Sierra Nevada to build new era of "doomsday planes" for US
4 May 2024 06:03
The doomsday plane is a mobile command post designed for top commanders and the President of the USA. In the event of a nuclear war, it is meant to ensure the continuity of American governance when its ground centres have been destroyed. The United States is currently building new planes for this purpose.
£10 billion is the budget that Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has received to build new "doomsday planes." Although SNC is not an aircraft manufacturer (it had been previously eliminated from the competition, among others, by Boeing), it deals with their modification and adaptation for specialized tasks.
One of them is the construction of new flying centres of American power. Four Boeing E-4s, also known as E-4B Nightwatch, currently fill this role. These planes were built in the 1970s based on Jumbo Jets—Boeing 747s.
Despite modernization, their equipment has been deemed insufficient, which resulted in the decision to build successors. Their decks will be equipped with communication tools that will ensure communication and continuity of the decision-making chain in conditions prevailing after a nuclear attack.
Doomsday plane - "nuclear" White House and Pentagon
The new "doomsday planes" will also be based on the now-aged Jumbo Jet design. As Defence 24 explains, this is dictated by safety principles—it's about ensuring that the machines have four engines, which is currently rare among newer constructions of appropriate dimensions.
Although the choice of the base aircraft will affect operating costs in the future, the budget of the entire programme shows that – in this case – money is not a limitation.
The new command posts will be named SAOC (Survivable Airborne Operations Centre). It is not known how many machines of this type will be built—unofficial information indicates that as many as 10 new types of aircraft may be built.
This is due to the desire to simultaneously replace other flying command posts, such as the Boeing E-6 Mercury or those designated for transporting the highest state authorities (other than the President), the Boeing C-32.
