Converting a Qatari-owned 747 jet into a new Air Force One for President Donald Trump would involve installing multiple top-secret systems, cost over $1 billion and take years to complete, three aviation experts told NBC News.
They said that accepting the 13-year-old jet would likely cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over time, noting that refurbishing the commercial plane would exceed its current value of $400 million. The project might also not be completed by the end of Trump’s term in 2029, at which time the plane is expected to be handed over to Trump’s presidential library foundation.
Richard Aboulafia, an analyst and consultant on commercial and military aviation, said he thought turning the Qatari jetliner into Air Force One would cost billions and take years.
“You’re taking a 747, disassembling it, reassembling it, and then jacking it up to a very high level,” said Aboulafia, a managing director at AeroDynamic Advisory, a consulting firm.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Aviation experts refer to Air Force One as the most complicated aircraft on the planet. The plane is meant to serve as a secure communication center in the sky — including command and control of nuclear weapons — and allow the president to issue orders to military and government agencies in the event of war or other emergency.
Experts said the idea made no financial or practical sense given that Boeing is already deep into a multiyear effort to convert two 747s to replace current Air Force One planes. They said that the contract for refurbishing the Qatari 747 would likely go to Boeing as its original manufacturer.
“Since you’re also disassembling and reassembling the jet for security reasons, you’re probably going to go with the people who know it better,” Aboulafia said. “If you have to rip the plane apart, that’s more of a Boeing job.”
Some of the work could be done by L3 Harris, which specializes in this kind of work. The work would likely be done in Greenville, Texas. Qatari officials have said that the possible transfer of an aircraft for use as a new Air Force One plane is under consideration but no final decision has been made.
Dismantled, part by part
The Qatari jumbo jet would have to be effectively dismantled, part by part, to ensure there were no listening devices, spyware or other security vulnerabilities that could allow foreign powers to eavesdrop on the president’s plane.
It would then have to be fitted with costly, sophisticated systems for secure government communications, midair refueling, missile defense, countering electronic jamming and protecting against electro-magnetic pulse attack. There would likely need to be quarters added for White House medical staff and the Secret Service.
Installing the new systems could push the project into the 2030s, according to Aboulafia, who said that equipping the plane with midair refueling capability alone would be “enormously time-consuming.”
The White House has said the jet would be handed over to Trump’s presidential library foundation by the end of his term, in January 2029. That would presumably require the removal of all the sensitive government equipment installed on the aircraft.
Trump could override current Air Force security rules but usually employees working on presidential aircraft or similar sensitive projects need a high-level security clearance, known as a “Yankee White” clearance, according to an industry member who asked not to be named. In the past, Boeing has struggled to find enough workers with the necessary security clearances to do the work.
‘A real relief for Boeing’
In 2018, the Air Force issued a contract to Boeing to convert two 747s to eventually serve as new Air Force One aircraft, for $3.9 billion. In 2019, the Pentagon estimated that the total estimated cost of building, equipping and testing the planes would be higher, at about $5.3 billion.
The project has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. The jets were supposed to be ready by last year but may not be delivered until 2029.
At a congressional hearing on May 8, Darlene Costello, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, told lawmakers that the new planes could be ready by 2027 by reducing some of the requirements for the aircraft.
In 2022, Boeing’s then-CEO, Dave Calhoun, suggested the firm should not have accepted the Trump administration’s terms in 2018 on the new Air Force One.
For Boeing, converting the Qatari jetliner under a new contract could be good news as it has lost money on the fixed-cost contract it agreed to during Trump’s first term, as it has had to absorb major cost overruns, Aboulafia said.
“This would be a real relief for Boeing,” he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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