The E-6 has a “boring” look compared to the exciting American war fighters, but it is considered the most powerful in the sky, especially in the event of a nuclear war.
According to the 1945 website, the E-6 Mercury is not an F-22 or F-35 stealth fighter, nor is it a missile launcher of any kind.
But according to the military website, it will be the plane that the US president will rely on to start a nuclear war, and that makes it very important indeed.
The United States operates an airborne command and control center, known as the National Airborne Command Center, an aircraft tasked with controlling the U.S. military’s sprawling nuclear arsenal in the event that ground command centers are destroyed or disabled.
This airborne control aircraft is the E6 Mercury.
If ground command centers are destroyed, the general officer on board will assume the role of an airborne emergency procedure officer, under which he will assume authority over the national command body, meaning that the officer can give orders to carry out nuclear attacks.
The E6 is a modified version of the Boeing 707, a long-range, narrow-body passenger airliner first launched in 1954 and widely credited with starting the jet age.
The E6’s 22-man crew can coordinate a nuclear attack, making it the most powerful of all US lethal aircraft.
Military expert Sebastian Roblin said, “Although the Mercury does not carry any weapons of its own, it may be to some extent the deadliest aircraft operated by the Pentagon. Its mission is to order the launch of land and sea nuclear ballistic missiles.”