The Boeing aircraft—designed to serve as an airborne command center for U.S. officials—can protect the crew from the effects of a nuclear explosion.
The so-called"doomsday plane"—an aircraft modified by the U.S. military to be operated as a mobile command post and protect the president and high-ranking officials in the event of a high-level disaster—went on a reportedly unusual four-hour flight Monday following a perceived nuclear threat by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to multiple news reports, citing military flight tracking websites, the modified Boeing 747, using the call sign GORDO15, made a round-trip flight from a U.S. Air Force base in Nebraska to Chicago., because the plane was accompanied by two Cobra Ball jets with the ability to track ballistic missile data.
The over $200 million"doomsday plane" is part of a fleet of E-4 series aircraft which have been militarized from a Boeing 747-200B to function as the National Airborne Operations Center. The E-4s have been in use since the 1970s, and at least one of the planes is kept on alert at all times. "The conduct of E-4B operations encompasses all phases of the threat spectrum," according to an Air Force description of the aircraft.
Boeing, the aircraft have 13 external communications systems, are designed for missions lasting 72 hours, and include"hardness" features to protect against electromagnetic radiation and the effects of a nuclear blast.