Russian officials have officially confirmed previous speculations about Russia’s plans to build a new ‘Doomsday’ plane that is a shelter for senior officials in the event of a nuclear war.
Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov recently confirmed that Russia is working on a new version of the famous “Doomsday” aircraft, officially confirming long-standing rumours about plans to replace 4 Il-80 Soviet-made planes. He also said that the Russian aviation industry is now capable of producing various types of aircraft, including aircraft for this purpose.
The “Doomsday” aircraft is designed to operate and stay connected, to command strategic forces in the event of a nuclear war, to transport top officials to a safe location in the air. From this aircraft, leaders can issue force command orders to all branches of the armed forces – from the ground forces, the navy, the aviation and the strategic missile forces.
The new “Doomsday” planes will replace four existing Il-80s and are also built by the famous Russian aircraft manufacturer Ilyushin. According to our source in Moscow, the new version is still in the early stages of development and is based on the Il96-400M aircraft, which is in the process of being completed.
Although the “Doomsday” aircraft is extremely important, one of Russia’s “flying command fortresses” Il-80 was broken into late last year. Technical staff discovered 39 radio devices and 5 circuit boards on the Il-80 plane were stolen by thieves. The aircraft is in the process of technical maintenance. All of the above equipment was installed during the 2019 inspection.
The Il-80 was developed in the 1980s, based on a modified Il-86 wide-body airliner, with a range of about 5,000 km. The US also maintains four “Doomsday aircraft” E-4B, based on the Boeing 747-200 model.