As US President Donald Trump mulls striking Iran’s nuclear facilities, one of America’s “doomsday planes” made a flight to Joint Base Andrews in Washington on Tuesday night. According to the New York Post, the E-4B Nightwatch – a plane designed to protect the Secretary of Defence and other national security officials and keep the government operating in the time of nuclear war – was spotted by flight trackers. The aircraft departed from Bossier City, Louisiana, on Tuesday evening and landed in Maryland around 4 hours later, after a long, winding route.
What is a “doomsday plane”?
A “doomsday plane” is a highly specialised aircraft operated by the US Air Force and serves as a National Airborne Operations Centre (NAOC). The US has four E-4Bs that serve as an airborne command centre for the President, Secretary of Defence and the Chairs of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to ensure continued critical command, control and communication in case of emergencies.
According to the Post, each E-4B Nightwatch can contain a crew of up to 112 people and has a range of more than 7,000 miles. They are capable of withstanding nuclear blasts, cyberattacks and electromagnetic effects, and are quipped to fire retaliatory missiles.
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Moreover, the plane has thermal and nuclear shielding and can communicate with anyone anywhere in the world, thanks to the 67 satellite dishes and antennas contained in its ray dome. The aircraft can also remain airborne and operate in-flight for an entire week without needing to land. It can refuel in mid-air as well.
Iran-Israel conflict
The deployment of the E-4B Nightwatch comes at a time when the US President demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” as the conflict between the Iranian regime and Israel intensifies.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, rejected Trump’s calls on Wednesday, saying that Iran “will never surrender”. “The US President threatens us. With his absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him. They should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats,” he said.
Trump, on the other hand, has declined to say whether the United States will join Israel in its military offensive against Iran to ensure Tehran does not develop a nuclear weapon. “I may do it, I may not do it – nobody knows what I’m going to do,” the US President said.
