In some of his oft-quoted comments about the plane, Trump has said, “It is considered the most luxurious plane in the world.” And he has claimed that the rationale behind speeding up the long-stalled project was that heads of state of other countries “have an aircraft that is much newer and much better.”
So how exactly is this plane “better”? Alternatively, is this plane actually, worse?
This will be an article about an aircraft, its characteristics and its characteristics. But this aircraft—reportedly a gift to the U.S. military from the nation of Qatar—is a sensitive topic, so I’ll first try to address the biggest difference, the controversy, between this aircraft and the older aircraft:
This plane is controversial, but the issue may be (relatively) short-lived
Experts have raised the issue several times as to how this plane reached America from Qatar. was unconstitutional Because it allegedly violates the emoluments clause. Experts also hope that, somehow, There will never be an attempt to prosecute or punish Trump. The counterargument that the President has offered is essentially this The Pentagon can accept a gifted plane from Qatar without getting the president’s hands dirty. And CNN’s reporting makes it seem like the plane was less an unsolicited gift, and more like Trump essentially saying, “Can I have your plane as a free gift?” Whether or not all of this seems okay to you probably depends on whether you generally agree with this President.
But whatever your feelings about his methods, it’s largely down to the mess surrounding Boeing’s Air Force One upgrade program – a switchover from the older VC-25A to the theoretically newer VC-25B. Basic outlines of the VC-25B program became public in Barack Obama’s first term, and even then, aviation bloggers mocked what the new Air Force One should look like.
Those mockups were basically perfect. As anticipated, the VC-25B will be a military-ready version of the Boeing 747-8 (747-8).Ito be precise), but Boeing has been surprisingly slow to modify and deliver the 747-8is. These delays, as well as cost overruns, had been frustrating Trump since the early days of his first term. In 2018, he renegotiated the country’s Air Force One deal with Boeing, with delivery scheduled for 2024, and a reported price of $3.9 billion. At the beginning of Trump 2.0, there was still No new Air Force One. Meanwhile Qatar got possession of a 747-8i modified to transport dignitaries, and the rest is history.
In its own statement regarding this Air Force One “Bridge Program” the Air Force claims that currently, the aircraft require maintenance for so long that “interim capability becomes an absolute imperative,” and it expects delivery of Boeing’s VC-25B in 2028. In other words, the president plans to use this modified, Qatar-provided aircraft as Air Force One for about two years.
The new Air Force One can’t refuel in the air
As explained in a lengthy post by Luke Diaz of aviation blog Simply Flying, the soon-to-be-retired Air Force One planes have the ability to refuel in the air. When you consider that the American President is the person holding the world together in the event of some kind of apocalypse, it’s comforting to be able to keep this person in the sky indefinitely so that they don’t have to face ground-level attacks or threats.
In practice, Diaz says, refueling in the air is a pain and makes pilots sick. The only time a president was rumored to be refueling Air Force One mid-air was during George W. There was an unusually long and secret trip by Bush to Iraq in 2003.
But this is not a unique limitation of the aircraft gifted by Qatar. The decision to avoid midair refueling came in 2017, and will apply to other Air Force One aircraft as they are delivered.
New Air Force One supplied by Qatar may have reduced defensive capabilities
The planes designated as Air Force One have classified defense systems, but the basics are publicly known – especially the defensive equipment mounted just outside the plane. You can’t photograph the protection of aircraft against electromagnetic waves caused by nuclear explosions, but anyone with knowledge of the relevant hardware can guess that older Air Force One aircraft have jammers for incoming missiles and countermeasures to disrupt missile guidance.
Defense blog War Zone has been keeping an eye on what can be found out about the security of the new Air Force One, but they haven’t seen much. “At least, this plane will do to pass To Speciality Some? “To repel shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles, a type of DIRCM setup and modular units are available that can be attached to the underside of the aircraft in a canoe,” he wrote in April.
Simple Flying also believes that the new aircraft is not protected from electromagnetic waves, and lacks some anti-missile measures.
The interior of the new Air Force One is still as luxurious as it was when it was occupied by Qatar
When the plane initially changed hands, aviation bloggers looked at old photos of what it (presumably) looked like inside, and seemed sad that it would all have to be stripped and made more austere. Aerotime wrote that “One of the biggest jobs here will be the installation of a hardened, multi-layered communications system that is not exactly plug-and-play,” adding, “Such an installation requires shielded cabling through the fuselage, dedicated server racks, data centers and encryption modules, as well as custom antenna arrays on the fuselage and tail.”
It is unclear how much of this actually occurred. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the renovation “focuses on top-secret communications gear that would enable the commander-in-chief to run the country from the sky.” However, the actual changes involved in doing so were reportedly minimal. Changes that will be seen include translating exit signs from Arabic to English and replacing “contemporary artwork”. The Qatari royal family’s leather chairs and sofas (likely those seen in this photo, which also features “contemporary artwork”) are reportedly on hold.
“Overall, the airplane we’re getting is in the same condition from an internal standpoint,” Air Force Gen. Dale White told the Journal.
it’s painted differently
The paint job has more red and some gold. what did you expect?
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