Vladimir Putin has a special ‘Doomsday plane’ and trust us, while it might sound impressive or even like a bit of a toy, you never want to see it flying.
Also known as the ‘Flying Kremlin’ plane or the ‘Maxdome’, it’s specifically to be used in nuclear war.
Essentially, it’s a big vessel that the Russian president can use to run his country from should everything go to sh*t.
There’s no denying that our worries around the likelihood of some nuclear bombing going off has increased recently, with Donald Trump often saying the words ‘World War Three’.
But while realistically a lot of us would be absolutely f**ked in that situation, Putin is better prepared with his special window-less plane.
It’s designed to be an airborne command centre. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Yeah, while things would be getting destroyed below, it’s unlikely the Russian would be directly watching as the only windows on the ‘Doomsday plane’ is the one on the cockpit.
The Ilyushin Il-80 Maxdome earned its nickname as it’s supposed to keep Putin and other officials safe, should the worst-case scenario take place, acting as an airborne command centre.
Col. Cedric Leighton, a former U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer, explained more about the mysterious aircraft as he explained just why there aren’t any windows.
“Those windows [which would typically be on the side] are non-existent because they want to make sure that in case there’s a nuclear blast, that there is absolutely no possibility of the windows shattering,” he told CNN.
There’s also a special dome on top of the plane that should allow the Russians to continue with secure communications ‘under almost all conditions’.
Euronews says the ‘Doomsday plane’ even has protection from electromagnetic attacks that would try to disable it as a flying command post for Putin.
Another key feature in its design is that it can even be refuelled in mid-air so it can stay off of the ground for longer periods of time.
And Russia isn’t the only country with this kind of aircraft in its tool belt either, as the US has a fleet of four ‘doomsday planes’.
But it’s fair to say that on most occasions – unless it’s some kind of scheduled display – seeing these planes in the sky could be a sign of some very bad things.
The US fleet of planes are occasionally used to transport government officials to important events so spotting one doesn’t mean the end is nigh.
But if you were to look up to the sky (in Russia, presumably) and see ‘Doomsday plane’ overhead then you might want to think about just why he’s using it.
