“A US Navy E-6B Mercury aircraft arrived in Iceland, operating in the area of responsibility of the US European Command,” US officials said.
It is also noted that the crew met with the United States Ambassador to Iceland Kerrin Patman and other members of the diplomatic and military community.
What is known about the E-6B
The E-6B Mercury is an American military strategic command and control aircraft, as well as an airborne command post for the US Navy. It is also called the “doomsday plane”.
It is designed to communicate with strategic nuclear missile cruisers that are carriers of intercontinental ballistic missiles. We are talking about Ohio-class submarines.
Each submarine can carry up to 24 Trident II D5 missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The E-6B Mercury is a modification of the Boeing 707-320 passenger airliner. It can reach speeds of 981 km/h with a cruising speed of 842 km/h and is capable of climbing up to 12.8 km. The practical range is 11,760 km.
