Nightwatch Aircraft:Air Force Moves Ahead to Replace Doomsday Planes

As of this writing,only one defence contractor,the privately held Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC),remains in the running for an 8.3 billion dollar contract to replace the current fleet of four US Air Force E-4B Nightwatch aircraft,often called the Doomsday planes because of their ability to withstand the radiological and electromagnetic effects of a nuclear war or other catostrophic circumstances.The future fleet of Nightwatch aircraft is called the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) project.These aircraft also serve as the personal aircraft of the Secretary of Defense and shadow the President of the United States when he travels in an AN-25 Air Force One plane.Boeing withdrew from consideration on the grounds of the expense to the contractor involved in fixed price contracts.Fixed price contracts require the contractor to absorb cost overruns themselves.Boeing is already in the hole for the NASA CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and the replacement of the AN-25 Air Force One planes,to the tune of 1.3 billion dollars.* The E-4B is considered part of the nuclear deterrence force,as it provides Command and Control of all nuclear forces,including low frequency communication with ballistic missile submarines.The main mission of the SAOC is to provide a robust and survivable platform for the President of the United States and other senior leaders,via the National Command Authority mechanism,to initiate nuclear strikes and assure Continuity of Government while directing other major military operations,or respond to significant contingencies such as large-scale natural disasters.* The E-4B must be a large,four-engine airliner derivative,so are expected to be unused or lightly used Boeing 747-8 jumbo jets.They must be powerful enough to fulfill the Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) function;the nuclear command role;communications and security;as well as the essential redundancies.For its part,SNC recently held a ribbon cutting for one of a planned four maintenance,repair and overhaul hangers with attached painting facilities at its new Dayton,Ohio complex.The exact requirements for the SAOC are classified.SNC does have specialties in data and communications modifications to existing aircraft.It can perform post-production modifications without access to sensitive proprietary data from the original manufacturers.SNC has already identified appropriate aircraft for the project through X-ray screening.A competitive contract award by the Air Force is expected in early 2024.*The fleet will consist of an initial 8-10 aircraft,although it could be expanded to reinstate the Cold War Operation Looking Glass role in light of the hypersonic weapons threat posed by Russia and China,with an estimated warning time of only fifteen minutes.In Looking Glass,one of the aircraft is aloft 24/7/365 under the command of a general officer.*The Nightwatch aircraft are considered Weapons Systems.SNC has provided the Air Force with an Airlift/Tanker Open Missions Systems kit (ATOMS) kit.It uses existing antennas and cables to provide line-of-sight and beyond data connections to networks such as Link 16,giving aircraft more situational awareness.Such connectivity for a mobile fleet is considered essential by the Air Force.

Prepared for National Emergency,US Stages Series of Pointed Warnings To North Korea

Beginning in January,the US has been staging a series of warnings to North Korea and other potential nuclear adversaries following North Korea's recent underground nuclear weapon detonation and long-range missile test flight-supposedly to launch a satellite,but believed by the US to have been an intercontinental ballistic missile test.In January,a US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress heavy bomber was flown on a deterrence mission over South Korea,escorted by 2 fighter jets.The B-52 can deliver a substantial number of nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and other precision strike nuclear and conventional payloads.*
This was followed on 17 February by a flight of 4 US Air Force F-22 Raptor advanced technology fighter jets that had been launched from Japan over South Korea,escorted by 4 South Korean F-15K Slam Eagles and 4 US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons.The aircraft landed at Osan Air Base near Seoul,South Korea,where there was a red carpet ceremony of unity between the US and South Korean Airmen.*
In February,there were 2 Minuteman III ICBM test launches in one week from Vandenberg Air Force Base,California.US Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen from the 91st Missile Wing,Minot Air Force Base,North Dakota and the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron,Offutt Air Force Base,Nebraska,launched an unarmed LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM with a test re-entry vehicle from Vandenberg.Most significantly,the launch was controlled from a US Strategic Command Boeing E-4B Nightwatch flying command post,a designated national emergency aircraft.The missile flew about 4200 miles to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
The flight test program demonstrates one part of the operational capability of the ICBM weapon system,said 576th FLTS commander Colonel Craig Ramsey.But perhaps most importantly,this visible message of national security serves to assure our partners and dissuade potential aggressors,COL Ramsey added.*
On 25 February,a second unarmed Minuteman was launched from Vandenberg by the more conventional ground control method.*
On 7 March,around 17,000 US troops and more than 300,000 South Korean forces began their annual spring exercise to practice defending against a North Korean attack.The drills will last through April and have been described as the largest ever in the series.*
North Korea is known to be developing the KN08 mobile ICBM that will threaten the entire US,and to already have one of them that is operational.*
Boeing (BA)