The Air Force is considering awarding multiple contracts in fiscal year 2021 for risk-reduction work supporting the effort to build and purchase the president's next emergency command-and-control aircraft. That’s the approach for possible pre-engineering and manufacturing development efforts listed in the Survivable Airborne Operations Center program’s draft acquisition strategy, Air Force spokeswoman Patty Welsh told Inside Defense in a recent email. SAOC replaces the legacy, 1970s-era E-4B National Airborne Operations Center -- a fleet of four aircraft derived from...
