Sierra Nevada Awarded DoD Contract To Build Next-Gen 'Doomsday Plane'

Sierra Nevada Awarded DoD Contract To Build Next-Gen 'Doomsday Plane'

Aerospace and defense company Sierra Nevada Corporation won the $13 billion Pentagon contract to develop a successor to the "Doomsday Plane" that serves as a mobile command post in the event of nuclear war.

The current 1970s-era Boeing E-4B "Nightwatch" serves as the National Airborne Operations Center and is a key component of the National Military Command System for the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

However, the fleet of E-4B Nightwatch, which can withstand nuclear blasts and electromagnetic effects, is aging and needs to be replaced.

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That's where Sierra Nevada comes in with the new Survivable Airborne Operations Center project, which will replace the E-4B Nightwatch by 2036.

"In case of national emergency or destruction of ground command and control centers, the aircraft provides a highly survivable command, control, and communications center to direct US forces, execute emergency war orders, and coordinate actions by civil authorities," explained an E-4B Nightwatch fact sheet produced by the US Air Force.

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