Posted on May 30, 2022
Time is ticking to replace the Pentagon’s 1970s-era Doomsday planes
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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.
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.
Time is ticking to replace the Pentagon’s 1970s-era Doomsday planes
Posted from politico.com
Flying
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Cold War
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Keeping the E-4B flying
Meanwhile, the crews flying the Doomsday planes need to keep them flying, and it’s getting expensive. The Air Force is requesting $195 million in fiscal year 2023 solely for depot maintenance.
Experts expect maintenance costs will grow over the next five years. And because Boeing isn’t making the planes anymore, spare parts are hard to find.
But the Air Force is still investing in upgrades and training systems for the E-4B. On April 1, the Air Force received a $16 million full-motion simulator, a first for the E-4B. It means airmen can train in Nebraska rather than having to travel to Miami.
The Air Force also wants to improve the E-4B’s communications systems, setting aside $25 million in the fiscal year 2023 budget request. One of the projects is the Survivable Super High Frequency, built by L3Harris, that will replace portions of the E-4B’s aging jam-resistant secure communications system.
Meanwhile, the E-4B’s maintenance team is constantly working, with 12 people on alert around the clock every day of the year. And they’re doing it all without a hangar: In June 2017, a tornado hit Offutt Air Force Base, where two E-4Bs were stored, causing $8.5 million in damage.
Two years later, flooding in March 2019 destroyed the 595th Command and Control Group’s offices and alert center. Last year, Offutt began rebuilding its runway and E-4B operations moved temporarily to Lincoln airport.
Against the backdrop, the Air Force continued to delay its search for a replacement while watching the E-4B fleet slowly decay.
Things became so dire to reduce wear and tear that the E-4B is no longer trotted out for travel within the U.S., but only overseas so that the aging aircraft can get much-needed maintenance and upgrades, Golden said.
Although the Air Force plans to launch a formal search this year, there is a real possibility the project may face delays, which will put more pressure on the E-4B maintenance team and the piecemeal approach they use to keep the fleet flying.
“With the flood, the pandemic — that was inconvenient, but we’ll still complete the mission,” DeBonis said."
..."Keeping the E-4B flying
Meanwhile, the crews flying the Doomsday planes need to keep them flying, and it’s getting expensive. The Air Force is requesting $195 million in fiscal year 2023 solely for depot maintenance.
Experts expect maintenance costs will grow over the next five years. And because Boeing isn’t making the planes anymore, spare parts are hard to find.
But the Air Force is still investing in upgrades and training systems for the E-4B. On April 1, the Air Force received a $16 million full-motion simulator, a first for the E-4B. It means airmen can train in Nebraska rather than having to travel to Miami.
The Air Force also wants to improve the E-4B’s communications systems, setting aside $25 million in the fiscal year 2023 budget request. One of the projects is the Survivable Super High Frequency, built by L3Harris, that will replace portions of the E-4B’s aging jam-resistant secure communications system.
Meanwhile, the E-4B’s maintenance team is constantly working, with 12 people on alert around the clock every day of the year. And they’re doing it all without a hangar: In June 2017, a tornado hit Offutt Air Force Base, where two E-4Bs were stored, causing $8.5 million in damage.
Two years later, flooding in March 2019 destroyed the 595th Command and Control Group’s offices and alert center. Last year, Offutt began rebuilding its runway and E-4B operations moved temporarily to Lincoln airport.
Against the backdrop, the Air Force continued to delay its search for a replacement while watching the E-4B fleet slowly decay.
Things became so dire to reduce wear and tear that the E-4B is no longer trotted out for travel within the U.S., but only overseas so that the aging aircraft can get much-needed maintenance and upgrades, Golden said.
Although the Air Force plans to launch a formal search this year, there is a real possibility the project may face delays, which will put more pressure on the E-4B maintenance team and the piecemeal approach they use to keep the fleet flying.
“With the flood, the pandemic — that was inconvenient, but we’ll still complete the mission,” DeBonis said."
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If there are frames passed the X-ray inspection, they should keep them flying like the B-52's and keep them flying for almost 200 years. The B ministration wants to give 15% increase to federal agencies for golf Delta climate change but only a 4% increase in the defense budget with the net result of a 6% decrease in the defense budget because of the Putin and Biden price hike of fuel. How can the Air Force maintain these aircraft if the defense budget is only going up by 4% not 15% like some federal agencies are? It makes no sense but this president cares more about climate change help when a nuclear war may just bring climate change into a reality and it will last 20 years. If any leftist Democrats survive, but they will be really upset that they destroyed America not just from within, but from the outside.
I have used this theme over and over again because climate change is not the biggest existential threat as the media and others have said, it is our adversaries.
While idiots go to Davos to brag about how they're going to mitigate climate change, remember that Russia has threatened Finland as Sweden with nuclear missiles or placing nuclear missiles if they join NATO.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/110223-nuclear-war-winter-global-warming-environment-science-climate-change
I have used this theme over and over again because climate change is not the biggest existential threat as the media and others have said, it is our adversaries.
While idiots go to Davos to brag about how they're going to mitigate climate change, remember that Russia has threatened Finland as Sweden with nuclear missiles or placing nuclear missiles if they join NATO.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/110223-nuclear-war-winter-global-warming-environment-science-climate-change
Regional nuclear war could trigger global cooling and famine
Even a limited nuclear conflict could spark "unprecedented climate change," U.S. government scientists warn.
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