This year on the 4th of July, President Trump is planning to do some sort of flyover of Washington, D.C., led by Air Force One, which I think might be exciting if you live in Washington. new It was Air Force One was only introduced on Friday.
In some of his oft-quoted statements about this plane, Trump said“It is considered the most luxurious plane in the world.” And he argued that part of the rationale for speeding up the long-stalled project was for other countries’ heads of state to “have a newer and better plane.”
So how is this plane “better”? Alternatively, this aircraft is, in fact, worse?
This will be an article about the aircraft, its features and attributes. But this plane — believed to be a gift from the people of Qatar to the US military — is a touchy subject, so let me first try to clear up the biggest difference between this plane and the old one, the controversy:
This aircraft is controversial, but the issue may be (relatively) short-lived
Experts have repeatedly claimed that this plane changed hands from Qatar to the United States. was unconstitutional because it violates the indemnification clause. Experts also expect that, anyway, there will never be an attempt to sue it or punish Trump. The counterargument offered by the President is essentially this The Pentagon can accept a gifted plane from Qatar without dirtying the president’s hands. And It appears from CNN‘s informs The plane was less of an unsolicited gift and more of Trump essentially saying, “Can I please give away your plane for free?” Whether or not you think all of this is good probably depends on whether or not you generally agree with this president.
But whatever your feelings about his methods, it’s largely due to the turmoil surrounding Boeing’s Air Force One upgrade program — the transition from the older VC-25A to the theoretically new VC-25B. The main outlines of the VC-25B program became public during Barack Obama’s first term and even then. aviation bloggers scoffed what the new Air Force One should look like.
These mockups were mostly true. The VC-25B, as predicted, will be a military-ready version of the Boeing 747-8 (747-8).ito be exact), but Boeing has been surprisingly slow to replace and deliver 747-8is. These delays, as well as cost overruns, He disappointed Trump from the first days of his first presidential term. in 2018 he renegotiated the nation’s Air Force One contract with Boeingdelivery is planned for 2024 and the price is 3.9 billion dollars. Trump 2.0 was there at the start yet no new Air Force One. Meanwhile, Qatar had a modified 747-8i to transport dignitaries, and the rest is history.
In itself statement About this Air Force One “bridging program,” the Air Force claims that the current aircraft require so much long-term maintenance that “interim capability has become an absolute imperative” and expects delivery of Boeing’s VC-25Bs in 2028. In other words, the president plans to use this modified, Qatari-gifted aircraft as his Air Force base for about two years.
The new Air Force One cannot refuel in the air
As explained in a Long post by Luke Diaz of aviation blog Simple FlyingThe soon-to-be-retired Air Force One jets are capable of mid-air refueling. Assuming the president of the United States is the one holding the world together during some kind of apocalyptic scenario, it’s comforting to be able to keep that person in the sky indefinitely, so that he’s not exposed to ground-level attacks or threats.
In practice, Diaz says, mid-air refueling is painful and nauseating to pilots. The only time the president was even rumored to be on Air Force One was when it was mid-air refueling. George W. Bush’s long and secret visit to Iraq in 2003.
However, this is not the unique limitation of the aircraft donated by Qatar. The decision to refuse to refuel in the air It returned in 2017and will apply to other Air Force One aircraft when delivered.
The new Air Force One supplied by Qatar may have lowered its defense capabilities
The aircraft designated as Air Force One have defense systems, but the basics are public knowledge– in particular, the protective equipment was attached directly to the side of the aircraft. You can’t, for example, photograph the shielding of an airplane from electromagnetic pulses caused by nuclear explosions, but anyone familiar with the relevant equipment can assume that the old Air Force Ones are. there is jammers for incoming missiles and countermeasures to disrupt missile guidance.
The War Zone defense blog has been keeping an eye on what might be revealed about the new Air Force defenses, but they haven’t seen much. “At least it will be a plane there is for feature some of them there is a type of DIRCM to counter shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles, and modular sections that can be attached to the bottom of the aircraft by canoe. they wrote in April. After the new aircraft was photographed during test flights last month, they wrote“We still see no evidence of the aircraft being modified by defensive countermeasures.”
Simple Flight also looks confident states that the new aircraft is not protected against electromagnetic pulses and does not have certain anti-missile measures.
The new Air Force One still has the same luxurious interior as when it was in Qatar
When the plane first changed hands, aviation bloggers looked at old pictures how it (probably) looks inside and he seemed sad that everything needs to be stripped down and toughened up. “One of the biggest jobs here will be installing a hardened, multi-layer communications system, which isn’t exactly plug and play,” AeroTime wrote, adding, “Such installations require shielded cabling through the fuselage, dedicated server racks, data centers and encryption modules, as well as special beams in the row and tail.”
It’s not clear how often this actually happens. The The Wall Street Journal reported last month the repairs focused on “top-secret communications equipment that would allow the commander-in-chief to control the country from the sky.” However, the actual changes involved in this happening are said to be minimal. Changes to be seen include the translation of exit signs from Arabic to English and the removal of “contemporary artwork”. Leather armchairs and sofas of the Qatari royal family (probably the ones seen here) this photoit is said that “modern works of art” remain here as well.
Air Force Gen. Dale White told the Journal: “Overall, the aircraft we’re getting is the same internally.”
Painted differently
There is a paint job more red and a little gold. What did you expect?
