Latest news with #747-200
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US accepts gifted Qatari plane to join Air Force One fleet
The US has accepted a plane intended for the Air Force One fleet from Qatar, a gift that has sparked criticism including from some of President Trump's biggest supporters. "The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement on Wednesday. The plane will need to be modified before it can be used as part of Air Force One - the president's official mode of air transport. The White House insists that the gift is legal, but the announcement of the transfer a week ago caused huge controversy. The plane is a gift from the Qatari royal family and is estimated to be worth $400m (£300m). The White House says that the new plane will be transferred to Trump's presidential library at the end of his term. It could require years to fit with additional security systems and upgrades required to carry the president - including the ability to withstand the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast, and to refuel mid-flight. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Defense and Security Department, says the costs of such retrofitting could easily run to $1bn (£750m). Justifying the transfer a week ago Trump said: "They're giving us a gift". The president has also said it would be "stupid" to turn down the plane. The US Constitution has a provision known as the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits gifts to public officials from foreign governments without permission of Congress. The transfer has not received congressional approval. The president has argued that the plane transfer is legal because it is being given to the US defence department, and not to him personally. He also insisted he would not use it after leaving office. The current Air Force One fleet includes two 747-200 jets which have been in use since 1990, along with several smaller 757s. Trump has expressed his displeasure at the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, which has been contracted to provide the White House with two 747-8s directly. His team negotiated to receive them during his first term in office, though there have been repeated delays and Boeing has cautioned that they will not be available for two or three more years. Trump surreptitiously visited the Qatari plane in Palm Beach, near his Mar-a-Lago resort, just a few weeks after the start of his second term in office. The president insists there is no quid-pro-quo involved and that the plane is a simple exchange between two allies. On Truth Social he wrote: "The Defense Department is getting a gift, free of charge, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction." Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has said the transfer "is a government-to-government transaction. "It has nothing to do with personal relationships - neither on the US side, nor the Qatari side. It's between the two defence ministries," he said. But those assertions have done little to calm the criticism of the deal, including from a number of Trump's allies in Congress and the right-wing media. "I think it's not worth the appearance of impropriety, whether it's improper or not," Rand Paul, Republican senator from Kentucky, told Fox News. "I wonder if our ability to judge [Qatar's] human rights record will be clouded by the fact of this large gift," Paul said. Another Republican senator, Ted Cruz of Texas, said accepting the gift would pose "significant espionage and surveillance problems". New era beckons for Air Force One after Qatari offer - but what's it like inside? Is Trump allowed to accept $400m luxury plane as a gift? Trump's critics and supporters unite against Qatar plane deal
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘That's not America first': MAGA turns on Trump over gift $400m jet from Qatar
Donald Trump is coming under fire from some of his most prominent MAGA supporters for his decision to accept a luxury Boeing 747 as a gift from Qatar to replace Air Force One. 'I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million 'gift' from jihadists in suits,' said Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who has wielded enormous influence over the president in Trump's second term. Loomer accused the Qatari government, which has acted as an intermediary for negotiations between Hamas and international powers, of funding 'Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered U.S. Service Members.' The plane has been described as a "palace in the sky," and it would likely not be made available to Trump to use as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which point he said it would be transferred to the foundation responsible for the Trump presidential library. The president has repeatedly complained about delays in the production by Boeing of a new Air Force One to replace the current planes, two modified 747-200 jumbo jets known by the model number VC-25A, which date from 1990. 'This is really going to be such a stain on the admin if this is true,' Loomer, a regular visitor to the White House, wrote on X. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro called the decision 'skeezy.' 'Taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, al-Jazeera, all the rest, that's not America first,' he said on 'The Ben Shapiro Show.' 