US Air Force Awards $13 billion Doomsday aircraft contract

Sierra Nevada Corporation has won a US$13 billion US Air Force (USAF) contract for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) aircraft, the successor of the E-4B “Doomsday” aircraft.

This deal will provide the development and production of the SAOC Weapon System to include the delivery of engineering and manufacturing development aircraft, associated ground systems, production aircraft and interim contractor support, the US DoD said. Work on the contract was slated to last until 2036.

Sierra Nevada was up against Boeing in the SAOC, with the latter having been eliminated from the competition in December.

As per USAF budget documents, the SAOC will be a commercially-sourced aircraft reinforced to withstand nuclear and electromagnetic impacts and equipped with aerial refuelling capability for prolonged airborne operations. Additionally, it will require secure command, control and communications systems, along with contemporary IT infrastructure.

The USAF initiated work on SAOC in 2019, but progress has been sluggish, with multiple delays. Progress would now, however, be expected to accelerate significantly. Funding for the programme has increased substantially, with the US Congress allocating $744 million for 2024, and the USAF seeking $1.7 billion in 2025, compared to just $94 million in fiscal year 2023.

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