By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
It’s officially called the E-4B Nightwatch – but everyone calls it the Doomsday plane.
The converted Boeing 747-200 has the ability to survive a nuclear blast and the electromagnetic pulse that come along with it, and is designed to be used as a command and control center during emergencies. Last week, the Air Force announced it is standing up a new wing at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska to consolidate the units involved in the Doomsday flights and related missions.
According to an Air Force press release, the new 95th Wing will “assure the readiness of the 595th Command and Control Group’s National Airborne Operations Center…andmission.”
In addition to the 595th CACG at Offutt, the new wing will incorporate existing positions from the 253rd CACG of the Wyoming Air National Guard and the 610th Command and Control Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona.
The 95th Wing will be under the Air Force Strike Command to be fully operational in 2027. Its creation is part of a reorganization directed by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall that’s aimed at improving the service’s ability to fight China and Russia.
“(The) decision reinforces the critical role Offutt Air Force Base plays in ensuring a credible strategic deterrent against existing and emerging threats posed by adversaries like the PRC and Russia,” said Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.).
In May, the Pentagon awarded the Sierra Nevada Corporation a $13 billion contract to build what’s called the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC)aircraft, which would replace the E-4B. The contract extends through 2036.
The Air Force has said the SAOC will be derived from a commercial aircraft and will be “hardened to protect against nuclear and electromagnetic effects and modified with an aerial refueling capability o enable sustained airborne operations.”
A month later, Sierra Nevada bought five Korean Air 747-8 passenger planes that will be converted into SAOC aircraft. Most of the airline’s late-model jumbo jets had been mothballed due to the slowdown in global air traffic. According to Air and Space Forces Magazines, the Korean Air planes were built around 2015 and will be roughly 15 years old when they enter Air Force service.
The four E-4B planes that make up the Doomsday fleet were built more than four decades ago. The Air Force has problems with the planes’ reliability and is finding it difficult to find replacement parts. One USAF report says the planes’ “mission availability” is a little more than 55 percent.
