Among the attributes of the Air Force’s future Long-Range Strike Bomber will be its ability to reach out and operate in contested maritime environments, retired Lt. Gen. Bob Elder, former 8th Air Force commander, told AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando on Thursday. That capability will, in turn, support homeland defense, he said during the panel discussion on LRS in contested environments. In broader terms, LRS-B will provide the nation with “a truly global-shaping, influence, and operational-effects capability that is unmatched by anything else,” said Elder. It will give the President a tool of military and diplomatic power, encourage adversary restraint, and enable other air platforms and the entire joint force to be more effective, he said. For those thinking that stealth technology has been overtaken by potential adversaries’ advances, Elder said “not all stealth is equal.” He added, “all-aspect stealth makes a big difference.”
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…