Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has secured a US$13 billion contract to produce the replacement for the E-4B Nightwatch, popularly known as the End of the World Plane or the Apocalypse Plane. The company, based in Nevada, is one of Embraer's main partners in the United States. 

SNC was selected by the US Air Force (USAF) to develop and produce the aircraft, officially called the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) in the contract. Under the agreement, the first of four new 'End of the World Planes' is expected to enter service in 2032; The contract is valid until 2036. 

It is worth noting that the company was also the only one left in the bidding, after Boeing withdrew from the dispute at the end of 2023 due to concerns about the fixed-price contract. Boeing has faced large losses on contracts of this type, such as the KC-46 Pegasus refueler and the VC-25B, the famous Air Force One. 

It is not yet known which plane will replace the E-4B. According to the Aviation Week, SNC will possibly modify a Boeing 747-8i for the role, although production of the aircraft will end in 2023. The same model is also being adapted by Boeing to become the new US presidential plane. Therefore, it is possible that Boeing will still have some participation in the project, even if in a limited way. 

What is the End of the World Plane?

In service with the USAF since 1974, the E-4B is an airborne forward command post that serves directly under the Secretary of Defense. Also called the Flying Pentagon, the military jet based on the classic 747-200 Jumbo passenger plane is better known by its popular nicknames mentioned at the beginning of the text.

That's because the plane will serve as the last command station for the US military in the event of a nuclear war or extreme natural disaster. Therefore, it is from there that orders for troops, missile silos and nuclear submarines will come from. 

To learn more about this aircraft and its Russian counterpart, check out this special Aeroflap article by clicking here. 

Embraer partner

Since 2013, Sierra Nevada has maintained a healthy partnership with Embraer Defense & Security. The North American firm produces attack turboprops in the USA A-29 Super Tucano for contracts financed by the United States government, such as the one that supplied planes to Afghanistan and the USAF itself.

In February, SNC and Embraer conducted a joint demonstration of the A-29 for the Ghana Air Force (GAF). On the occasion, the GAF Chief of Staff, Air Vice Marshal Frederick Asare Kwasi Bekoe, expressed enthusiasm with the display and said that “the partnership with SNC and Embraer was timely, considering that the A-29 Super Tucano was a strategic offensive platform to improve the Force’s deterrent and offensive posture.”