presidentDonald TrumpI really want to fly with an improved Air Force One – but this can depend on whether he is ready to cut the corners with certainty.
How state lawyers sort the legal agreement forAccept a luxury jetFrom the Qatarian royal family, another crucial conversation is to change the plane so that it is safe for the American president.
Installing functions that are now used for decades of 747, which are now being used as an air forceDelays and cost crossing.
The secretary of the Air Force, Troy Mink, informed the legislators on Thursday that these security changes would cost less than 400 million US dollars but did not provide any details.
However, the fulfillment of Trump’s desire to use the new aircraft before the end of his term could be lost out by some of these precautions.
An official of the White House said that Trump wants the Qatarian jet be ready as soon as possible while he sticks to security standards. The official, who spoke about the condition of anonymity, did not provide any details on equipment issues or the timeline.
Trump hasSurvived two attempts at assassinationAndIran also also planned tooTo kill him, so he is aware of the danger he is exposed. However, he seems to be ready to take some risks, especially when it comes to communication. For example, he likes to keep his personal phone at hand despite the threat of hacks.
He booted that this weekThe government got the jet“For free,” we say, “we need it as air until the others are finished.”
Here is a look at what it would need to make the Qatarian aircraft a presidential traffic:
What does an aircraft do worthy of being a Luftwaffe?
Air Force One is the call sign for every aircraft that bears the president. The first aircraft for the designation was a propeller-powered C-54 ski master who promoted Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Yalta conference in 1945. It contained a conference room with a bulletproof window.
Things are much more complicated these days. Boeing has spent years removing and rebuilding two 747 to replace the versions that have been promoting presidents for more than three decades. The project should cost more than 5.3 billion US dollars and may not be finished before Trump leaves the office.
A report from 2021, which was published by the Freedom of Information Act Act, describes the non -classified requirements for the replacement 747 under construction. At the top of the list – survival and communication.
The government decided more than a decade ago that the new aircraft had to have four engines so that they could stay in the air if one or two failed, said Deborah Lee James, who was the secretary of the Air Force at that time. This creates a challenge because 747 are no longer produced, which could make spare parts more difficult.
Air Force One must also have the highest classification of communication, anti-jamming skills and external protection against foreign surveillance so that the president can safely command the armed forces and nuclear weapons during a national emergency. It is an extremely sensitive and complex system, including video, language and data transmissions.
James said that there is anti-missile measures and shielding against radiation or an electromagnetic impulse that could be caused by a nuclear explosion.
“The point is that it stays in flight, no matter what happens,” she said.
Does Trump want all safety bells and whistles?
If the Qatarian Aircraft is retrofitted according to presidential standards, it could cost 1.5 billion US dollars and years, according to a US official who spoke about the condition of anonymity to provide details that are not publicly available.
Before the Congress, Mink testified this week and argued that some of the costs associated with the retrofitting of the Qatarian aircraft would have been spent anyway, since the Air Force moves to the construction of the long new presidential aircraft, including the purchase aircraft for training and if necessary.
In response to this, Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn.
James simply said to harvest the cabling: “You would have to break the whole thing openly and almost start from the front.”
Trump as a commander -in -chief could do without some of these requirements. He was able to decide to skip shield systems from an electromagnetic impulse and to make his communication more susceptible in the event of a disaster, but the time outside the project.
After all, Boeing has already withdrawn its original plans for the new 747. Their range was curtailed by 1,200 nautical miles and the ability to refuel while the air wave was abolished.
Paul Eckloff, a former leader of protection details in the Secret Service, expects the president to get the last word.
“The task of the secret service is to plan and alleviate the risk,” he said. “It can never remove it.”
If Trump waives some requirements, James said that this should be kept under lock and key because “they do not want to advertise their potential opponents what the weak points of this new aircraft could be.”
It is unlikely that Trump wants to save in the appearance of the aircraft. He keeps a model of a new air force in the Oval Office with a darker color scheme that reflects his personal jet instead of the light blue design that has been used for decades.
What happens next?
Trump toured the Qatar plane in February when it was parked at an airport near Mar-A-Lago, its Florida Resort. General David Alvin of the Air Force was there too.
The US official said that the jet needs maintenance, but no more than what could be expected from a four-engine level of his complexity.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat in Illinois in the Senate Committee on Armed Forces, said it was irresponsible to bring the president and national security equipment to the Qatar aircraft, “without knowing that the plane is fully able to start a nuclear attack”.
“It is a waste of taxpayers,” she said.
In the meantime, the Boeing project was hindered by stress corrosion tears in the aircraft and excessive noise in the cabins from the decompression system, among other things, which delayed delivery, according to an office view published last year for accountability.
Boeing referred questions to the Air Force, in which a statement indicated that it worked with the aircraft manufacturer to find ways to accelerate the delivery of at least one of the 747s.
Nevertheless, the plane has to be tested and flown under real conditions in order not to ensure any other problems.
James said it remains to be seen how Trump would deal with one of these challenges.
“The normal course of business would say that there could be delays in certifications,” she said. “But things seem to be avoided these days if the president wants it.”
This story was originally on Fortune.com
