Originally published at: Qatari 747 Refurb Cost Pegged At Less Than $400 Million - AVweb
Details of the scope of work haven’t been released.
So, according to Meink, he doesn’t know what will be added or modified to the aircraft or what the total components cost will be or delivered,
no details have been released on the contract with L3 Harris,
yet he can speculate it will all come in under $400Mil by Halloween.
And to do that, it sounds as if it will not be stripped and rebuilt for security and defense mods, because Great Leader ‘is said to want the plane sooner than later and can opt out of some of the mods to speed delivery if he chooses.’
Really? National security is subject to presidential impatience?
What I really want to know, however, will Mr. Meink be the one to tell his boss when he uses the fake-gold throne lav, that to keep the costs under $400Mil, he might have to jiggle the handle?
What a joke this has become…
The surprising thing is, that for every problem we’ll find an “expert” to pull arbitrary numbers out of his behind who then proceeds to generate a thumbsucking guess, free of merit or data.
The whole saga has become a laughing stock around the globe. Richest country on earth must revert to “gifted” plane in order to satisfy someones special need for prunk and glory.
Taking the aircraft out of service upon conclusion of POTUS term (tictactictac!) sounds like the storyline of a miserable movie.
Common sense has truly been run over by a garbage truck.
Just really seems silly to pay $400 million to convert a plane which will be taken out of service ~two years after the conversion is complete.
What exactly is wrong with the existing 25As to warrant the induction of a risky Trojan horse that is capable of who knows what but certainly isn’t equivalent to a 25A or a 25B? It borrows equipment intended for the 25Bs, thus putting the latter’s test and deployment on hold. Will the 25A perform the mission when the borrowed equipment is returned so the 25B project can resume?
Having a bit of knowledge of what it’s going to take I’m not buy’n that price for a New York second.
Pete, I too have asked myself what is wrong enough with the existing equipment to warrant the acquisition of an unknown quantity. Could it be a sense of insecurity stemming from the hump on the current aircraft being smaller than the hump on the Qatari article?
The only thing getting humped on this deal is the American tax payer.
Wonder how many undernourished kids who will lose their SNAP benefits could be fed with this mythical $400M+? Trump wants it precisely because it has gold toilets and a luxurious interior—blow security and strategic capability. And what’s this crap about the USAF “accepting” it, presumably on behalf of the American taxpayer, paying tax dollars for its refurb and maintenance and operation for two or three years, then giving it away to a private individual? If that’s not illegal, it should be. It certainly is corrupt.
Meh, what’s a few hundred million bucks to refurbish a plane for Trump when he directed Homeland Security secretary Noem to spend $200 million on an ad campaign praising him for his border protection efforts or when he’s spending $90 million on a Russian/Chinese-style parade of military equipment in honor of his birthday.
It will be taken out of US government service, but there is no reason to believe once it is transferred to an as yet nonexistent presidential library that it won’t be used by Trump and his family.
Cost overruns never happen on miilitary aircraft, right? consider the F-35, $183 billion over. And aren’t there supposed to be two VC-25s? Come on, Qatar, pony up another.
The stated $400M conversion cost estimate is utter fantasy… The VC25 AF1 [‘Speckled Trout’] is a nuclear war command post.. equivalent to E-4B… with a diplomatic interior and paint scheme. Every flight has a combat crew in blue uniform… ready to fight a war and save the president.
EVERY COUNTRY UNDERSTANDS HOW SERIOUS AND TOUGH THE CURRENT AF1s ACTUALLY ARE… and they all respect/admire them !!!
Electronics, countermeasures, structural and mechanical reinforcements and upgrades-redundancies, world command communications, dual APUs, etc, are mandatory for survival in conventional and nuclear war scenarios. Among hundreds of other elements needed that are highly classified and unspeakable.
Also EVERY element of the Acft will have to be DUAL provisioned for ‘spares’ on every electrical-electronic-mechanical component… for operational redundancy.
To put all this equipment onboard, the jet interior would have to be gutted, systems-wiring, tubing, equipment etc will have to be installed in an orderly and maintainable way; and mechanics, electricians, air crews trained on this ‘Frankenstein’. OH and the 'pretty interior would have to be restored and be maintainable to this president’s whims.
OH and lets not forget the thousands of man-hours of documentation and training required for all the crews to operate and maintain this one-off-beast.
OH… and for every Presidential aircraft deployed, a second is ALWAYS deployed in secret for every conceivable emergency/urgency… VC-25 or E-4B or C-32.
The president’s USAF advisors [should] understand the cold reality of the special nature of the current AFT/VC-25… AND the stark-reality of converting a the ‘Q-gift’ 747-*… based on the known/true costs of the current AF1 fleet… but are obviously too inhibited to speak the truth in the face of excessive presidential ego/power… or are in ‘la-la-land’.
Duhhh and I also forgot to mention…
Air refueling capability [including piping/valves to tanks, AR receptacle on the nose, etc], including reserve engine lubricant tanks and redundant generators/engine…so the Acft can safely remain airborne for days…
MIL/Secret-Service crew quarters and weapons storage.
Mini Hospital grade medical facilities, doctors/nurses…
Extra size galley with long-term food and water provisioning…
etc…
Yes, air to air refueling along with 52,000 gallons of self sealing fuel tanks, replacing all wiring with shielded wiring, chaff dispensers, etc. $400M my A—.