The U.S. Air Force currently has the E-4B "National Security Command Center" platform, which is known as the Doomsday Command Aircraft, and the E-4B is actually an improved version of the 747 passenger aircraft, and the E-4B is also the "Pentagon" in the air, so it is a special plane for the U.S. Secretary of Defense to travel. When the President of the United States visits, he will also be accompanied by the E-4B Doomsday Command Aircraft, because if there is an emergency, the E-4B can be used to direct the US military operations. In Hollywood movies in the United States, the E-4B doomsday command aircraft is often seen, and it is generally accompanied by nuclear war scenes. According to US media reports, the US Air Force has spent a huge amount of money to replace the Doomsday command plane, and against the background of the United States' active encirclement and containment of China, there is quite a rhythm that China will not be allowed to change the status quo.
In recent years, the United States has viewed China as its number one challenge, and has suppressed China in a number of areas, including using military force to build deterrence against China. Recently, the U.S. Army deployed land-based intermediate-range missiles on China's doorstep, and the commander of the U.S. Army Pacific has openly threatened to deploy hypersonic missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. When the United States suppresses China, it also frequently uses strategic nuclear bombs to close in on China, and recently the B-52H strategic nuclear bomber has begun the dynamic deployment of troops on Guam, in addition, the United States has deployed strategic missile nuclear submarines and attack nuclear submarines in the Asia-Pacific region on a regular basis, thus continuing to exert pressure on China.
The E-4B is the air "nerve center" of the US military, and plays an important role in the US military deployment, and the E-4B is matched with the E-6B doomsday nuclear warfare communication aircraft, and the US Pentagon can transmit nuclear strike orders to the E-6B through the E-4B, and then can provide specific instructions for projecting nuclear weapons to the underwater strategic missile nuclear submarine through the E-6B's long-wave radio system. At the time of China's rise, the United States often put pressure on China through ballistic missile test launches, in addition to projecting land-based ICBMs, it also used nuclear submarines to launch submarine-launched ICBMs, so the equipment of doomsday aircraft is very important.
Judging from the information released by the US Air Force, the US Air Force plans to invest $13 billion to obtain a new Doomsday command aircraft to replace the existing E-4B "National Security Command Center" platform. For the American aviation giant, this is a painful loss of order, because the US Air Force chose Sierra Nevada to be responsible for the project, but the US Air Force did not announce the specific details of the replacement E-4B, nor did it release information about the platform, as far as the needs of the US Air Force are concerned, the US company will not develop a large aircraft platform, and can only choose from the existing commercial platform. Since the 747 has been discontinued, Sierra Nevada's options are narrow.
Because the Doomsday Command Aircraft needed to install a lot of equipment and also meet the ability to fly intercontinentally, it was clear that Sierra Nevada needed a twin-aisle airliner to improve. There are currently second-hand 747 models on the market, and it is likely that the future Doomsday Command Aircraft will use the same airframe platform as the E-4B. However, with the progress of aviation technology, there have been large-scale platforms similar to 747 development and application, the United States currently has the 787 series, Europe has the A350 series, in terms of the size of the fuselage and the internal space, including the range, are able to meet the needs of the Pentagon.