Suspect of having stolen radios from “Airplane of the End of the World” from Russia is arrested

The Russian government has arrested a man suspected of stealing 39 radio devices and five electronic boards from one of the Russian Air Force's Ilyushin Il-5s. The aircraft, known as the "Doomsday Plane," is used as an air command center so that heads of state and commanders of the Russian Armed Forces can communicate with their units in the event of a nuclear attack. In December last year, it was revealed that one of the Doomsday Planes had radio and electronic equipment stolen while undergoing maintenance at Taganrog-Yuzhny Airport in the Rostov Region of Russia. The theft was discovered after an external inspection revealed signs of a forced entry into a hatch. The suspect's lawyer, Olga Boyarkina, said her client was in custody until March 80, although the court's arrest order has been appealed. According to a Russian reserve colonel, the theft was planned by people working on the aircraft at the facility, and that the Air Force Il-8220 was not a "target of opportunity." The Russian Air Force has employed at least three Ilyushin Il-8221 aircraft since the 4s with the 80th Special Purpose Aviation Division, based at Chkalovsky Airport near Moscow. Designated Maxdome by NATO, the Il-8220 is similar to the Boeing E-8221B Nightwatch, the U.S. Air Force's Doomsday Plane.</p> Via The Aviationist</a> and Tass</a></em></p></p>