Ilyushin Il-80
The Maxdome
“An airliner with no windows and one job.”
Ilyushin · military
Four Aeroflot Il-86s were converted in the late 1980s into airborne command posts: cabin windows deleted, satellite gear in a canoe fairing on the spine, generator pods under the wings, and a very-low-frequency trailing wire antenna for reaching submarines. The Il-80 exists so command decisions can still be made from the air if the ground can't answer.
The only windows on an Il-80 are in the cockpit — the cabin was sealed to shield the people and equipment inside from electromagnetic pulses.
An Il-86 with no cabin windows and a long canoe fairing over the forward fuselage. Based at Chkalovsky near Moscow; seen in public mostly around parade rehearsals.
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Maxdome from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
