According to Russian media, Ilyushin Il-80 has been undergoing scheduled maintenance since last year in the town of Taganrog on the Sea of Azov in the southwest of the country. It is not entirely clear when thieves broke into the device.
According to Interfax, the theft was detected during an aircraft inspection. The administrators of the complex, where the machine is located, reported it to the police on December 4. During the previous inspection on November 26, the equipment was still intact on the spot, Ren-TV reported.
The stolen aircraft is one of four Russian Army Il-80 machines manufactured for this special purpose. The planes, which have been in service since 1987, are designed to provide some protection in the event of a nuclear explosion, the BBC writes, saying that the windows, for example, are only in the cockpit.
Deputy Minister of Defense Alexei Krivoručko said last May that the machines were undergoing modernization. TASS then announced in October that Ilyushin Il-80, sometimes nicknamed the “doomsday aircraft”, should eventually replace the new Il-96-400M.
The United States, a Boeing called the E-4B Nightwatch, also has aircraft designed to command a nuclear war.
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