Russian government launches an investigation about theft of sensitive equipment from “Doomsday plane”

Thieves have stolen electronic equipment from one of the most secret Russian Air Force aircraft called “Doomsday plane”, the aircraft is a “third- generation” Airborne Command Post which is used in an event of nuclear war, disaster or other large scale conflict that threatens military and government infrastructure, based on the Ilyushin Il-96-400 commercial aircraft airframe.

Military experts say that the aircraft is one of four Ilyushin Il-80’s in service and one of Russia’s most classified aircraft. It’s unclear when the heist took place. Interfax news agency reports that the thieves left with 39 units of equipment and five radio boards.

The Russian police received a statement from a representative of the Taganrog Beriyev Aviation Scientific-Technical Complex (TANTK) indicating the opening of a cargo hatch of one the aircraft concerned.

According to sources, the aircraft was undergoing scheduled maintenance since early 2019. The local government said an investigation was under way. Experts managed to find fingerprints and footprints of the alleged thieves from various parts of the aircraft.