US President Donald Trump announced that the plane, gifted by Qatar and used as a temporary Air Force One, will soon be sent for further modernization after questions arose about its security systems, reports "Reuters".
Trump began using the wide-body aircraft on July 1, after accepting it as a gift last year and starting an accelerated program to refit it for presidential purposes.
However, on July 8, he unexpectedly abandoned its use on a flight from Turkey to Britain amid rising tensions with Iran. Trump flew to London on the older presidential plane, explaining that he did so "out of nostalgia," but upon his return to the United States, he boarded the new plane again.
On his return from the final of the FIFA Club World Cup in New Jersey yesterday, Trump was asked whether the new plane had missile defense systems.
"It has a lot of capabilities," the president emphasized of the plane. "But, as far as I understand, in about a month they will send it to be equipped with everything possible. That will take about a month".
The new plane, painted in the red, white, navy blue and gold design chosen by Trump, was retrofitted by defense contractor L3Harris Technologies.
It is intended to serve as a stopgap while Boeing continues to struggle with delays in delivering the next generation of presidential aircraft, Air Force One. The company is working on two custom-built Boeing 747-8s under a $3.9 billion contract signed in 2018, but the project is already four years behind schedule and over budget. The new planes are expected to be delivered in mid-2028.
The modernization of the plane, a gift from Qatar, has been carried out so quickly that some experts have expressed concerns that the machine may not be as well protected as the previous light blue Air Force One. Critics have questioned the cost and ethics of accepting such a gift.
Earlier this month, journalists from the "New York Times" who had published stories about the new plane's security systems were subpoenaed to testify. The newspaper asked the court to block the subpoenas from appearing before a federal grand jury in Manhattan.