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US Air Force modifying new Air Force One

roughdraft274

roughdraft274

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With all the other news I haven't seen much on this. It appears they have started the work of getting this plane ready to be the new air force 1. It's going to be an expensive process that requires us to strip the entire plane to make sure there are no listening/spy devices and retrofit the entire thing with everything required of air force 1. The "expected" cost is $400M but it wouldn't shock me if the budget expands once they start digging in to it. We are doing this with the understanding that in a few years we will be "gifting" it to Trumps presidential library.

With that said, it raises a serious question. Do stunts like these give reasonable people the cover to officially say that anytime a conservative / MAGA person says that we can't afford something or that the debt is too big of a problem that their opinion simply doesn't mean anything? If we are going to be spending $400M+ on a jet and then handing it off for free after barely getting any use out of it, shouldn't that raise at least a tiny bit of outrage from the same people that think government spending is out of control?

www.bbc.com

US begins preparing Qatari jet to be used as Air Force One

The aircraft - valued at $400m - is being donated by Qatar as an "unconditional gift", with any retrofitting costs being borne by the US government.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
roughdraft274 said:
With all the other news I haven't seen much on this. It appears they have started the work of getting this plane ready to be the new air force 1. It's going to be an expensive process that requires us to strip the entire plane to make sure there are no listening/spy devices and retrofit the entire thing with everything required of air force 1. The "expected" cost is $400M but it wouldn't shock me if the budget expands once they start digging in to it. We are doing this with the understanding that in a few years we will be "gifting" it to Trumps presidential library.

With that said, it raises a serious question. Do stunts like these give reasonable people the cover to officially say that anytime a conservative / MAGA person says that we can't afford something or that the debt is too big of a problem that their opinion simply doesn't mean anything? If we are going to be spending $400M+ on a jet and then handing it off for free after barely getting any use out of it, shouldn't that raise at least a tiny bit of outrage from the same people that think government spending is out of control?

www.bbc.com

US begins preparing Qatari jet to be used as Air Force One

The aircraft - valued at $400m - is being donated by Qatar as an "unconditional gift", with any retrofitting costs being borne by the US government.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
Click to expand...
I strongly object to this.

It's an emoluments clause violation.

The Air Force needs to be held accountable for participating in criminal activity.
 
Given the travesty that is the Oval Office, I wonder how Trump will work with a blank canvas.
 
Communication, Command and Control avionics aren't cheap, let alone a sensor suite, and defensive/counter measures. That can be a few hundred million right there.
 
dmpi said:
Communication, Command and Control avionics aren't cheap, let alone a sensor suite, and defensive/counter measures. That can be a few hundred million right there.
Click to expand...
That plane needs to be disassembled and scrapped, and Trump needs to be billed for all of it.
 
Allan said:
Where did that number come from? Estimates I've seen are all above $1 billion.
Click to expand...
Both of the articles I posted claim $400M. But I highly doubt that this number won't double or more.
 
Napoleon said:
Boeing should have delivered on their contract. They didn’t. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
Everyone has setbacks in life. A foreign “gift” of this magnitude is beyond the pale. What’s taking the grabbenfuhrer to the UK?
 
dmpi said:
Communication, Command and Control avionics aren't cheap, let alone a sensor suite, and defensive/counter measures. That can be a few hundred million right there.
Click to expand...
If you were designing a new air force 1 I imagine the cheapest portion is the actual plane itself before all of the modifications.

Do you think it's reasonable to pay for all of these changes with taxpayer money and then give it away such a short time later?
 
Napoleon said:
Boeing should have delivered on their contract. They didn’t. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
The delay of the boeing contract could possibly be an argument for why we need to create a temporary AF1 in the mean time if you can show that the current AF1 isn't meeting the requirements needed. But I don't see how it makes it financially reasonable to hand away a plane that we dumped hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars into. We could easily use it for transporting other government officials etc. after we take reciept of the new AF1's.
 
roughdraft274 said:
The delay of the boeing contract could possibly be an argument for why we need to create a temporary AF1 in the mean time if you can show that the current AF1 isn't meeting the requirements needed. But I don't see how it makes it financially reasonable to hand away a plane that we dumped hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars into. We could easily use it for transporting other government officials etc. after we take reciept of the new AF1's.
Click to expand...
Boeing was awarded this contract in 2018 with a delivery date of 2024 at a fixed cost of $3.9 billion. They have delivered nothing and said they can’t until at least 2029 and they want $5.6 billion. Trump rightly told them to pound sand.
 
