The launch of two Boeing E-6B Mercury airborne command and control aircraft right before President Donald Trump’s announcement that he and his wife, the First Lady Melania, had tested positive for coronavirus was “purely coincidental,” United States Strategic Command, the combat force in charge of the US nuclear arsenal, air defence and space forces, has said.
Speaking to Fox News, a USSTRATCOM spokesman assured viewers that the E-6B flights were “pre-planned,” that “the President remains the commander-in-chief,” and stressed that there had been “no change to the posture of the US military.”
One E-6B reportedly took off from the Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, and another from the Travis Air Force Base in California, shortly before Trump’s coronavirus announcement, with the planes proceeding to fly along the East and West coasts. One was spotted near Washington, DC, and the other over the state of Oregon.
Described as “America’s deadliest plane ever,” E-6Bs are capable of ordering the launch of US nuclear weapons in the event that ground-based command centres have been destroyed or rendered inoperable by the enemy making the first strike. For this reason, they are often called “doomsday planes.” The US military’s E-6B fleet consists of 16 planes, and is operated by the Navy. At least one E-6B is always in the air.
Planewatchers spotted the doomsday planes, transponders on, using online flight-mapping services. Ordinarily, E-6Bs are said to operate with their transponders off.
The US has launched two E-6B Mercury planes
— Edward Hardy (@EdwardTHardy) October 2, 2020
One near Washington DC and one off the coast of California pic.twitter.com/2jvVBrYWtl
Tim Hogan, a Hawaii-based observer and open-source intelligence analyst, suggested that the flights were meant to send “a message to the small group of [US] adversaries” who are armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles, presumably referring to Russia and China.
RT There's an E-6B Mercury off the east coast near DC. I looked because I would expect them to pop up if he tests positive. It's a message to the small group of adversaries with SLBMs and ICBMs. pic.twitter.com/3ta9PmPxZD
— Tim Hogan (@TimInHonolulu) October 2, 2020
The Trumps reported testing positive for coronavirus shortly after the White House announced that presidential adviser Hope Hicks had the disease. Mainstream media have speculated that Trump might have caught the virus from Hicks on board Air Force One en route to Tuesday’s televised debate against Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden in Ohio.
A slew of leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rushed to wish the Trumps a speedy recovery throughout the day on Friday.
Other members of Trump’s family, including youngest son Barron, daughter Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared Kushner all tested negative for coronavirus later in the day.
