It was announced that during the recent visit to the United States, it was Shepherd One, code name for the American Airlines Boeing 777-300LR on which Pope Francis traveled, was escorted in flight by a pair of Lockheed Martin F-22s from the US Air Force for any of its displacements that occurred in American airspace.
From the take-off from JFK to New York, to the stopover in Philadelphia and restart, a "bubble" of impenetrable protection from any aircraft and under strict control by the USAF was specially erected.
The two Raptor, fighters from fifth generation air superiority, were refueled in flight by a KC-10 Extender to follow every move. They were - according to the considerations made by the internal department of defense of the United States - "the best option to discourage possible terrorist threats through aerial hijackings".
