The E-4B: America's Doomsday Plane

I got to see these flying overhead recently when I was working out in Omaha near Offutt AFB.

Looking glass?

The fact that you didn't end with some variation of "and now his watch is ended" is a travesty.

TAC_A_MO 🤓

Nice thing about buying used is that they aren't part of the new shittier boeings. Those fall out of the sky even without an emp.

Great video…but I think I seen a video very, very similar to this one and I think it was by Simon….or I am going crazy…

Lol you spelled emp wrong

How are "High ranking military personnel" - not VIPs?

Starfish prime?!?! Starfishes love you

You talk way to fast for me.

Crystal Palace

Did you perform this presentation with one breath? 😂😂

I wish you'd talked a little more about how they actually make something EMP proof.

Old Boing planes... So they're reliable then. Unlike new ones.

Cheers

2/3rds of Americans. I have hair, Simon.

Your information is a little outdated. The E-4 transferred command to FEMA and was redesignated NAOC or national airborne operations center many years ago(over 30).
The ABNCP 's or airborne national command posts are all E-6B Mercury's owned and operated by the US Navy. The ALCS or airborne launch control mission does have an Air Force battle staff on board , which is why two of them are on alert 24/7 at offutt Air Force Base.
The e4b is a fairweather flyer that does not have 24-hour coverage.
The e6b is airborne 24/7 usually over both coasts and both squadrons both east VQ4 and west VQ3 coast have not dropped coverage since 1962 when an ec130 q crashed in a cornfield.

If if an e6b is airborne and there is a flag officer(admiral or general) on board it is doing both the "lookingGlass" and the "nightwatch" missions.

the question then becomes how many of the in flight refueling aircraft are also emp protected?

TACAMO!

Looking Glass is a completely different mission and paired with the PACCS mission.

Does it have an escape capsule for the president?

For everybody making the comments about Boeing, the Boeing that made this aircraft and the Boeing that made the new 737s and the ones losing door plugs, they're not the same Boeing.

This aircraft is based on the commercial aircraft with the single best safety record ever. It was called God's own airplane for a time. And the nightwatches are likely even safer than a standard 747.

When you look at these planes, you shouldn't think about the Boeing that is, because these were made by the Boeing that could have been.

I doubt that the aircraft has a pilot and co-pilot alone, not if it’s going to fly for upwards of a week, it would need a minimum of two crews rotating them resting one at a time.

3 flight crews would probably be more likely to take into account potential illnesses of one vital crew member.

Sooooooo are the refuel tankers hardened against EMP?

the FBI is gonna be busy with this comments section in the morning. Doesn't the US armed forces teach opsec and how to deal with classified data anymore? I've seen one guy name basically an entire crew on one of these things, which is defo getting him a call. it's crazy.

Oh and just so we are all clear, the ec-135 is based on a kc-135, which in turn, is based on a boeing 707

I'm anchored just off the coast from MacDill Airforce Base, Tampa Fl. Those KC-130 tankers are flying continuously. Nice to see Special Forces jumping out of C-130s and helicopters too.

Makes me think about the plans for communication integration with the Sentinel missile program, set to replace the Minuteman III system in the "near" future. I wonder how that process is put together...

Back when the E-4 was still stationed at Andrews AFB, my dad took me down for a tour of the base. It was all pretty cool until the PIO that was hosting the tour pointed to an E-4 and explained what it was and if the sirens ever went off and the flashing emergency lights activated at the hanger that "something bad" had just happened and it was likely that the end was coming rather quickly courtesy of the Soviets. A few minutes later all hell broke loose and sirens went off, the emergency lights flashed, and the crew scrambled to the E-4 for an emergency launch.

The PIO had this deer in the headlights look on his face and my dad asked, rather calmly, "So...are we all f*cked, is this a test, or is this just part of the tour?"

Turns out someone decided it would be a "good thing" to have an emergency readiness drill since the President was out of town.

It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen!

The old tri tac shelters for digital switches had emp protection.

A honeycomb aluminum skeleton under the outer fiberglass skin and some fort if filter material

A strange plane, its purpose is not to be used.

Music needs more gain in the mix and way more repetitive beeps that sound like my camera's low battery warning!

How much of the Nightwatchs critical infrastructure would go down and cripple it during a large emp event? lol

Oh, joy. The fate of the world in the hands of BOEING. What could possibly go wrong?! 🤨

They can refuel in air, but how do they re-food?

They called it the Nightwatch? Don't tell Michael Garibaldi.

I’ve always wondered….what does someone from a foreign nation think when they hear about capabilities such as this that the US military has? Literally no other country on earth has such a fleet of aircraft with these capabilities not to mention the whole TACAMO fleet.

Like, imagine being the poor bastard Russian or DPRK general trying to plan a strike and they have absolutely nothing to counter these aircraft which makes the Cold War someone silly in hindsight.

One of the better E-4B videos.

only world leader to think, wow, global war. let's go fly our big red button around so it can be shot at?????

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why did harris ride into indonapolis indiana on the doomsday plane?

... Now they just need to make it fly in space.

Best thing about this airplane is the sweet chow hall in the ramp area of flight line

Oh! You mean an emp!

There's one of these sitting on the runway next to me. Should I be worried? 😂

So the Soviets will have the home base as a priority target. They will have the majority of USAF bases targeted. They will have as many refuelling depots as possible targeted. It seems awfully difficult to keep all these aircraft mobile and functioning in a nuclear melee...

The E-4B plays a prominent role in two motion pictures. In the 1990 HBO film By Dawn's Early Light, following a nuclear strike by the Soviets, the aircraft serves as a flying platform for the presumed president, the ex-Secretary of the Interior, who is played by Darren McGavin. The aircraft is pursued by Boeing EC-135 "Looking Glass", which successfully intercepts.

A couple of minor errors/issues, the "National Command Authority" refers to the pair of the President (Commander-in-Chief), and the Secretary of Defense.
Also, if BOTH VC-25As are not available, one of the E-4Bs are sometimes even closer to the President, so if a mechanical breakdown occurs, they can transport the President safely. Also they could use the C-32A (Air Force Two) or the C-37B (VIP Gulfstream G550) as a backup, if the second VC-25A isn't available, so they have another option available.