Washington, June 8(ANI): The United States has built the most impressive aircraft in the world to keep the President, Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other key personnel in the air and out of danger from the ultimate worst-case scenarios.
The 'doomsday plane' was mobilized in the tumultuous hours after planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania on 9/11.
Built at a cost of 223 million dollars, the plane can stay in the air for days without refueling and offer protection from all manner of threats, including nuclear attacks and meteor strikes from outer space.
The modified 747s, codenamed E-4B, can travel at speeds up to 620 miles per hour, 40 miles per hour faster than their commercial counterparts.
"If the command centers that are on the ground in the United States have a failure of some sort, or attack, we immediately get airborne. We're on alert 24/7, 365," ABC News quoted Captain W. Scott Ryder, Commander, NAOC, as saying.
"Constantly there's at least one alert airplane waiting to get airborne," he added.
Ryder also said that a highly-trained security team travels with the plane.
The men sleep nearby so the plane can launch within five minutes of an attack, he added.
People travelling on board can communicate with anyone on the ground and even submarines can be reached underwater when a five-mile long cable is extended out of the back of the plane for reception. (ANI)
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