Air Force to host industry day on E-4B command and control replacement system

By Sara Sirota / December 4, 2019 at 3:46 PM

The Air Force will hold an event with industry to discuss pre-engineering activities for a new command-and-control aircraft system that's intended to replace the aging E-4B National Airborne Operations Center.

The Survivable Airborne Operations Center will feature modern communications, networks and advanced C2 subsystems aboard a new, commercial derivative aircraft, according to a notice the service released today. The legacy E-4B fleet consists of four 1970s-era Boeing aircraft that are nearing the end of their service lives.

The SAOC program office will host the industry day next February at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA. Responses are due Dec. 20.

Meanwhile, the Air Force's fiscal year 2020 budget documents show the service anticipates needing more than $535 million in research and development funding over the next five years for the NAOC recapitalization effort. They describe SAOC as an optimized fleet that has the airborne command center capabilities provided by both the E-4B and Navy's E-6B.

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