Putin brings his ‘Flying Kremlin’ to India for Brics: What makes the ‘Doomsday Plane’ different?
Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down in New Delhi on Friday to begin a three-day visit for the BRICS Summit, during which he has held a bilateral meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss expanding bilateral trade, investment and energy cooperation. As one of the world’s most heavily protected leaders, Putin arrived with a high-level delegation and under characteristically tight security, flying in one of two identical Ilyushin IL-96-300PU aircraft, with both jets airborne simultaneously so no one, barring his closest security detail, knows which one he’s actually on. This double-decoy tactic isn’t new for Moscow, and Putin has used it on previous foreign visits as well.
‘Aurus’ of the skies
The aircraft itself, often nicknamed the “Flying Kremlin” or the “Doomsday Plane,” is a highly customised, specially modified version of the Ilyushin IL-96-300PU, developed by the Ilyushin Design Bureau back in the 1980s. It belongs to an unofficial category of aircraft designed to function as an airborne command post in the event of nuclear war, large-scale disaster, or any conflict threatening critical military and government infrastructure, a category so specialised that only the United States and Russia are known to have built and operate this category of modified aircraft.Powered by four Aviadvigatel PS-90A turbofan engines, the plane can fly roughly 11,000 kilometres without refuelling, and functions as a fully mobile command centre during national emergencies, complete with encrypted satellite communications capable of securely reaching Russia’s military, intelligence and government networks from virtually anywhere in the world. It also carries radar-jamming technology and advanced defensive systems, alongside protected radio and data channels built for uninterrupted communication under worst-case conditions. Beyond the security architecture, the aircraft is also fitted out for comfort, featuring a private presidential suite with bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, dining areas and a boardroom-style conference room.
Trump’s ‘beast’ of the skies
The US operates comparable aircraft of its own. The Boeing E-4, codenamed “Nightwatch,” was modified from a 747-200B under the National Emergency Airborne Command Post programme and serves as a survivable command post for the President, the Secretary of Defense and their successors. Separately, the Boeing E-6 Mercury, built on the 707-320 airframe, has served since 1989 as an airborne relay linking the National Command Authority to ballistic missile submarines under the Take Charge And Move Out (TACAMO) mission, with the upgraded E-6B variant, fielded in 1998, also capable of remotely controlling Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles.
