Will The New Air Force One Be A B-21 Stealth Bomber?
By Adam Linehan
on February 14, 2017
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In response to Trump’s call to “cancel” the Air Force One replacement, a panel of experts has proposed two distinctly different alternatives.
Back in December, Donald Trump tweeted that Boeing should “cancel” the development of a next-generation Air Force One fleet, calling the costs of the $3.2 billion program “out of control.” (In his tweet, Trump quoted the price tag at $4 billion, for reasons unknown.) Now, Aviation Week is reporting that a panel of aerospace and defense analysts has proposed a new solution: Drop the U.S. Air Force’s 747-8-based Air Force One and opt instead for either a Northrop Grumman B-21 stealth bomber, or a Boeing 737 fleet.
Since 1990, presidents and their entourage have traveled in a pair of specially modified 747s officially called Boeing VC-25s. The fleet has been used by George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Trump. But the VC-25s are reaching retirement age, and Defense Secretary James “I Go By Jim” Mattis has ordered a full review of the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program to find ways to cut back costs as it develops the new fleet. The $3.2 billion price tag is the projected cost of militarizing a pair of 747-8s. The 747-8 is the newest and largest version of the 747.
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