Published on 04/29/2024
review by Antonello Gallisai
United States, Sierra Nevada company wins $13 billion contract to build the Air Force’s “doomsday plane”
The U.S. Department of the Air Force said Friday it has awarded Sierra Nevada Corp. a $13 billion contract to replace aging E-4B Nightwatch “doomsday planes” in service.
The company will develop and produce the Survivable Airborne Operations Center, the name of the plane that will succeed the E-4B, and is expected to finish work by July 10, 2036. The Air Force is committing $59 million to research , development, test and evaluation funding to Sierra Nevada to begin work on SAOC immediately. “The development of this critical national security weapons system ensures that the department’s nuclear command, control and communications capability is operationally relevant and secure for decades to come,” a spokesperson for the Department said in an email. aeronautics.
The E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, is designed to allow the president to direct forces in the event of a nuclear war or other devastating emergency that destroys command and control centers on the ground. The Air Force’s four E-4s have been flying since the 1970s and are nearing the end of their useful lives.
The Sierra Nevada contract for SAOC development and production will cover the provision of engineering and manufacturing development aircraft, production aircraft, associated ground systems and interim contract support, the Pentagon contract announcement said. The company will perform work on SAOC in Englewood, Colorado; Sparks, Nevada; Beavercreek, Ohio; and Vandalia, Ohio.
The Air Force said Sierra Nevada will build the SAOC from a strengthened and modified version of a commercial derivative aircraft.
And it will use a modular open system approach to include modern secure communications and scheduling capabilities. SAOC’s ground support systems will include trainers for flight crew, mission crew and maintainers, as well as ground support equipment, test and sustainment systems integration laboratories, and other systems. The contract has cost-plus-incentive, fixed-price, and cost-plus-incentive components, the Pentagon’s contract announcement said.
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