'I think if we switch the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we'd all be freaking out on the right,' he added. Mark Levin, a conservative radio host and MAGA influencer, accused Qatar of spreading "anti-American" propaganda. "Their jet and all the other things they are buying in our country does not provide them with the cover they seek," he wrote X. He later wrote "Ditto" in response to Loomer's post. Trump even received criticism from one of his most fervent Republican supporters in the Senate. "My view is that it would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America. That would be ideal," Missouri Senator Josh Hawley said. Trump said this week that he planned to accept what is likely the most valuable gift ever given to the U.S. by a foreign government — a Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet owned by Qatar's royal family, with an estimated value of $400 million. Trump bristled at the suggestion that the gift would classify as corruption, as both his opponent and supporters have implied. "I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer," he told reporters on Monday. "I could be a stupid person and say, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane." The president will likely face further questions about the lavish gift over the coming days as he tours the Middle East this week.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
C-32A ‘Air Force 2' Jet Like You've Never Seen One Before
One of the most famous aircraft on earth was caught 'in the nude' very recently as it underwent deep maintenance and upgrades at L3Harris's Mission Integration plant at Majors Field in Greenville, Texas. The facility is a mecca for large special mission aircraft in need of enhancements and TLC. While the Air Force's twin VC-25A aircraft, which are based on the 747-200, get most of the attention, the C-32As, based on the 757-200, are the real workhorses of the executive airlift fleet. Like their much larger counterparts, the eight C-32As in the 99th Airlift Wing's stable are into the back half of their service lives and have been receiving a number of upgrades to keep them relevant. These include new interiors and enhancements to their communications, navigation, and defensive systems. Above all else, they need periodic deep maintenance like any other aircraft, and that is often a great time to make those upgrades. This is what the C-32 in the photos here is seen undergoing. The shots come to us from our friend on X @SR_Planespotter, who captures some awesome shots of the aerospace happenings around Texas. In this case, he caught the C-32A 09-0016, operating under its common 'Venus' callsign, on a test flight with its iconic blue, white, and gold paint removed. Once work on the jet is wrapped up, it will go to the paint barn where workers there will dress the jet in its 'uniform' once again. C-32A 09-0016 " VENUS97 " comes back from a test flight in primer! — 𝙎𝙍_𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 (@SR_Planespotter) March 31, 2025 @SR_Planespotter said the following about the unique work at Majors Field (also known as Majors Airport) that brings some very interesting flying machines to northeastern Texas: 'At Majors Airport in Greenville, L3 Harris has contracts with the USAF to maintain the VIP airlift fleet and the RC-135 fleet. They do a lot of communications upgrades and then test them on their own unique test range called the MSTF (Multi-Sensor Test Facility). It's pretty fun watching them go along on ADSB and then come back and get up close and personal with them.' C-32A 98-0001 under the South EMP array at KGVT November 13th 2023 after 7+ months of repairs. On March 8, 2023, this C-32 carrying SecDef, struck its aft fuselage during its landing at Amman, Jordan, causing $2.5m in damages. — 𝙎𝙍_𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 (@SR_Planespotter) April 30, 2024 As the C-32As continue to receive upgrades, the USAF is also looking on the horizon for a replacement. Around 30 years old already, even with the best maintenance, the government's VVIP 757s won't last forever. Now, according to a recent report from Aviation Week, it appears that the flying force wants to consolidate the high end of its executive airlift suite from two to one new type. Under such a plan, the 737-based C-40s and C-32As would be replaced with one type. This would simplify many aspects of operating two narrow-body airliner types in the executive airlift role. The 757 went out of production in 2005. In 2023, the Air Force had also expressed interest in potentially supplementing rather than replacing the C-32 fleet with new commercial airliners converted into VVIP transports. It isn't clear exactly what airframe the service would favor as a replacement or a supplement, although the 737 MAX seems like the only clear choice. Still, the short field performance of the 757, which is a huge selling point when using the jet in the Air Force One role in order to get into smaller airports while still carrying the President and their entourage. The USAF still hasn't taken a delivery of a 737 MAX for any mission. One was in the service's requested budget for the 2025 Fiscal Year, but remains unfunded. Regardless of what the Air Force and the White House finally decide on when it comes to any new jet to replace the aging C-32As, they will continue to soldier on with more lumps and bumps — housing communications and defensive countermeasures — than ever before. And as a result, they will still have to fly around naked out of Greenville for years to come. Contact the author: Tyler@
