The United States Air Force is getting some new presidential transport.
While the VC25Bs, which will be designated Air Force One when the president is onboard, won't be delivered until 2024, some details about the upgrade are already in the public domain. Here's what we know about the replacement Air Force One so far.
The US Air Force is sticking with homegrown planemaker Boeing to replace its two VC25As.
This time it's opting for the latest version of the Queen of the Skies, the 747-8.
While any plane carrying the president is designated Air Force One, the two aircraft most frequently assigned that callsign carry tail numbers 28000 and 29000. The pair of modified 747-200s have been carrying VIPs since 1990 and have transported five presidents and numerous high-level officials over the past 30 years.
The original agreement to replace Air Force One aircraft was made under the Obama administration.
The Air Force selected Boeing to build a heavily modified version of its 747-8 in 2015, but in December 2016, even before his official swearing-in, Donald Trump expressed his dissatisfaction regarding the cost of the program. Holding numerous meetings with then Boeing boss Dennis Muilenburg, the two settled on a figure of $3.9 billion.
In a statement at the time, Boeing said, "Boeing is proud to build the next generation of Air Force One, providing American presidents with a flying White House at outstanding value to taxpayers. President Trump negotiated a good deal on behalf of the American people." The White House claimed that President Trump's strongarm negotiations saved the American taxpayer some $1.4bn on the original estimate of a cost of more than $5bn. However, once all the costs involved in the project are taken into account, including buying a new hangar for the planes, the cost to the Air Force will be $5.3bn, and that's before any overruns. Indeed, the top-secret technical manuals, which will run to more than 100,000 pages, cost $84 million alone.
The new 747s are based on the Boeing 747-8. This model has taken the basics of the 747-400 and beefed it up with technology from the Dreamliner, giving it a greater range, better fuel efficiency and increased passenger comfort. The 747-8 will fly further and faster than the 747-200, all with a smaller impact on the environment. According to Boeing, per trip, the 747-8 emits 16 tons of CO2 less than the 747-200, although clearly, this depends on the length of the sector. On the downside, reports suggest that the VC25Bs will no longer have in-air refueling capabilities. The outgoing VC25As have a refueling coupling on the nose of the plane allowing the president to stay airborne for long periods.
This has not been included in the specifications of the replacement jets, probably because despite having this capability, the VC25As haven't had to use it much, if at all.
