
Doomsday Plane spotted in D.C. — what is it and who's behind the mysterious aircraft?
Live Events
Why did the doomsday plane land in Washington now?
What can the Doomsday Plane actually do?
Feature Details Crew Capacity Up to 112 personnel Endurance Over 35 hours (can extend with aerial refueling) Protection Shields from EMPs, nukes, and cyber attacks Communication Secure global communications & satellite links
Is President Trump aboard the doomsday plane?
What's happening between Iran and Israel right now?
Who's operating the aircraft?
Is Iran's end near?
Could this mark the beginning of a broader military escalation?
The U.S. Doomsday Plane (E-4B Nightwatch) landed near D.C. after an unusual flight from Louisiana.
It serves as a mobile command post during nuclear or national emergencies.
The flight happened as President Trump considers striking Iran's nuclear facilities.
Rising Iran-Israel tensions and U.S. military movements suggest heightened alert.
No official word yet on the mission or whether Trump was aboard the plane.
FAQs:
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
A U.S. Air Force E-4B Nightwatch, widely known as the 'Doomsday Plane,' made an unusual flight from Louisiana to Joint Base Andrews near Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night, sparking growing speculation as tensions escalate between Iran and Israel. The aircraft, designed for use during nuclear war or national emergencies, took a winding and irregular path, adding to the concern among military analysts and aviation trackers.This development comes as President Donald Trump considers military action against Iran's nuclear sites, while regional instability intensifies. The rare flight of the E-4B — which serves as the National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC) — signals potential preparation for emergency scenarios.The E-4B Nightwatch, often referred to as the 'Doomsday Plane,' is one of four such aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force. Its primary function is to serve as a mobile command center for the President, Secretary of Defense, and senior military leaders during catastrophic events, such as nuclear war.These planes are built to withstand nuclear blasts, cyberattacks, and electromagnetic pulses, and they can stay airborne for up to a week thanks to in-flight refueling capabilities. Each aircraft can carry up to 112 personnel and is equipped with 67 satellite dishes and antennas to ensure uninterrupted communication across the globe.While E-4Bs occasionally fly training missions, the timing, route, and destination of this flight — especially amid the current geopolitical crisis — have raised red flags.The E-4B took off from Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana, around Tuesday evening and arrived at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, after about four hours, according to data from public flight trackers. Its erratic flight pattern deviated from standard military training routes, further fueling speculation about the nature of the mission.This flight coincided with growing fears of a regional war in the Middle East, where Israel is reportedly stepping up military operations against Iran, including the possibility of striking nuclear sites. The presence of this aircraft near Washington hints at heightened readiness in U.S. defense circles.This isn't just any airplane. The E-4B can stay in the air for, and with mid-air refueling, it can fly for. It's packed with analog instruments to withstand digital warfare, and it can carry over 100 people — including military commanders, intelligence officers, and senior officials.As of now, it's unclear whether President Donald Trump was on board the E-4B Nightwatch. Officials have not issued a statement confirming the passengers or the purpose of this mission. However, given that the aircraft serves as a presidential airborne command post, its use is typically reserved for urgent situations involving top-level leadership.In light of recent comments, where Trump said, 'I may do it, I may not do it – nobody knows what I'm going to do,' regarding a strike on Iran's nuclear program, the movement of this plane is viewed by many as a sign of increased alertness within U.S. national security operations.Tensions between Iran and Israel have escalated rapidly. In recent days, President Trump demanded Iran's unconditional surrender, signaling a hardline stance. Meanwhile, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected the U.S. threat outright, stating, 'The Iranian nation isn't frightened by such threats.'Amid this back-and-forth, Israel is reportedly preparing for broader military engagement with Iran, heightening the risk of a regional conflict. While the U.S. has not confirmed whether it will join Israel's offensive, the movement of military assets like the E-4B could indicate strategic posturing.The plane is run by the, based at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. This elite unit is trained to keep the chain of command alive, even if Washington is under attack.The aircraft is part of a four-plane fleet that's been in service for decades — and is now undergoing a $13 billion modernization effort to prepare for future threats.That's the question many are now asking — especially after the Doomsday Plane's sudden appearance.Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been rising sharply in recent weeks, with President Donald Trump making renewed threats and reports of increased military posturing in the region. The E-4B's flight path — combined with its rare 'ORDER01' callsign — suggests this wasn't a routine drill.While no official comment links the flight directly to Iran, military analysts believe it could be a: the U.S. is prepared for any scenario, including full-scale retaliation. If diplomacy fails and conflict escalates, the Doomsday Plane ensures American leadership can still function from the sky — even in the middle of a war.Military experts are closely watching the signals coming from Washington. The deployment of the E-4B Nightwatch, though not unprecedented, often points to crisis scenarios or preparation drills for potential wartime leadership continuity.Given that the E-4B was last significantly used on 9/11, its recent activity sends a powerful message. As one of the few U.S. military aircraft that can remain operational even during a nuclear conflict, its flight near D.C. in this political climate is deeply symbolic.Whether this is a preemptive readiness exercise or a precursor to actual conflict, remains uncertain. However, with Middle East tensions rising and the White House weighing options, this development suggests a serious level of preparedness.It's used as a flying command center for emergencies like nuclear war.It landed amid Trump's possible Iran strike plans and rising Middle East tensions.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Mint
