Days after being announced as the winner of a billion-dollar contract to supply the new “doomsday plane” to the United States (USAF), Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) will purchase five Boeing 747-8s from Korean Air.
According to Reuters, South Korea's main airline announced the sale of the aircraft in an exchange document on Wednesday (08). According to the document obtained by the agency, the 747 will be sold to SNC in September 2025, in a deal valued at US$674 million. The deal also follows Korean Air's plan to dispose of older aircraft and replace them with newer generation aircraft.
Last week, the USAF announced Sierra Nevada as the winner of the US$13 billion tender to develop and deliver the E-4B Nightwatch replacement. Known as the End of the World Plane, the jet is a 747-200 in service with the US Air Force since the 1970s. Four of the planes are in service.
The enger Jumbo, one of Boeing's most classic planes, was adapted to become an aerial command post, receiving the US General Staff in the event of major catastrophes or even nuclear wars. For this reason, the E-4 received the infamous nicknames of the Plane of the End of the World or the Plane of the Apocalypse.
To learn more about this aircraft and its Russian counterpart, check out this special Aeroflap article by clicking here.
Boeing itself, which has been experiencing difficulties, abandoned the dispute, leaving only SNC, a medium-sized company that ended up winning the contract. Now, the company has until 2032 to design and deliver the 'new' E-4 to the USAF.
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 t 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.”
