President Donald Trump’s emergency command aircraft was caught making a mysterious flight from Louisiana to Maryland on Tuesday.
The Boeing E-4 ‘Nightwatch’, also known as the ‘Doomsday plane,’ serves as a flying command post for key officials during times of crisis, particularly designed to survive a nuclear attack and coordinate military actions.
The craft took off from Bossier City at 5:56pm ET, traveled along the coast, looped around the border of Virginia and North Carolina, before landing at Joint Base Andrews at 10:01pm.
The mission lasted over four hours, sparking online speculation, especially after users noticed a never-before-seen callsign, ORDER01, instead of the usual ORDER6.
Some observers suggested the mission may be linked to increased presidential security amid rising fears of nuclear escalation in the Middle East.
Tensions have surged following reports that Trump is prepared to support Israel’s military efforts against Iran, demanding Tehran’s ‘unconditional surrender.’
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a statement read by a television presenter on Wednesday that his country will not accept Trump’s call for an unconditional surrender.
At least 224 people have been killed in Iran since Israel launched a bombing campaign last week, aiming to disrupt the country’s nuclear ambitions.
The Doomsday plane took off from Barksdale Air Force Base. However, the craft is traditionally stored at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
FlightAware shows that the craft first took off near Window Rock, Arizona, at 10:37am on Tuesday, making the trip to the Louisiana base.
It can be deployed to other bases for operational readiness and in support of various missions.
Past missions included transporting FEMA crews and acting as a command post during Hurricane Opal in 1995.
A plane was also reportedly used as a safe haven for President George W Bush after the 9/11 attacks.
However, the craft is not always used as doomsday vessels. The Secretary of Defense will occasionally travel overseas in an E-4B and hold press briefings.
While the purpose of Tuesday’s mission is unknown, it came just hours before Khamenei said that Iran would ‘stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace.’
‘This nation will not surrender to anyone in the face of imposition,’ he said in his first televised comments since Israel launched its surprise attack on Friday.
Khamenei also alluded to Trump’s recent statements, saying that ‘intelligent people who know Iran, the Iranian nation, and its history will never speak to this nation in threatening language’.
‘The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,’ he added.
Khamenei said that Israel had made a ‘huge mistake’ with its campaign, promising that it will be ‘punished’.
The US has a total of four E-4B aircraft, featuring unique capabilities that cannot be duplicated by any other aircraft used by the Air Force.
They have thermal and nuclear shielding, and are capable of withstanding nuclear blasts, electromagnetic effects and cyberattacks. They can also launch retaliatory missiles.
The plane carries special equipment and can communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world, and support analysts and strategists in-flight. E-4Bs have 67 satellite dishes and antennas in the ray dome.
Doomsday planes have three decks, which include a command room, conference room, briefing room, teamwork area, communications room and a designated rest area featuring 18 bunks.
The planes have remained airborne and operational for as long as 35.4 hours in one stint, but they were designed to operate in-flight for a full week without needing to land. The E-4B is also capable of refueling mid-air.
