Doomsday plane[1] is an unofficial denomination of a class of aircraft which is used as an airborne command post in an event of nuclear war, disaster or other large scale conflict that threatens key military and government infrastructure.
Known officially to the United States as National Airborne Operations Centers (NAOC),[2] these planes allow leaders to issue commands and wage war from the sky.
In operation since the 1970s, these airborne command posts were long considered the best chance for a Cold War president to survive a nuclear attack.
The original E-6A manufactured by Boeing's defense division entered service with the United States Navy in July 1989, replacing the EC-130Q.
This platform, now modified to the E-6B standard, conveys instructions from the National Command Authority to fleet ballistic missile submarines, a mission known as TACAMO (Take Charge And Move Out).