Trial Run for Doomsday

Instead of flying home to Georgia last weekend aboard the usual Air Force One, Jimmy Carter and his family went via one of the world's most sophisticated aircraft: one of the three "Doomsday" jets that are constantly on alert at heavily guarded Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. Were a nuclear war to break out, Carter would be whisked aboard one of the jets -- or sped via helicopter to any of several underground, nuclear-insulated command centers.

Why did Jimmy take the trip? "If we ever have an emergency," he explained, "I just want to make sure that the transition is not one of confusion." He also took along some members of the press, but they were confined to a rest area in the rear of the plane and were not allowed to observe any of the craft's operations.

Designated E-4A, the $117 million Doomsday jet is a 231-ft.-long, 425-ton behemoth -- the heaviest flying machine anywhere. It is a converted Boeing 747 that bulges and bristles with a mind-stunning array of electronic gadgetry designed to defend the plane and prevent interference with communications. It is also loaded with an equally dazzling array of high-and low-frequency communications devices. Capable of staying aloft for 72 hours, the plane can roam at low or very high altitudes, up to more than 45,000 ft. To keep in touch with U.S. submarines, the craft can unreel up to five miles of wire antenna, 3/4 in. thick and weighing several tons.

The craft is designed to carry up to 94 passengers, including the President, his top aides, the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, intelligence officers, weapons and electronics experts, Secret Service men and the flight crew. Just under the cock pit is a small, windowless, gold-carpeted room, where the President and up to three other people -- the ultimate elite of the ultimate holocaust -- could in total privacy direct the next moves in World War III.

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