A US Air Force E-4B aircraft landed near Washington, DC, heightening speculation as President Donald Trump weighs joining the war between Iran and Israel.
The ‘Nightwatch’ aircraft nicknamed the presidential ‘Doomsday Plane’ touched down at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday night.
It departed from Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana, and took a very unusual flight path to arrive close to DC, i24NEWS reported.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Metro on the Boeing E-4B’s mission, if it was related to the Iran-Israel conflict and whether Trump was on board.
Why is the E-4B called the Doomsday Plane?
Unlike Air Force One which is known as the ‘flying Oval Office’, the E-4B Nightwatch is essentially a ‘flying war room’.
It is referred to as the Doomsday Plane because it has thermal and nuclear shielding designed to withstand nuclear blasts, and an electrical system that is immune to electromagnetic pulses.
The plane has the ability to fly for 12 hours without needing to refuel.
It is deployed to protect the president and senior administration officials, and is also used to transport the Secretary of Defense internationally.
What does it mean if the Doomsday Plane is flying?
Beside transporting the president and top officials, the E-4B is sometimes flown for training and readiness drills.
But the aircraft’s irregular flight path and presence near DC the same day that Trump met with his national security advisers in the White House Situation Room boosts theories that it could be linked to the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Equipped with a command and control center to deliver military orders, the Doomsday Plane is meant to be flown in dire scenarios including ahead of a nuclear attack.
The world is watching as Trump on Wednesday was cryptic on whether the US will join the war, saying, ‘I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.’
How many US Doomsday Planes are there?
The US Air Force has a fleet of four E-4Bs and they are all assigned to the 595th Command and Control Group at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.
E-4Bs have been in operation since the Cold War. One E-4B has been staffed nonstop since 1975.
It ‘is on alert at all times, often traveling with the president or secretary of defense in case of emergency’, according to Senator Deb Fischer of Nebraska.
‘Nebraska is proud to house this remarkable fleet,’ she said in a 2024 column.
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