What is a Doomsday plane? ✈️
, the Russian doomsday plane, and compared it to the U.S. Air Force's counterpart, the Boeing E-4B. The U.S. Navy also operates a similar command and control aircraft that it refers to as the Take Charge And Move Out or TACAMO mission.
The Navy is currently using Boeing's E-6B Mercury aircraft for this purpose and currently has 16 such aircraft that can connect and command ballistic missile submarines of the naval fleet. The aircraft has been in service since 1989 and the U.S. Navy has made plans for their eventual replacement operational.
By choosing the proven airframe of the"Hercules" EC-130J aircraft, the Navy has repeated Cold War-era history, when a previous variant, the EC-130Q served TACAMO missions. , this almost 100 feet long aircraft has a cruise speed of 400 mph and climbs at 2,100 feet per minute to reach operational altitude in less than 15 minutes.
Used largely to transport cargo, the aircraft has a load-carrying capacity of 130,000 pounds. It has a crew capacity of six-plus, which includes five electronic communication system operators. While the Lockheed Martin display was only an artist's rendering of the upcoming aircraft, long trailing wires for very-low-frequency communication were evident in the images.
In a press release, Collins Aerospace, a unit of Raytheon Technologies, has already confirmed that it has beenA spokesperson for thetold The Drive that the Navy preferred a domestically made small aircraft for the mission. With four engines, the aircraft met mission parameters and continue to be operational even with an engine out.