An Air Force E-4B Nightwatch takes off from Lincoln Airport in Nebraska April 26. The airport in Lincoln is being used while repairs are made to Offutt Air Force Base following a March 2019 flood. (Daniel Woolfolk/Staff)
Politico: Time is ticking to replace the Pentagon’s 1970s-era Doomsday planes
Built to survive a nuclear attack, these Air Force aircraft are expected to fly well past their 50th birthday.
ABOARD AN E-4B DOOMSDAY PLANE — Inside a military aircraft designed to survive a nuclear war, an area once used as a first class lounge now contains six blue passenger seats next to two sleeping bunks.
Maj. Ted DeBonis, maintenance squadron commander, says it’s a break area for the 12 aircraft mechanics who accompany the plane on every hop, waiting to fix it anywhere in the world.
It’s an unusual setup for a military aircraft. But a flying maintenance hangar is the kind of thing you need when you’re operating a plane that’s been around since the Carter administration.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Are these planes necessary? .... Does America need its ‘Doomsday plane’? (Air Force Times).
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