Nope. It's a model-specific, totally custom redo of all of the wiring with lots of extra stuff. And, the 2 Boeing VC-25Bs will be ready before this "gift" ever will be.
It's also not the point because the point is exploiting the office of POTUS for personal gain.
The Qatari leadership is intelligent and understands how foreign politics is done. And they haven’t been gifting jets to Obama or McCain.
It’s not Trump that has to accept the gift in order not to be impolite.
It’s the Qatari understanding that Trump should not be treated as a representative of an institution, but as a King, whom you gift to in order to get favors.
I'm surprised that people conjure up inventions to justify that this is actually acceptable.
Of course the largest issue is that you can't just retrofit a new Boeing with all the crap that is in the current air force one. All the radar stuff and missile defense isn't something a regular Boeing is designed for and that is also why the new AF1 that is in the works takes so long.
My prediction is that this plane will sit for 4 years and then go to trump but not without wasting millions in planning how to retrofit the plane.
IMO the president should have a 40 container he can put in what he wants and then be transported in that in either a C-17 or a C-5...
https://www.twz.com/air/c-17s-silver-bullet-airstream-traile...
FireBeyond•8mo ago
Also, I think Trump is more enamored of the jet as "one of the most luxurious private jets" than "functional equivalent of current AF1".
My take, given the timelines: it sees a modest fitting of some comms gear, but stays largely as is, because Trump absolutely has visions of it being his private jet.
OneDeuxTriSeiGo•8mo ago
They have comprehensive anti missile and anti air counter measures.
They are completely electromagnetically hardened which doubles to both protect against electronic warfare, worst case scenarios like nuclear attacks, and to shield against spying on internal wireless comms.
They can fly for up to 15 hours without interruption at full fueling and full weight capacity.
On top of their long flight time they can refuel mid-air off USAF tankers if need be (fighter jet style).
They stock two separate galleys for food preparation with supplies for 2000+ meals as well as weeks worth of fresh water.
They have a full onboard pharmacy, diagnostics lab, and surgical center including a full size operating room and all necessary imaging technology. With all accompanying staff of course.
They don't require any support upon landing and supply their own retractable vehicle mounted stairway and baggage loaders which are stored in the aircraft. Strictly speaking all they require is a runway. They can deal with everything else on their own.
And that's before you even start to consider spaces for staff members, a dedicated seating area for the press pool that travels with the president, conference rooms, etc as well as bathrooms, showers, sleeping arrangements, etc for those on board.
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Switching away from the VC-25As to a much less capable/independent plane will massively widen the attack surface for targeting the president and will introduce so many avenues for espionage or assassination that simply haven't been possible in the past thanks to the VC-25As.
tough•8mo ago
ijidak•8mo ago
With this information it makes it clear that any jet, no matter how luxurious, is a dramatic downgrade.
Thank you for this.
FireBeyond•8mo ago
Trump just wants a private jet, and he'll take a little government-funded upgrades to it, but let's not pretend the man with the golden toilet wants a functional, practical AF1 versus the flying palace the Qataris offered. They knew exactly his weakness.
OneDeuxTriSeiGo•8mo ago
nunez•8mo ago