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These fools plan to win a nuclear war. Flight tests begin on US Air Force’s new ‘doomsday plane’

Defense News, By Stephen Losey, Sep 5, 2025,

The Air Force and aerospace firm Sierra Nevada Corp. have started flight tests on the service’s next-generation “doomsday plane.”

Flight tests for the E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Control, or SAOC, are being held at the Aviation Innovation and Technology Center in Dayton, Ohio, the company said in a Wednesday release.

Sierra Nevada, also known as SNC, carried out the SAOC’s first flight on Aug. 7 as part of the program’s engineering and manufacturing development process. Flight and ground testing will continue into 2026, primarily in Dayton, Ohio, and Wichita, Kansas, the company said.

SAOC is meant to serve as an airborne command-and-control center that would be used in the most catastrophic circumstances. In the event of a nuclear war or other widespread calamity that destroys or disrupts most military command centers, the SAOC would allow the president to direct U.S. forces and relay orders from the air.

The Air Force in 2024 awarded SNC a $13 billion contract to build five SAOC aircraft to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of four E-4B Nightwatch planes. Sierra Nevada is expected to finish the work by July 2036……………………….

The SAOC deal is Sierra Nevada’s largest single contract in its six-decade history, and the company hopes it will lead to more big-ticket opportunities………….https://www.defensenews.com/air/2025/09/04/flight-tests-begin-on-us-air-forces-new-doomsday-plane/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=c4-overmatch

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September 6, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized