The US Navy has received a refurbished “Doomsday plane” equipped with new communications equipment.
American defense industry company Northrop Grumman gave it back to the US Navy after installing five new kits on its E-6B Mercury aircraft, making improvements that increase its artificial intelligence capabilities. The renovation was done under a $111 million contract between Northrop Grumman and the US Navy.
What is the E-6B Mercury “Doomsday plane”?
The E-6B Mercury is basically a flying command post that helps transmit instructions between the National Command Authority and the US nuclear forces. Given its potential role in nuclear warfare, the aircraft was nicknamed the “doomsday plane”.
The idea is that an airborne command post can be a much more reliable communications hub for military commanders in a crisis like nuclear war. Even in the worst-case scenario, the E-6B Mercury fleet allows decision makers to maintain communication with nuclear weapons delivery systems.
The USA has a fleet of at least 16 of these planes, which started flying for the first time in 1989 in the last years of the Cold War. The fuselage of the aircraft is actually a militarized version of the commercial Boeing 707 aircraft. It can fly for more than 15 hours without refueling. It can stay in the air for 72 hours by refueling during the flight.
One of the planes in the US E-6B fleet was spotted flying over the English Channel just a month after Russia invaded Ukraine. The United States is believed to have at least one E-6B in the air at all times, although this raises concerns that geopolitical tensions in Europe may reach breaking point.
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