American defense companies Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Intelligence & Space join forces to participate
What is known
The United States has 16 E-6Bs in service.Mercury. Recently one of them landed in Iceland. Mercury allows the US president and secretary of defense to communicate with Ohio-class nuclear submarines. The leader of the country can give the command to launch Trident II (D5) ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads from the aircraft.
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Northrop Grumman Vice President Jane BishopBishop noted that the team working on the new E-XX doomsday aircraft has the knowledge and experience to integrate weapons systems and combat operations management. Long Wave Inc. will join the work on the aircraft. and Crescent Systems Inc.
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The Doomsday aircraft will be based onC-130J-30 Super Hercules manufactured by Lockheed Martin. It has an additional 4.5 meters of fuselage compared to the regular C-130. The U.S. Navy's FY 2024 budget request calls for $213.7 million. These funds will be enough to fund three test aircraft.
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Northrop Grumman expects the US Navy to publishtheir requirements in the coming months. So far, it is known that the service wants to see a very low frequency radio system developed by Collins Aerospace in the E-XX. The US Navy is expected to order nine Doomsday aircraft, with a contract signed in the first quarter of FY2025.