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(Reuters) -The U.S. Air Power mentioned on Friday that it has awarded a $13 billion contract to Sierra Nevada Corp to develop a successor to the E-4B, referred to as the Doomsday aircraft resulting from its potential to outlive a nuclear battle.
The Survivable Airborne Operations Heart (SAOC) challenge is meant to switch the growing old Nineteen Seventies-era plane, which is approaching end-of-service life, an Air Power spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.
Work on the SAOC shall be carried out in Colorado, Nevada and Ohio and is anticipated to be accomplished in 2036, the Air Power added.
To fulfill operational necessities, the weapon system will comprise of a industrial by-product jet hardened and modified to satisfy army necessities.
Reuters in December reported that the U.S. Air Power eradicated Boeing from its competitors to develop a successor to the E-4B Nightwatch.
Whereas usually used to move the U.S. secretary of protection, the E-4B is designed as a cellular command put up able to withstanding nuclear blasts and electromagnetic results, permitting U.S. leaders to ship orders to the army within the occasion of a nationwide emergency.
The E-4B can be able to refueling mid-air and options convention and briefing rooms and superior communications gear.
The Air Power presently operates 4 E-4B plane with not less than one on alert always. The fleet of highly-modified Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets has turn out to be more and more tough and costly to keep up as elements turn out to be out of date.
The E-4B is anticipated to achieve the top of its service life within the early 2030s.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Shailesh Kuber)
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