USA transfers "judgement day aircraft" to Europe
An E-6B Mercury aircraft, which performs functions of an air command point of the US Navy, landed in Iceland on Tuesday, 28 February.
Source: the European Command of the Armed Forces of the USA (USEUCOM) on Twitter, as cited by European Pravda
Quote: "A US Navy E-6B Mercury [aircraft] assigned to the Strategic Command of the US Wing One arrived in Iceland recently, while conducting operations in the USEUCOM area of responsibility. The crew met with the US Ambassador to Iceland Carrin Patman and other diplomatic and military leaders."
The E-6B Mercury is the American military strategic control and communications aircraft as well as a command point of the US Navy. It is also called "judgement day aircraft".
It is used for communication with nuclear submarines of strategic purpose that serve as intercontinental ballistic missiles carriers. These are the submarines of the Ohio class. Each submarine can have up to 24 Trident II D5 missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, on board.
E-6B Mercury was based on the Boeing 707-320 passenger airliner. It is capable of ascending to up to 12.8km, its practical range is 11,760km.
Background:
- After the announcement by Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, the Russian Parliament at the sitting on 22 February voted for the law which terminates Russia’s participation in the New START treaty [a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation with the formal name of Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms – ed.]
- Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, called upon Russia to reconsider its decision about the termination of its participation in the START treaty, and Joe Biden, US President, called this decision "a big mistake".
- The Russian side blames the US for its decision to terminate the START treaty and promises that it is not going to increase its own nuclear potential due to this.
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