Even if numerous improvements to the plane’s communications and defenses are made over the coming months once any deal is completed, the military escort and domestic restriction could remain in place, the experts and sources said.
Retrofitting the luxury plane offered by Qatar’s royal family would require security upgrades, communications improvements to prevent spies from listening in and the ability to fend off incoming missiles, experts said. The costs were not known, but could be significant given Boeing’s (BA.N) current effort to build two new Air Force One planes exceeds $5 billion.
There are serious questions about whether any combination of fighter escorts and short-term upgrades would be enough to provide sufficient protection for the president.
“Air Force One is designed to be survivable in all kinds of environments, including a nuclear war,“ he added, noting the jet’s ability to tolerate the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast is embedded in the jet’s wiring and systems from the bottom up. “That’s not something you add on.”
Trump also called it a practical decision, and that he was disappointed Boeing had taken so long to deliver on already delayed contracts for the two new Air Force One planes that he renegotiated during his first term.
While Air Force One does not normally fly with fighter escorts, the new plane may need them to defend against missile threats, the former official added.
He added international travel may be off-limits because “you can’t guarantee the level of security in international airspace or airports.”
Escorts sometimes fly with the jet when it is overseas, or in moments of national security risk such as after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Other upgrades could include a communications suite that can handle sensitive White House and aircraft crew functions, and changing the interior so it can support Trump, his staff, the Secret Service and the press, said Douglas Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
DELAYS
Boeing in 2018 received a $3.9 billion contract to build the two planes for use as Air Force One and costs have since risen to at least $4.7 billion. Boeing has also posted $2.4 billion of charges from the project.
In February, Trump toured a Boeing 747-8 built for Qatar to highlight the delays.
The aircraft was originally operated by state-owned VIP airline Qatar Amiri flight, which performs private flights for members of the country’s ruling family and other government officials, according to specialist databases.
There are also questions over the $400 million value widely placed on the jet, based on new prices for the aircraft, which halted production in 2023.
Analysts Cirium said a second-hand 747-8 might fetch a quarter of that, while a trader in VIP jets said the bespoke interior would be worth much more than the plane itself.
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