Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth took his Arsenal of Freedom tour to the swing states of Ohio and Wisconsin on Oct. 20, highlighting efforts to boost defense manufacturing before the midterm elections next month, including by visiting future E-4C “Doomsday” planes. “We plan to spend even more in the future,” Hegseth said during a visit to the Sierra Nevada Corporation in Dayton, Ohio, where he praised President Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican. ... Sierra Nevada purchased five Korean Air 747-8i jetliners and plans to convert at least four into the new E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center, or SAOC. Hegseth championed the company, which won a $13 billion contract to build America’s next-generation nuclear command-and-control aircraft over Boeing. Shield AI was recently awarded a contract to integrate artificial intelligence into aircraft. And there are signs the Air Force may choose to grow the fleet. https://www.airandspaceforces.com/hegseth-defense-manfucturing-push-visit-future-e-4c-doomsday-planes/