Another B-52 has arrived at Andersen AFB, Guam, to keep up the continuous bomber presence following a ground mishap that severely damaged a Stratofortress last month. The bomber, deployed from Minot AFB, N.D., arrived June 2 at the base, according to photos released by Pacific Air Forces. A B-52 deployed from Minot’s 69th Bomb Squadron on May 19 was severely damaged upon landing after a training mission at Andersen, with all seven crew members escaping without injuries before the bomber was almost completely engulfed in flames. Air Force B-52s deployed at a high rate so far this year, with two more arriving this June 1 at RAF Fairford, England, to kick off a rotation through Europe, according to US Air Forces in Europe. B-52s are also still deployed to the Middle East for the ISIS fight in Iraq and Syria.
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…