CNN is reporting, that the White House is about to search for a replacement of current “Air Force One” Boeing 747-200B . On the surface the requirements are simple: it must be a wide body, four-engine, commercial aircraft – what actually breaks it down to only two possible aircraft types. And since lobbyist won’t let US government select an Airbus aircraft ever (remember the KC-45 farce), choice will fall on Boeing 747-8i.
Robert Dorr, who wrote a book about the plane, says things gets complicated. “I think the biggest misconception about air force one is the idea that it’s some sort of plush, comfortable, luxury jet that only is used for executive travel, when in fact it has a military mission. It is the flying headquarters for the Commander-In-Chief,” Dorr said. Will it have an escape pod like in the movie “Air Force One”? No, that’s fiction, but it does have defensive capabilities: shields against the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear attack, and anti-missile systems too. The plane must be able to travel anywhere in the world, landing at big and small airports. And of course, there are many secrets. Delivery is expected in seven years.
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