Air Force Starting to Ramp Up Development of New NC3 Aircraft

The Air Force plans to finalize an acquisition strategy for its new Looking Glass nuclear command, control, and communications program by September, part of a prelude to a significant increase in the service’s NC3 spending in the coming years. 

“Looking Glass” is the nickname given to the Airborne National Command Post mission—aircraft that fly with the systems and crews needed to receive and relay orders from the President and launch intercontinental ballistic missiles via the Airborne Launch Control System. The Air Force only recently took back the mission after more than 25 years as a Navy responsibility.

The Air Force could choose to acquire new aircraft for what it is calling “Looking Glass-Next.” Or it could decide to add the mission to its in-development E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center, which is meant to replace the E-4B “Doomsday” plane as the flying command post for national leaders to direct nuclear and conventional forces, execute emergency war orders, and coordinate civil response actions in case of a major emergency. 

Gen. S.L. Davis, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, acknowledged both possibilities in an interview with The War Zone in January but said no decisions had been made. 

Documents from the 2027 budget request released this month use similar, if somewhat generic, language to describe the basic requirements for Looking Glass-Next and the E-4C. The Looking Glass-Next system will “be hardened to protect against nuclear and electromagnetic effects and use a Modular Open System Approach (MOSA) for a mission system that will integrate secure communications and planning capabilities on modern information technology infrastructure.” 

The E-4C aircraft “will be hardened to protect against nuclear and electromagnetic effects and modified with an aerial refueling capability to enable sustained airborne operations. The mission system will integrate secure communications and planning capabilities on modern information technology infrastructure based on a Modular Open System Approach (MOSA),” the documents continue. 

The budget documents also say the Looking Glass-Next program office will “look at ways to expand the industrial base, accelerate commercial preference, develop incentives that maximize industry creativity, and create best value for the government while reducing program risk” and anticipates receiving final approval on its acquisition strategy by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, or between July and September. 

In the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, lawmakers directed the Air Force to submit a study to Congress on that acquisition strategy and specifically told the service to consider acquiring and modifying new C-130Js for the mission. 

That’s what the Navy is doing for its “Take Charge and Move Out” mission, which is similar to the Looking Glass mission focused mainly on receiving, verifying, and relaying orders to the Navy’s nuclear submarines. 

Since 1998, the Navy’s E-6B Mercury has flown both the TACAMO and Looking Glass missions, but the sea service is transitioning TACAMO to the new E-130J Phoenix II and giving Looking Glass back to the Air Force, which flew the mission for decades using the EC-135.

The Air Force plans to start small with Looking Glass, asking for $65 million for the project in fiscal 2027. In 2028, however, it is projecting a sixfold increased budget of $409.5 million

SAOC

Similarly, the service is starting to ramp up its spending on the E-4C after awarding the contract for the program to the Sierra Nevada Corporation in April 2024. In the 2027 budget, the Air Force is asking for $2.2 billion to continue research, development, and testing efforts on the SAOC.

That figure is expected to grow in the coming years, to $2.52 billion in 2028 and $2.71 billion in 2029, all in R&D funding. All told, the budget’s five-year spending plan charts more than $10 billion in developing the SAOC.

Sierra Nevada Corp. is buying and converting Korean Air 747-8 passenger jets for the SAOC, and flight testing began in September 2025. According to the Air Force budget documents, a critical design review will start in fiscal 2027 and last through fiscal 2029.