Flying more than 11,000 nautical miles on a 24-hour mission from Andersen AB, Guam, three B-2 stealth bombers last month precisely delivered their payloads on an Alaskan training range engulfed in smoke from forest fires—the fires were not part of the mission. The B-2s were in Guam on what has become a routine rotation for stateside bombers to bolster US forces in the Pacific region. The Global Power mission concluded the 120-day rotation for four B-2s and more than 240 airmen from Whiteman AFB, Mo. While at Andersen, the Whiteman team flew more than 100 combat missions.
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…