Navy's 'Doomsday plane' vanishes over the Atlantic during mission

"One of just 16 specialized 'Doomsday planes,' Mercury serves as a command-and-control hub for US Strategic Command, the Secretary of War and the President. It can also transmit orders to carry out nuclear strikes if necessary. Flight data showed the aircraft departed Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and followed a routine southeast path over the Chesapeake Bay, skirting the Norfolk naval complex before heading offshore."

"About 60 miles east of the Virginia Capes, its public transponder went dark, a normal practice during sensitive operations. Once over the ocean, Mercury typically enters classified warning zones, lowers a multi-mile trailing wire antenna, and flies racetrack patterns for four to eight hours while sending secure test messages to submarines and ground stations. Turning off its transponder during these operations has long led trackers to report the aircraft as 'gone dark.'"

"The aircraft, operating under the callsign AFD FE2, followed a familiar route used for TACAMO (Take Charge and Move Out) missions that keep US strategic forces, including ballistic-missile submarines, connected to national command authorities even during nuclear conflict. The flight comes just one day after Thanksgiving, a period when US strategic forces traditionally scale back operations before quickly returning to full readiness."

The Boeing E-6B Mercury was last publicly tracked crossing the Atlantic east of Virginia Beach after departing Naval Air Station Patuxent River and following a southeast path over the Chesapeake Bay. About 60 miles east of the Virginia Capes the aircraft's public transponder went dark, a standard practice for sensitive operations. Over the ocean the Mercury typically enters classified warning zones, lowers a multi-mile trailing-wire antenna, and flies racetrack patterns for four to eight hours while sending secure messages to submarines and ground stations. The aircraft operates under TACAMO missions and forms part of Operation Looking Glass, enabling command-and-control and nuclear orders transmission.

Read at Mail Online