US Company Acquires Retired Passenger Jets for Future 'Doomsday' Plane Development
Imagine the economy-class seat you once occupied on a commercial flight transforming into the command center for the US nuclear arsenal. Learn how a US firm is repurposing retired passenger jets for the creation of next-generation 'Doomsday' planes.
That economy-class seat you once sat in while flying in Asia could one day be where the United States controls its nuclear weapons arsenal.
This is because the Sierra Nevada Corporation, the contractor for the replacements for the US Air Force’s current fleet of strategic command and control military aircraft, has bought five Boeing 747 passenger jets that were previously operated by Korean Air. These aircraft are commonly referred to as "Doomsday" planes.
The Doomsday planes, also known as the E-4B “Nightwatch,” are designed to serve as command-and-control centers for the US military during a national emergency. This could be a scenario where ground command facilities are destroyed or rendered inoperable, such as in a nuclear war.
These planes essentially act as a flying Pentagon, capable of accommodating the US president, secretary of defense, members of the Joint Chiefs, and over 100 other individuals. They have the capability to oversee and direct US military operations globally from the aircraft, as stated in an Air Force fact sheet on the E-4Bs.
The Doomsday planes are specially designed to survive the impact of an electromagnetic pulse, a powerful energy surge produced by a nuclear blast. This pulse has the potential to disrupt and destroy electrical systems in critical infrastructure sectors, as stated by the US Department of Homeland Security.
According to the Air Force, there is always at least one Doomsday plane on standby round the clock at a US military base located somewhere in the world.
On Friday, a spokesperson for the Colorado-based Sierra Nevada confirmed the purchase of the Korean Air jets but would not give any further details.
A Korean Air Boeing 747-800 landing at Rome Fiumicino airport.
A Korean Air Boeing 747-800 landing at Rome Fiumicino airport.
Fabrizio Gandolfo/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
The Air Force awarded Sierra Nevada a $13 billion contract on April 26 to develop and produce the Survivable Airborne Operations Center, also known as the Doomsday plane. The project is expected to be completed by 2036, as per a Defense Department release.
Sierra Nevada expanded its operations last year by opening a 100,000-square-foot aircraft repair, maintenance, and overhaul facility at Dayton International Airport in Ohio. Construction has already started on a second hangar of similar size.
An artist's drawing of the Dayton facility displayed a 747-800 aircraft inside.
These 747-800s would be a modernization from the older and smaller 747-200 planes currently in the Doomsday fleet, which have been in service with the Air Force since the 1980s.
Korean Air recently announced the sale of five of its aircraft to Sierra Nevada for $675 million. The airline stated that this decision was made as part of their plan to introduce new aircraft in the mid- to long-term, with the deal set to be finalized by September 30, 2025.
As of October 2023, Korean Air had a total of nine 747-800 passenger jets in its fleet, as reported on its website.
CNN’s Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report.
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