they are less susceptible tocyberattack. The planes, while not technically secret, are rarely mentioned; the United StatesAir Force, for example, will not even publicly acknowledge owning some of them. In operation since the 1970s, these airborne command posts were long considered the best chance for aCold War president to survive anuclear attack. Unlike the ceremonial and comfort-focusedAir Force One, the doomsday planes are flyingwar rooms staffed by dozens of military analysts, strategists and communication aides who would help the president through the first days of anuclear war.
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TheBoeing E-4 is an Advanced Airborne Command Post, with the project name "Nightwatch", and is a strategic command and control military aircraft operated by the United States Air Force. The E-4 series was specially modified from theBoeing 747-200B for theNational Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP) program. The E-4 serves as a survivable mobile command post for theNational Command Authority, namely thePresident of the United States, theSecretary of Defense, and successors.[3]
Sierra Nevada Corporation, which has won an U.S. Air Force contract to develop a successor to the E-4B againstBoeing,[4] will have fiveKorean AirBoeing 747-8s delivered by 2025.[5][6] Development and delivery is expected to be completed by July 2036.[7]
TheBoeing E-6 Mercury (formerly E-6 Hermes) is an airborne command post and communications relay based on theBoeing 707-320. The original E-6A manufactured by Boeing's defense division entered service with theUnited States Navy in July 1989, replacing theEC-130Q. This platform, now modified to the E-6B standard, conveys instructions from the National Command Authority to fleetballistic missile submarines, a mission known asTACAMO (Take Charge And Move Out). The E-6B model deployed in October 1998 can also remotely control Minuteman ICBMs using theAirborne Launch Control System. With production lasting until 1991, the E-6 was the final new derivative of theBoeing 707 to be built.[8]
TheNorthrop Grumman E-10 MC2A was planned as a multi-role military aircraft to replace the Boeing 707-basedE-3 Sentry andE-8 Joint STARS, the Boeing 747-based E-4B, and theRC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft in US service. The E-10 was based on theBoeing 767-400ER commercial airplane. In 2003, the Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Raytheon MC2A team was awarded a $215 million contract for pre-System Development and Demonstration for the aircraft. It would have been the central command authority for all air, land, and sea forces in a combat theater. The E-10 was also considered for use as a command center forunmanned combat air vehicles.[9]
