We now know which aircraft will replace Air Force One, the US presidential jet. As the Pentagon confirmed in a press release published Wednesday, May 21, Donald Trump will accept the Boeing 747-8i, registration P4-HBJ, worth $400 million. The latter, in the colors of Global Jet, had been ordered from Boeing by the government of Qatar, which last week hosted the American president during a state visit particularly full of new commercial contracts.
The Boeing 747-8i will be a donation, accepted by the administration "in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," said Sean Parnell, chief spokesman for the Pentagon in a press release quoted by Air Journal. At the same time, the United States received a record order from Qatar Airways, worth $50 billion and for 150 new long-haul aircraft – the largest ever received by the American aircraft manufacturer to date. Donald Trump was on hand to sign the contract.
A new Air Force One before a new president
With the new Air Force One, the American president wants above all to realize his dream, which he tried to achieve during his first term. Indeed, in 2017, Donald Trump already planned to replace the presidential jet with the help of Boeing. Since then, the aircraft manufacturer has only pushed back the delivery date of the aircraft, citing a significant budget overrun and a tight timeline. Shaken, Boeing has since proposed to the White House that it schedule delivery for 2027, the final year of Donald Trump's term, in exchange for a relaxation of the safety standards required to oversee the aircraft's production in the factories.
The next Qatari Air Force One will not be exempt from modifications before launching its career as the American presidential aircraft. To achieve this, Donald Trump intends to enlist the help of the manufacturer L3Harris. Specializing in defense, it was directly chosen by the president to handle the necessary work on the Boeing 747-8i, currently in a configuration intended for VIPs, but without the surveillance and defense equipment required on Air Force One (notably an anti-missile system). It will also have to be more modern than the two 747-200Bs used as Air Force One since the 1980s, which appeared under the presidency of George W. Bush.
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