Multiple U.S. nuclear-command aircraft, known as 'doomsday planes,' were observed flying over the United States on Tuesday, a development that occurred hours after CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow. Flight enthusiasts tracked at least five Boeing E-6 Mercury aircraft over the West Coast and central regions of the nation.
These aircraft, built on the frame of the Boeing 707, are designed to survive a nuclear war and serve as airborne command centers for coordinating the nation's military response if ground-based command facilities are attacked. Public flight trackers began monitoring the aircraft around 1:30 p.m. EST, with several appearing on ADS-B services with blank or missing call signs.
The flights followed Ratcliffe's trip to Moscow, which generated attention after a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport plane was spotted landing at Vnukovo International Airport. The arrival of the transport plane was considered unusual given current tensions between Washington and Moscow. Officials have not commented on the E-6 Mercury flights or announced any military exercises.
However, E-6Bs routinely conduct training flights, and the presence of five aircraft in the sky does not necessarily indicate an imminent crisis. According to flight tracking data, one identified aircraft, hex code AEA92D, was observed over the Colorado-Wyoming region at an altitude of approximately 24,000 feet. A second plane, AE7D28, flew over the central U.S. near Kansas and Oklahoma at around 30,000 feet. Another, AEABAB, was spotted over Missouri and Arkansas at roughly 35,000 feet.
A fourth aircraft, AF4019, was tracked near the Texas-Oklahoma border at a lower altitude of approximately 9,500 feet, suggesting it might have been ascending or in a different phase of operation. A fifth aircraft, AF1BB0, was also flagged as a possible E-6 Mercury, though its identification was not consistently confirmed across tracking data.
The E-6 Mercury, codenamed 'Take Charge And Move Out' (TACAMO), plays a critical role in maintaining communication between the National Command Authority and ballistic missile submarines at sea. Boeing constructed the Navy's fleet between 1989 and 1992. The aircraft are equipped with specialized dual trailing wires that function as transmitters and antennas for very low frequency (VLF) communication. The Mercury was engineered to withstand electromagnetic pulses generated by nuclear explosions, utilizing older analog technology that is less susceptible to disruption than digital systems.