8 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump Weighed Nvidia Breakup But Was Told It'd Be ‘Hard'
President Donald Trump said he considered attempting to break up Nvidia Corp. to increase competition in artificial intelligence chips before finding out 'it's not easy in that business.' 'I said, 'Look, we'll break this guy up,' before I learned the facts here,' Trump said Wednesday at an AI summit in Washington. Trump said he was told by aides that doing so was 'very hard' and that the company held a substantial advantage over all competitors that would take years to overcome. 'I figured we could go in and we could sort of break them up a little bit, get them a little competition, and I found out it's not easy in that business,' Trump added. Nvidia declined to comment. Trump went on to praise Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, who was in the audience for his event. Huang met earlier this month with the president at the White House, and last week the company announced it would be allowed to resume selling its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China as part of a recent trade truce with Beijing. The Trump administration had previously frozen the sale of those chips to China. 'What a job you've done,' Trump said. Throughout his address, the president name-checked and complimented Huang, along with other tech industry leaders, for their investments in the US. Earlier in the day, Huang used his session on stage to praise the president's approach to AI. 'America's unique advantage that no other country can possibly have is President Trump,' Huang said. Nvidia earlier this month became the first company ever to surpass $4 trillion in market capitalization, as it has profited heavily from the boom in demand for AI hardware to power large language models. The Justice Department in 2024 conducted an investigation seeking evidence of possible anticompetitive behavior by Nvidia. Trump at the event Wednesday unveiled his AI Action Plan, which, paired with a series of executive orders, is designed to aid the industry by reducing regulatory burdens. With assistance from Ian King. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.


Mint
8 minutes ago
- Mint
Trumps AI plan prioritizes deregulation to boost US dominance
President Donald Trump unveiled an aggressive, low-regulation strategy on Wednesday to boost big tech's race to stay ahead of China on artificial intelligence and cement US dominance in the fast-expanding field. Trump's 25-page "America's AI Action Plan" outlines three aims: accelerating innovation, building infrastructure, and leading internationally on AI. The administration frames AI advancement as critical to maintaining economic and military supremacy. Environmental consequences are sidelined in the planning document. "America is the country that started the AI race, and as president of the United States, I'm here today to declare that America is going to win it," Trump told an AI event in Washington. "Winning this competition will be a test of our capacities unlike anything since the dawn of the space age," he said, before signing several executive orders to give components of the strategy additional legal weight. In its collection of more than 90 government proposals, Trump's plan calls for sweeping deregulation, with the administration promising to "remove red tape and onerous regulation" that could hinder private sector AI development. In his wide-ranging speech, Trump insisted that "winning the AI race will demand a new spirit of patriotism and national loyalty in Silicon Valley and beyond." Trump complained that for too long "many of our largest tech companies have reaped the blessings of American freedom while building their factories in China, hiring workers in India and slashing profits in Ireland." The plan also asked federal agencies to find ways to legally stop US states from implementing their own AI regulations and threatened to rescind federal aid to states that did so. "We have to have a single federal standard, not 50 different states, regulating this industry of the future," Trump said. The American Civil Liberties Union warned this would thwart "initiatives to uphold civil rights and shield communities from biased AI systems in areas like employment, education, health care, and policing." The Trump action plan also calls for AI systems to be "free from ideological bias" and designed to pursue objective truth rather than what the administration calls "social engineering agendas," such as diversity and inclusion. This criterion would apply to AI companies wanting to do business with the US government. Trump also called for AI development to be broadly immune from copyright claims currently the subject of legal battles saying it was a "common sense" approach. "You can't be expected to have a successful AI program when every single article, book, or anything else that you've read or studied, you're supposed to pay for," he said. A major focus in the plan involves building AI infrastructure, including streamlined permitting for data centers and energy facilities that would overlook environmental concerns to build as swiftly as possible. The administration, which rejects international science showing a growing climate crisis, proposes creating new environmental review exemptions for data center construction and expanding access to federal lands for AI infrastructure development. Trump also called for the swift construction of coal and nuclear plants to help provide the energy needed to power the data centers. The strategy also calls for efforts to "counter Chinese influence in international governance bodies" and strengthen export controls on advanced AI computing technology. At the same time, the strategy calls on the government to champion US technology in conquering overseas markets, a priority that was spelled out in an executive order. These plans will help "ensure America sets the technological gold standard worldwide, and that the world continues to run on American technology," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. Critics of the plan said the policies were a gift to US tech giants that were scaling back their goals for zero carbon emissions in order to meet the acute computing needs for AI. "Trump's plan reads like a twisted Gilded Age playbook that rewards the rich while punishing everyday Americans and the environment," said Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.


