The U.S. Air Force said on Friday that it has awarded a $13 billion contract to Sierra Nevada Corp to develop a successor to the E-4B, known as the Doomsday plane due to its ability to survive a nuclear war.
The Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) project is intended to replace the aging 1970s-era aircraft, which is approaching end-of-service life, an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement.
Work on the SAOC will be carried out in Colorado, Nevada and Ohio and is expected to be completed in 2036, the Air Force added.
Reuters in December reported that the U.S. Air Force eliminated Boeing from its competition to develop a successor to the E-4B Nightwatch.
And here I thought at first glance that they gave a plane contract to a brewery.
They had to choose between a brewery and Boeing. The brewery at least understood how important process control is.
I was thinking a software publisher
My mind also went to Sierra Entertainment. From Leisure Suit Larry to Doomsday Planes, they can do it all.
What an amazing catalogue of games they made!
You’ve been a real pantload
Not a mountain range?
75ish years seems like a great lifespan for a plane
The B-52 has been flying since 1952, 74 years, so yeah that’s on the high end
Note that there have also been a lot of upgrades. Like, the basic airframe of the 1952 B-52 may be the same as the 2024 B-52, but the stuff onboard has changed a lot over the years.
I’d guess, though I don’t know, that the same is probably true of the E-4.
Aerodynamics and metal fatigue hasn’t changed much of any at all in a century.
Once you have a good airframe design, it just becomes a matter of upgrading electronics, engines, regular repairs, and servicing parts that are known to be prone to metal fatigue.
Hence why the B-52 which was first flown in 1952 will likely be in service until 2060!
Reuters in December reported that the U.S. Air Force eliminated Boeing from its competition to develop a successor to the E-4B Nightwatch.
No surprises here.
$13B would be better spent preventing Doomsday. Building a plane needed as all other bases are gone seems like a fools errand for sure. What are they commanding at this point as humanity has lost.
Revenge
They should name it that, like the pirate ship.
All right, Westley, I’ve never had a valet. You can try it for tonight. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.
$13 billion could save so many lives around the world, bring food and healthcare to so many people…
Airborne command-and-control for nuclear war also has some pretty direct implications for a lot of lives.
The time you spent browsing and commenting on Lemmy could have been used to help the lives of so many people in need in your area.
Buddy, I’m the one in need of help
You and me both brother
They aren’t wrong.
You, on the ather hand, are.
How is taking time to help people in need instead of scrolling wrong?
The us defense budget for '25 is $849 billion. That budget could save everyone, or kill everyone… Instead it’ll be used to prepare to kill
The US military is a larger force for peace than all others throughout history combined.
Tell that to Iraqis.
You understand the difference between specific and general, right?
You understand that good doesn’t wash bad and ER doctors don’t get a few freebies to run over people in the parking lot?
Good thing those aren’t the same and it’s not at all an apt comparison.
900,000 dead over a lie.
People are only nice to white people because they really fucking nuts.
White people and their self made apocalypse has got to be the laziest and dumbest bullshit ever created.
Paranoid losers.
Not sure why you gotta bring skin color into this?
It’s ok to be racist now if you direct it properly.
Dont worry dude, China intends on catching up and building up their nuclear arsenal to the level of the US and Russia.
So i guess “yellow” people have joined the “white” people’s paranoia. I dont see how race is relevant in any way.
People are crazy, this aint a white people thing. Have ya ever looked up the rape of Nanking, Imperial Japan wouldve drowned the world in nuclear fire if they had gotten the bomb first. So fucken knock it off with the dumbfuck bullshit.
