The Air Force Tuesday clarified its thinking on a next-generation gunship for Air Force Special Operations Command. An AFSOC official told the Daily Report last year that the command wanted a variant of the C-27J—the AC-27 “Stinger”—as its gunship light option for overhead fire support of special operations forces. However, an Air Force spokesman said Tuesday, “Although several platforms are under consideration to host these capabilities, no specific aircraft type has been determined or budgeted for this purpose.” He added that the Air Force is working with US Special Operations Command to identify “potential solutions to future special operations forces precision strike requirements.” Anything they come up with “will be reflected in future Air Force budgets.” The C-27 program is experiencing heavy turbulence, as the Army has been pulled out of the program with the Fiscal 2010 budget, and the Air Force has been put in charge. (See above)
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…