Trump: New VC-25B Air Force One to be pulled from service in about a month for upgrades

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Trump Confirms Additional Upgrades for VC-25B "Bridge" Aircraft, Aiming to "Max Out" Capabilities

The U.S. Air Force's new VC-25B Bridge aircraft will receive additional upgrades that will result in its capabilities being "maxed out," according to President Donald Trump. This follows a flurry of recent reports that the modified, Qatari-gifted Boeing 747-8i lacks the same array of defensive features and other capabilities as the Air Force's existing VC-25A Air Force One jets.

TWZ has repeatedly raised serious questions about the overall feasibility of turning this plane into an interim Air Force One, especially on an extremely tight timeline and with a relatively small budget, since the plan first emerged last year.

Security Concerns Emerge After NATO Summit

New questions were raised about the Bridge aircraft's self-protection suite, in particular, after Trump took it to the NATO summit in Turkey earlier this month, but then left unexpectedly on an older VC-25A. Subsequent reports said that the Secret Service had urged the President to make the swap as a security precaution amid escalating fighting with Iran.

"Mr. President, this plane does not have anti-missile defense systems on it. Why are you flying it?" S.V. Date, White House correspondent for HuffPost, asked Trump at a press gaggle at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, D.C., yesterday. The President had just returned from a trip to attend the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey.

"Well, it has – it has a lot, and, you know, it has a lot of capability," Trump said in response. "But as I understand it, in about a month or so, they're going to send it to have it be maxed out. So they're going to be sending it, and they'll have it be maxed out. It'll take about a month."

Trump did not elaborate on what "maxed out" might mean for the Bridge aircraft.

White House Statement

"The new Air Force One is perfectly safe for the President's travels, but will receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall which will take approximately one month to complete," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to TWZ. "During that time, the President will fly on the old Air Force One."

TWZ has also reached out to the U.S. Air Force and L3Harris for more information. L3Harris is the defense contractor that served as the lead integrator for the modifications to the former Qatari 747. You can read about what is known about the conversion process, which took approximately 10 months, here.

The VC-25B Bridge aircraft, seen at Andrews Air Force Base at its official unveiling in June. (USAF)

Lawmakers Weigh In

"We knew there were some issues around security with the plane. We've known that from the very beginning," Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) said separately at a roundtable at the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom today, according to Breaking Defense. "Obviously, there was an effort to address that."

"If there … was an examination and a problem apparently was determined to exist, the good news is that it's apparently going to be addressed," Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) also said, per Breaking Defense. "And I think it's important for all of us to determine what that problem is and to be supportive of corrective measures."

Shaheen and Moran both serve on the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Defense. Shaheen is also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Growing Scrutiny and Leak Investigation

As noted, there has been significant new scrutiny of the Bridge aircraft's defensive and other capabilities since Trump's trip to Turkey and the swap with the VC-25A on the way back. On July 9, The New York Times reported that the ex-Qatari jet "lacks the same defensive countermeasures that were security features of the old model, including its advanced antimissile capabilities," citing unnamed officials.

A stock picture of one of the Air Force's existing VC-25A Air Force One jets. (USAF)

The Times' story included a statement from White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, saying that "the new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff."

Other outlets published similar stories about Air Force One's capabilities, also citing anonymous sources. In a highly unusual development, the FBI subsequently subpoenaed four journalists at the Times as part of a leak investigation, which now appears to go beyond the more recent reporting on the Bridge aircraft.

Unknown Defensive Capabilities

The current array of defensive features found on the VC-25B Bridge aircraft is unknown. Details about the self-protection capabilities of the existing VC-25As — arguably the most well defended aircraft on the planet — are not usually openly discussed, but at least some of the countermeasures systems on those aircraft are plainly visible to the general public. This includes a version of the AN/AAQ-24 di...