The Air Force has given “formal direction” to the 341st Space Wing at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., to begin deactivating 50 of its 200 Minuteman III ICBMs and five alert facilities. The Air Force publicly identified Malmstrom earlier this year as the missile unit that would lose 50 ICBMs under a Quadrennial Defense Review mandate to downsize the ICBM force from 500 to 450 missiles. Malmstrom is the only unit with two types of systems, requiring different training and support.
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…