US Africa Command may have the lead in Operation Odyssey Dawn—the coalition effort to end bloodshed against civilians in Libya—but officials are working to transfer that power to coalition forces “as expeditiously as possible,” said Army Gen. Carter Ham, AFRICOM boss. Before that can happen, though, a new headquarters must be identified. “It’s not so simple as having a handshake somewhere and saying, ‘You are now in charge,'” Ham told Pentagon reporters Monday via a satellite connection from his office in Germany. He added, “There are some very complex, technical things that need to occur,” such as ensuring aircrews are not put at risk and air operations are not disrupted. “We want to accomplish the transition as expeditiously as we possibly can. I don’t see this being a prolonged process,” said Ham, who declined to offer a timeline for the transition. (Ham transcript)
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…