The aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, is a flying control centre in the event of nuclear war or major crisis. The aircraft is supporting the U.S. President as he visits the UK.

The E-4B ‘Nightwatch’ is equipped with everything US officials would need to continue running the country, potentially from the skies, amidst a catastrophic world event. A fleet of four E-4Bs makes up the National Airborne Operations Center.

One of them is on alert 24/7 and always follows the President on overseas visits, that’s what’s happening now as Joe Biden is in the UK.

The aircraft has three decks and can hold a crew of up to 112 people.

“Designed during the Cold War, the Nightwatch has three decks. It can hold a crew of 112 people and can fly for 12 hours without landing, – while aerial refuelling means it can stay in the air for days. Its windows are reported to have wire mesh to keep them intact, while equipment and wiring on board are hardened and there is thermal and nuclear shielding in the event of a blast.”

The front of the plane contains living quarters for senior military officials, where 18 bunks are available for Air Force crew, Business Insider reports.

 

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
Twitter

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

16 COMMENTS

  1. There are 4 Boeing E-4B Nightwatch aircraft & 2 VC-25 “Air Force One” aircraft. Another military operator of the 747 is Iran, which has a tanker variant and I believe it is still in service? Are there any other military 747s?

  2. Sheezus the yanks are paranoid. Fact is in event of a wide scale nuclear war whether the US president lives long enough to coordinate a counter attack is irrelevant. It will be the end of the world as we know it. Potentially even the end of human civilization.

    • These aircraft are an important but ultimately only a small portion of what the US has built up over the years in order to ensure the survival of the government. They have invested countless billions in systems and facilities scattered all over the country to try to ensure it’s survival in case of a civilization ending event. Whether it works or not, lets hope we never find out because it will be a bad day for the rest of us.

      • One of the things that they did to ensure survival in the event of nuclear war was to invent the internet. This was before the folk at CERN upgraded it into the WWW.

    • Putin has form for thinking that he can attack without consequence. Peace for the last seventy year has been built on a deterent where everyone dies & conseqently use of nuclear weapons is a bad idea. Can’t do any harm to reinforce the message to everyone there is no way of decapitating the decision makers giving the Russians a miniscule chance..

      • You think the US will use nuclear weapons against Russia in response to Russian tactical nuclear use in Ukraine? i.e. that they will effectively put American cities and millions of American civilians at risk for the sake of the Donbas?

        I do fear that under certain circumstances, Russian tactical nuclear use in Ukraine is possible but I don’t think Putin believes that it is credible that the US would then “blow its brains out all over Russia’s shirt”.

        • I have no idea exactly what the americans might do should Russia use a tactical nuke in Ukraine however it is highly unlikely, in my opinion, that they would let it go unanswered. I suspect they have a whole array of conventional options which would be highly effective. I doubt Putin wants to add the Americans to his troubles.

    • they are paranoid because they are hated by a chunk of the population of the world just like Britain was during empire. They have the guts right or wrong to make a stand

    • Its important to make sure the enemy knows a decapitation strike wont work and there will be a swift nuclear response. The promise of pay back is what stops people like Putin trying it

    • The US military is a great believer in “Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it” – and they have the budget…

  3. One of these was at RIAT last year. Tail number 31676 for anyone who likes specifics.
    Hopefully see the B52 this year after the unfortunate cancellation in 2022.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here