Napoleon said:
Boeing was awarded this contract in 2018 with a delivery date of 2024 at a fixed cost of $3.9 billion. They have delivered nothing and said they can’t until at least 2029 and they want $5.6 billion. Trump rightly told them to pound sand.
Click to expand...
You're still not responding to my point. Even if we need a temporary AF1 because the current AF1 can't do the job (I've seen no evidence of this) why would we dump hundreds of millions in to the temporary plane and then give it away? That's the part I'm missing. My gut feeling is that it's just wrong to spend that much money on something and then give it away for no reason.
 
ColdHardTruth said:
That plane needs to be disassembled and scrapped, and Trump needs to be billed for all of it.
Click to expand...

Disagree...

The plane should be stripped of the whorehouse furnishings and converted to a C-747 and used for cargo and troop movements.

WW
 
roughdraft274 said:
You're still not responding to my point. Even if we need a temporary AF1 because the current AF1 can't do the job (I've seen no evidence of this) why would we dump hundreds of millions in to the temporary plane and then give it away? That's the part I'm missing. My gut feeling is that it's just wrong to spend that much money on something and then give it away for no reason.
Click to expand...
That is unlikely to happen.
 
dmpi said:
Communication, Command and Control avionics aren't cheap, let alone a sensor suite, and defensive/counter measures. That can be a few hundred million right there.
Click to expand...

They also need to completely gut it and check for bugs and other devices.
It's going to be Airforce 1 so it has to be absolutely secure.

I wouldn't trust this jet as far as I could throw it.

AF1 needs to be built at a secure US facility using only certified staff.
 
roughdraft274 said:
With all the other news I haven't seen much on this. It appears they have started the work of getting this plane ready to be the new air force 1. It's going to be an expensive process that requires us to strip the entire plane to make sure there are no listening/spy devices and retrofit the entire thing with everything required of air force 1. The "expected" cost is $400M but it wouldn't shock me if the budget expands once they start digging in to it. We are doing this with the understanding that in a few years we will be "gifting" it to Trumps presidential library.

With that said, it raises a serious question. Do stunts like these give reasonable people the cover to officially say that anytime a conservative / MAGA person says that we can't afford something or that the debt is too big of a problem that their opinion simply doesn't mean anything? If we are going to be spending $400M+ on a jet and then handing it off for free after barely getting any use out of it, shouldn't that raise at least a tiny bit of outrage from the same people that think government spending is out of control?

www.bbc.com

US begins preparing Qatari jet to be used as Air Force One

The aircraft - valued at $400m - is being donated by Qatar as an "unconditional gift", with any retrofitting costs being borne by the US government.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
Click to expand...
I would wager a whole months Social Security check, that the final cost TO THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS for this ""FREE"" jet will fall between $1.5 to $2 billion dollars. All that money spent on a plane that will just be given FREE OF CHARGE to the scummiest, sleaziest, nastiest most undeserving president that ever was.

America has lost its collective mind.
 
This "gift" should go to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group where it should sit for eternity.
 
That work will take several years to complete. Since Trump's term limit will be up, with him out of office in 2029, he will barely have to to enjoy it right?

...right?
 
uptower said:
That work will take several years to complete. Since Trump's term limit will be up, with him out of office in 2029, he will barely have to to enjoy it right?

...right?
Click to expand...
No, it goes to his "Presidential Library" after he is done. He can enjoy it then.
 
roughdraft274 said:
The "expected" cost is $400M but it wouldn't shock me if the budget expands once they start digging in to it. We are doing this with the understanding that in a few years we will be "gifting" it to Trumps presidential library.
Click to expand...
It's worse than that. The $400M is the estimated value of the aircraft as it stands (which nobody is paying). The cost of refitting it to Air Force 1 standard could be up to $1 billion, which will be on you and your fellow US tax payers. It's also not likely to be completed before Trump leaves office (well, before the end of the current Presidential term), especially if Trump puts no pressure on the timeline. It's blatant self-interest corruption but it doesn't look like anyone would be able to stop it given Trump's well practiced talent at pushing such things through those grey areas.
 
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