It is critical that the Air Force move forward on the replacement for its E-4B “Doomsday” aircraft to keep the capability “viable” into the next decade and beyond, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told lawmakers May 8.
The Air Force’s E-4B 'Doomsday' fleet—designed to give senior U.S. leaders a flying command post to control forces in the case of a national emergency or crisis—consists of just four aircraft, with one always on alert. That doesn't leave a lot of time for maintainers ...
Air Force Gen. Anthony J. Cotton assumed command of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) in a ceremony at Offutt Air Force Base on Dec. 9, putting an Air Force general in charge of America’s nuclear forces at a time of rising nuclear threats around the globe.
With just a few days left until the current continuing resolution funding the government expires, the Department of the Air Force enumerated 16 new starts and four production increases that will be blocked until Congress appropriates money for the Pentagon's fiscal 2022 activities. Also stymied will ...
Purchases of new F-35 fighters, KC-46 tankers, and C-130 transports in recent years have made only a small dent in the age of the Air Force’s fleet, down to 29.1 years across all types after hitting 30.55 years in 2020. But the service operates eight ...
Oklahoma-based CymSTAR will build the Air Force’s first training simulator for the E-4B “Doomsday” planes at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., the service said Oct. 14. The four 1970s-era National Airborne Operations Center jets act as flying command centers in case the Air Force’s underground ...
A formal search for designs for the Air Force’s new nuclear command plane is again delayed into 2021, the service said Oct. 2. The Survivable Airborne Operations Center is meant to replace the Air Force E-4B “doomsday” jet that can send the command to launch ...
U.S. Strategic Command is testing out parts of its future nuclear command, control, and communications enterprise in the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System demonstrations, an official tells Air Force Magazine. STRATCOM’s NC3 Enterprise Center got up and running early last year to better plan ...
A Navy E-6B Mercury nuclear command plane launched a three-tipped, unarmed Air Force nuclear missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in an unusual but long-planned exercise Aug. 4. Sailors and Airmen from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., aboard the E-6B worked with Airmen from ...
Boeing must pay another $151 million out of pocket for the KC-46 program, the company announced in an earnings call July 29. This time, the company incurred the extra cost because the coronavirus pandemic is slamming the aerospace industry. Parts and work for the new ...
Boeing's anticipated closure of the 747-8 line won't create a parts crisis for the Air Force, which expects the company to support the type until the newest “Air Force One” aircraft retire in 2055. The Air Force hasn't yet decided what it will do to ...
Air Force officials will gather more information on a future aircraft fleet to replace the E-4B National Airborne Operations Center, also known as the “Nightwatch” or “Doomsday” plane, at an industry day in February 2020. The service’s fiscal 2020 budget request noted that the Defense ...