The C-17 airlifter, earlier beset by troubles so severe that program cancellation was a possibility, produces outstanding results in a month-long wartime surge test. In Nov., DOD says the C- 17 has bounced back from its problems and authorizes the Air Force to buy up to 120 of these aircraft.
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…