Did President Donald Trump electronically cancel the $ 4 billion order for the next Air Force One fleet? Let's get some clarity.
According to an unwritten rule, the president of the United States (expiring), purchases a new Air Force One with a minimum time limit of five years for delivery, so as to prevent the perception that it may be a personal gift. Just think that the current VC-25 were purchased by President Reagan and delivered by Boeing in 1990 with the first flight of President George HW Bush. They were the last 747-200 built.
Meanwhile, what is the Air Force One
It is probably the best-known US aircraft in the world. This name refers to one of the two Boeing 747-200Bs, which carry the 28000 and 29000 queue codes. Air Force designation for the aircraft is VC-25A.
The Air Force One is one of the most recognizable symbols of the US presidency, generating innumerable references not only in American culture, but all over the world.
Able to refuel in flight, the Air Force One can transport the president to anywhere in the world. The surface square feet are 4.000 (about 370 m2) on three levels, including a suite for the president who has a large office, bathroom and conference room. Air Force One also includes an operational medical center with permanent operating room and medical staff on board. Two kitchens provide an average of one hundred meals.
The Air Force One falls into the category of "judgment day aircraft". It is not designed only to save the president of the United States, but to guarantee him the command of the nuclear triad in wartime. Protecting the National Authority in critical situations with a hostile nuclear attack that, in first strike, would be directed to the beheading of the entire chain of command and communication. These aerial platforms are able to coordinate the entire strategic inventory, communicate with all the armed forces and are specifically designed to withstand the effects of electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) and thermal explosions.
The doomsday planes is always in pre-focus, 24 hours on 24, both in Russia and in the United States. Contrary to what one might think, Americans and Russians have in service not one but two command aircraft (and two in reserve reconverted) always available at any time. The platform chosen by the White House is the E-4B. The Kremlin, on the other hand, is based on Ilyushin-86.
Farewell Air Force One?
Not really, because no order has been signed yet. The Air Force will replace the current 747-200 fleet whose cells have reached the 26 years of life (they will exceed the 30 abundantly). Officially, the only contract signed between the Air Force and Boeing is equal to 170 million dollars.
The Air Force plans to invest about 2,8 billion dollars for the new Air Force One, on 747-8 cell, over the next five years, according to the Pentagon's budget documents. The cost of the two aircraft could reach four billion dollars, but a tweet it does not necessarily correspond to the decision of the White House.
The new Air Force One fleet should enter into service in the 2024 (three years to implement the changes of the Air Force), should it be included in the next and last financial instrument of the Obama administration. The Congress has already allocated 1.65 billions of dollars to cover the Air Force One program up to 2019. In the new budget instrument, this figure is raised to 2,9 billion dollars with 2021 coverage. It is therefore the last chance to get a new Air Force One within the 2024.
(photo: White House / Boeing - in the images below the Clipper model 314, the DC-4, the DC-6, 707, the current 747-200 and the next 747-8)
