Fleet of ‘doomsday planes’ spotted above US in terrifying sign for world

At least five planes designed for use in a nuclear emergency were spotted in the air after CIA chief John Ratcliffe made his first known visit to Moscow.

The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) arrived in the Russian capital for in-person talks with officials on Tuesday.

"There were contacts with the intelligence services," Vladimir Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.

"There were no meetings with the president of Russia. That's all I can say on the subject. Naturally, President Putin is briefed immediately about everything," he added.

"How much this will impact the overall process of recovering our bilateral relations from the profound crisis they're currently in, it is premature to say."

Following Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow, at least five Boeing E-6 Mercury aircraft were seen along the West Coast and in the central region of the US.

The US Navy says their 16 E-6B planes provide ‘survivable, reliable and endurable’ airborne nuclear command, control and communications.

It means that even if important ground communication systems were destroyed or unavailable in the event of a nuclear war, the E-6B is intended to preserve a way for leadership to communicate with nuclear forces.

Despite contrary reports, it isn't nuclear-bomb-proof because an explosion sufficiently close to the aircraft would destroy it.

According to The Daily Mail, a plane with the hex code AEA92D was seen travelling over the Colorado-Wyoming region at an altitude of 24,000 feet and a speed of about 374mph.

AE7D28, a second aircraft, was also spotted over the central US near Kansas and Oklahoma at approximately 30,000 feet, reaching about 471mph.

A third, identified as AEABAB, was over Missouri and Arkansas, flying at around 35,000 feet and 541mph.

Another plane, AF4019, was tracked near the Texas-Oklahoma border at around 9,500 feet, travelling at 307mph.

AF1BB0 may have been a fifth E-6 Mercury, although its identity was not confirmed across the available flight-tracking images.

The E-6B Mercury’s main job is to communicate with ballistic-missile submarines and serve as an airborne command post for US strategic forces.

It entered service in 1998 and cost about $141.7 million per aircraft. Coming in at about 46m in length and a 45m wingspan, it weighs up to 155 tonnes, and is powered by four CFM56 turbofan engines. A typical mission carries a crew of 22, according to the Navy website.

Why would five E-6b planes be in the air at once?

While we don't know for sure why so many E-6Bs were airborne at once, it could be related to the previously announced Exercise Amalgam Dart.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced last week that a 'long-planned, routine, and defensive exercise' would take place between 24 August and 1 September.

It was said to involve forces across the mainland US, Alaska and Canada to 'integrate mixed fighter force operations, command and control organizations, air battle management, and aircraft serving as simulated adversary in realistic scenarios'.

While it's not confirmed this is what the E-6Bs were involved with, it could provide a less scary explanation than impending nuclear war.

The US Air Force's other 'Doomsday' plane

The other type of ‘doomsday plane’ is the Air Force E-4B Nightwatch.

With four currently active, they are built specifically to carry the president, the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff during a nuclear war or national emergency.

Because they are ageing and highly expensive to operate ($160,000+ per hour), the military awarded a $13 billion contract to Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) to begin flight-testing their replacement—the new E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC).

The E-4C SAOC will most likely be enormous because it is being based on the Boeing 747-8 - one of the largest passenger aircraft ever built.