Boeing eliminated from Air Force’s ‘Doomsday Plane’ competition, Reuters says

The U.S. Air Force has eliminated Boeing from its competition to develop a successor to the E-4B Nightwatch, Boeing confirmed on Friday, shaking up the battle to build the next version of the aircraft known as the “Doomsday Plane” due to its ability to survive a nuclear war, Reuters’ Valerie Insinna and Mike Stone report. The move leaves privately-held defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corp as the lone company publicly vying for the Survivable Airborne Operations Center contract to eventually replace a fleet that has been in use since the 1970s, the authors note.