The 2006 defense policy measure directs the Air Force to retain all its KC-135E tankers, F-117 stealth fighters, and C-130E/H model airlifters through Fiscal 2006. USAF had been planning to start shedding some of these older aircraft to save money.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…