Summary
- The “Doomsday Plane,” E-4B “Nightwatch,” has served as a National Airborne Operations Center for emergencies since 1974.
- Sierra Nevada Corp. won the $13 billion contract to build the Doomsday plane’s replacement, SAOC, by 2036.
- Boeing may be involved in modifying a Boeing 747-8 for the new Doomsday plane despite pulling out of the bidding.
The E-4B “Nightwatch” may look like Air Force One, but they are the United States National Airborne Operations Center for use in times of emergency. As they would likely be used in the event of a nuclear strike on the United States or something else of that nature, they have been nicknamed the “Doomsday Plane.” However, these impressive examples of American power were first introduced in 1974 and are now getting long in the tooth. It has just been announced that Sierra Nevada Corp. has out-competed defense contractor giant Boeing to build the replacement.
Sierra Nevada Corp. to build the Doomsday plane
“SNC is building the Airborne Command Center of the Future by integrating and modernizing systems and platforms to deliver advanced national security solutions.” – Sierra Nevada Corp.
Little is known about the Nightwatch replacement, partly because so much of the program is classified and partly because it is still in development. The $13 billion contract for the replacement is called the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC). The first is expected to be introduced in 2032, and the last will be completed by 2036. It is also not clear if the old aircraft will be replaced one-for-one.
It is not known what aircraft will be used to develop the SAOC. Sierra Nevada Corp. typically works with smaller aircraft modifications. However, according to Aviation Week, it is still likely to modify a Boeing 747-8i for the contract (suggesting Boeing may still be involved in some capacity). It is known that the Air Force wants an off-the-shelf aircraft, and it would need to be large. This suggests that the Boeing 747-8 would be a likely choice, despite the fact that Boeing’s production line for the Jumbo jets ended in 2023.
Photo: US Air Force
Boeing 747-8s are also currently being modified as the Air Force One (VC-25B) replacements. However, it may have been this contract that encouraged Boeing to pull out of bidding for the contract. Boeing is taking a massive loss on building the Presidential Air Force One aircraft; Reuters reported Boeing refused to enter into a fixed-price deal and risk losing a large amount of money again.
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The E-4B “Nightwatch”
The Air Force states the E-4B “Nightwatch” consists of four militarized Boeing 747-200 aircraft that have been extensively modified to serve as the National Airborne Operations Center of the National Military Command System for the President, his successors, the Joint Chiefs, and other important government members. They are intended for use in a national emergency and in the event that ground command and control centers are destroyed.
The Nightwatch has been designed to be a highly survivable platform so that the United States can still have a command center in a worst-case scenario. The aircraft includes a briefing room, an operations team work area, a command work area, a conference room, a communications area, and a rest area. They can seat up to 111 people and are operated by the 1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron at the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