Mint
38 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump's DOJ Sidesteps Norms to Boost Ally Alina Habba as US Attorney
President Donald Trump's administration sidestepped tradition this week and criticized judges who sought to bypass his ally as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey — a pattern that may repeat itself in other Democratic-leaning states. The actions of the Justice Department to shield interim US Attorney Alina Habba, Trump's former personal attorney, could foreshadow other fights over chief federal prosecutors holding temporary posts in blue states like California, New York and Nevada. Federal judges in New Jersey said Tuesday they would not extend Habba's four-month tenure, the longest she could serve without US Senate confirmation. When the judges bypassed Habba to pick her deputy, Attorney General Pam Bondi then slammed 'politically minded judges' for overstepping their authority. She fired the judges' choice, Desiree Grace, hours later. Habba's term is set to expire at the end of the week, and what happens next is anyone's guess. But Trump and his appointees have routinely assailed judges who resist him in court cases, and they've shown a recent willingness to push the boundaries of statutes on appointment to protect their choices. 'It's a little unclear as to how this will all shake out,' said Jennifer Selin, an associate law professor at Arizona State University who researches US attorney appointments. The law on appointing interim US attorneys wouldn't prevent Trump from naming Habba as the interim again, but it's 'definitely on the fringes of law,' Selin said. Spokespersons for the Justice Department and the US Attorney's Office in New Jersey declined to comment. US attorneys typically serve four-year terms after they are approved by the US Senate, and they leave en masse with the change of a presidential administration. Under Senate custom, if a home-state senator opposes a president's US attorney nominee, the full body won't confirm their appointment. More than 20 states have two Democratic senators but disputes may arise soon in Nevada, Illinois and California, where interim appointments are set to expire soon. Trump has nominated Habba for a four-year term, but she's drawn strong opposition from New Jersey's two Democratic senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has also vowed to hold up all Justice Department nominees over Trump receiving a gifted jet from the Qatari government. District judges can appoint a US attorney until a vacancy is filled, but that is prompting pushback from the Trump administration. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused New Jersey's judges of 'a left-wing agenda, not the rule of law' and acting like partisans and activists. Such a posture is not a long-term recipe for success, said Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University. Every US attorney's office investigates and prosecutes criminal cases and represents the US in civil litigation. Its lawyers appear regularly in court before federal judges. 'An office that relies on the cooperation of judges to do its work usually doesn't get ahead by making war on them,' Richman said. In the Northern District of New York, the Trump administration tested the bounds of its appointment authority this month after federal judges declined to extend the 120-day term of John Sarcone, the chief prosecutor. Bondi appointed Sarcone as 'Special Attorney to the Attorney General' and 'First Assistant US Attorney,' making him the acting leader under the federal law governing vacancies. Sarcone is authorized to conduct the same legal proceedings as US attorneys may conduct, according to records that say his appointment is 'indefinite but may be terminated at any time.' He could serve more than 600 days as an acting official under the vacancy statute, effectively bypassing the Senate, said Selin. Acting officials may serve under the vacancy law for up to 210 days, followed by up to two more 210-day stints if nominations for the seat fail in the Senate. Trump's administration also named two successive interim leaders to serve as US attorney in Washington, DC, tapping Jeanine Pirro for a 120-day term after her predecessor, Ed Martin, lacked the Senate votes to advance. 'The Trump administration has been very strategic in using acting positions to navigate difficulties in the Senate,' Selin said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.