Navy's 'Doomsday' Plane Appears to Use Presidential Candidate's Name as Callsign

One of the U.S. Navy's so-called "doomsday" planes appears to have the callsign name of "Trump."

The plane, which is a Boeing E-6B Mercury, reportedly departed from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska Sunday and headed south, as seen on Planefinder.net.

Image source: Planefinder.net

According to the Aviationist, "Mercury" aircrafts are operated by the U.S. Navy and are vital to national security as they broadcast instructions and communications to fleet ballistic missile submarines in the event of a nuclear war. They also are backups for the four planes responsible for keeping the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other key officials alive as the president is aboard Air Force One in the event of a terrorist attack, invasion, nuclear war or other catastrophic event.

These planes are often trackable online while carrying out certain critical missions, the Aviationist reported. Usually at least one plane will fly over the U.S. every day.

It is unclear how this particular plane got the moniker "Trump" for its callsign, which was first noticed being used on March 8. The Aviationist speculated that "probably someone thought that it was funny to give a 'Doomsday' plane the name of the (controversial) candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States."

E-6 Mercury Doomsday aircraft
Callsign: TRUMP https://t.co/zBdMFlC8fL@nktpnd #avgeek @BlogsofWar @TheAviationist pic.twitter.com/Eyis9laQbz

— Baloogan Campaign (@BalooganCamp) March 13, 2016

A spokesperson for the U.S. Navy did not return a request for comment from TheBlaze.

(H/T: The Aviationist)

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