Just after US President Donald Trump told Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “get ready” for a missile strike the feared aircraft took to the sky.
US forces put a Boeing E-4B Nightwatch plane into the air from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
The Nightwatch – also known as the Doomsday Plane – is an airborne nuclear war command centre.
It would allow the US to maintain a chain of command in the event of a major war and is mobile communications hub.
Pentagon officials declined to give any information about the flight which came amid fears of an imminent World War 3.
The Doomsday Plane is one of 10 emergency airborne command posts which can be deployed in the outbreak of war.
President Trump, along with his top generals and secretary of defence, would be expected to be board the plane during a conflict.
US forces keep the planes on round-the-clock alert should the world plunge into a nuclear war.
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The planes are summoned into action by a klaxon, and one is always kept within range of the US President’s location – even when he is outside the US.
Pentagon officials declined to comment on the deployment of the plane when speaking to Russian TV, saying the US carries out "numerous missions every day".
Painted white and blue with United States of America emblazoned on the side, the Doomsday Planes are very recognisable.
They are crewed by up to 112 men packing out their 231ft long fuselage which can hurtle at 602mph.
Doomsday Planes can stay airborne for up to 150 hours – so just over six days – even though a full-scale nuclear war would be expected to end within minutes.
Electromagnetic pulse protection is also built into the planes’ fuselages so they can survive the impact of a nuclear strike.
War fears reached new horrifying levels yesterday as the Russia and the US square up to each other over the chemical attack in Syria.
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Trump and his allies are understood to be planning military action of the barrel bombing in civilians in the rebel town of Douma, something both Putin and dictator Bashar al-Assad deny as “fake news”.
Russia have warned of "grave reprecussions" over any strikes carried out by the West on Syria.
Britain and France are expected to follow the US into an intervention, which is expected to be of much larger scale than the US’s 59 missile strike on an Syrian airfield in 2017.
Trump attacked last year after a similar chemical attack carried out by Assad.
Russia has warned it will shoot down both missiles, and potentially attack any warplanes or warships which have fired them.
Trump tweeted yesterday there was “bad blood” between the US and Russia and branded the situation worse than the Cold War.
He promised the missile strike is coming and urged Assad and Putin to “get ready” for an attack on Syria.
British submarines have moved into position as Prime Minister Theresa May holds an emergency war meeting today in Westminster.
Daily Star Online revealed a map of the Syria war zone as military gear from all sides packs into the Middle East.