A doomsday plane designed to serve as an airborne base for the United States during a nuclear war has been spotted flying over the United Kingdom.
The Boeing 747 E4-B aircraft can fly for days and even survive an electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast.
Since the Cold War, Washington has kept a fleet of the £150 million planes on hand, with the intention of using them as mobile bases if a war turned nuclear.
At least one of the massive jets is kept ready to take off 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The ‘Flying Pentagon,’ which would house senior military personnel and the defence secretary, was spotted taking off from the US as part of the convoy transporting the president to Europe.
The plane, the GRIM99: Nightwatch, was spotted taking off to support Joe Biden’s visit to Europe by eagle-eyed plane watchers.
Biden arrived in Air Force One to participate in what could be crucial summits that will last four days.
The airborne command post is a mobile war room staffed with military strategists and analysts who, in the worst-case scenario, would assist Biden in navigating the early stages of nuclear war.
This comes as Russian state television warns that any NATO intervention, including sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, will be met with a nuclear retaliation.
The chilling warnings were issued by the Kremlin’s propaganda mouthpieces on some of its most popular TV shows.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously put his nuclear arsenal on high alert in an attempt to deter the West from taking action.
While the doomsday planes are not hidden, they are rarely mentioned, and the full capabilities of jets such as Nightwatch are unknown.
According to the flight tracking app Flight Radar 24, after taking off from Washington as part of the convoy, it passed over the Atlantic and English Channel before circling an area just north of Cambridge.
It was thought to be on its way to RAF Mildenhall.
The Nightwatch has three decks and can carry 112 people while flying for 12 hours without landing.
Furthermore, aerial refuelling, which is now common among jets, means it could stay in the air for days.
Its windows are said to have wire mesh to keep them from shattering, and the equipment and wiring on board have been hardened, as well as thermal and nuclear shielding in the event of a blast.
There are 18 bunks and six bathrooms, as well as a briefing room, conference room, work areas, and executive quarters.
In contrast to the luxury of the president’s plane, Air Force One, planes like Nightwatch are purely functional.
The top bubble is known as a “ray dome” or “radome,” and it houses dozens of satellite dishes and antennae that can communicate with any US ship, submarine, or aircraft anywhere in the world.
However, in December 2020, Russian media reported that the plane’s radio communication equipment had been stolen while it was being serviced.
The chief spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that Russia has yet to achieve any of its military objectives in Ukraine and has refused to rule out the use of nuclear weapons.
Dmitry Peskov repeatedly refused to rule out using nuclear weapons against what Moscow saw as a “existential threat” in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
When asked under what circumstances Putin would use Russia’s nuclear capability, Mr Peskov responded, “if it is an existential threat to our country, then it can be.”
The US reacted angrily to Peskov’s “dangerous” remarks.
“It’s not the way a responsible nuclear power should act,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.
