The Air Force has created a new position to lead the Air Force One replacement program and has chosen Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson to do the job, the Dayton Daily News reported.
Richardson - who was nominated for a second star in February - is currently executive manager of the Air Force’s tanker directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, where he has overseen development of the service’s KC-46 tanker.
Una riparazione eseguita male ..... e Boeing paga .....
Boeing reimbursed the US government $4 million after three company mechanics damaged the oxygen system for a VC-25A, a modified VIP 747-200 also known as Air Force One, the US Air Force says in a new accident investigation report.
The VC-25A was damaged as three mechanics checked for leaks in the oxygen system, according to a summary of the Accident Investigation Board report (*) released on 9 May.
I due nuovi "Air Force One" voluti da Trump
erano destinati ad una compagnia aerea russa
I giganteschi Boeing 747-8 saranno venduti all'Aeronautica Usa. Erano stati costruiti originariamente per la Transaero, fallita nel 2015
02 agosto 2017
NEW YORK. - I due giganteschi Boeing 747-8 che l'azienda aeronautica, secondo indiscrezioni, si appresta a vendere all'aeronautica Usa per diventare i prossimi Air Force One, gli aerei del presidente americano, erano stati costruiti originariamente per una compagnia aerea russa, la Transaero, fallita nel 2015 e rimasti sul groppone del colosso di Seattle. Ordinati nel 2013 dalla Transaereo sono stati completati due anni dopo e da allora sono rimasti privi di livrea nel deposito a cielo aperto nel deserto del Mojave in California dove le condizioni meteo, aria secca, consentono di mantenere i jet in perfette condizioni.
Boeing li ha ripresi e modificati con le specifiche segrete come sistemi di difesa anti-aereo e sistemi di comunicazioni speciali, oltre ad essere a prova dell'onda elettromagnetica innescata da un esplosione termonucleare che paralizza qualsiasi circuito elettrico nelle vicinanze dell'esplosioni. Trump prima di essere eletto li aveva criticati perche' erano stati ordinati dal'amministrazione Obama per sostituire i due attuali Jumbo presidenziali, usati ora da Trump. Poi ha iniziato a pretendere uno sconto alla Boeing e sembra che un'intesa sia stata raggiunta.
Il costo di un esemplare di Boeing 747-8 (l'ultimo della serie) senza le modifiche per l'Air Force One e' di 390 milioni di dollari. Ai primi di ottobre del 2016 Trump, ancora semplice candidato e neanche favorito contro la rivale democratica Hillary Clinton, se ne usci' sostenendo che "Boeing sta costruendo un Air Force One 747 per il futuro presidente ma i costi sono esplosi ad oltre 4 miliardi di dollari. Bisogna annullare l'ordine". Poi l'8 novembre ha vinto lui ed ha iniziato il tira e molla con Boeing che nell'arco di qualche settimana dara' l'annuncio dell'intesa. Peraltro gli Air Force One, (quasi) nuovi, saranno 2 e non 1 solo come lasciava intendere nel suo tweet da candidato, l'attuale presidente. Peraltro qualsiasi velivolo su cui vola il presidente diventa automaticamente l'Air Force One, così come se si tratta di un elicottero, viene designato in codice come 'Marine' One.
"The curve is flattening: we can start lifting restrictions now" = "The parachute has slowed our rate of descent: we can take it off now!" Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger
Air Force Cancels $24 Million Air Force One Refrigerator Contract .....
The Air Force’s $24 million plan for refrigerators on Air Force One is no longer running.
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) said in a statement Monday afternoon (*) that Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told him the sole source contract has been canceled, and the service is reviewing more affordable options.
“Even with the understanding that the Air Force One mission brings with it unique requirements and challenges, a $24 million sole-source contract just didn’t pass the smell test,” Courtney said in a statement.
Wilson, in her letter, said the Air Force and the White House Military Office decided to terminate the effort, but it could be reviewed if the Presidential Aircraft Replacement program is delayed.
The US Air Force’s forthcoming Boeing VC-25B, popularly known by the call sign “Air Force One" when the president travels aboard, recently completed its preliminary design review.
The Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate also said on 26 November that it anticipates that the VC-25B programme will complete its critical design review a year from now.
In April, Boeing was granted $24.1 million for additional design work on the next generation of presidential aircraft with the intent that preliminary design work would be complete by December 2018.
The cost of buying, equipping, and preparing to operate the two Boeing 747s that will become the next Air Force One presidential transport aircraft is now pegged at $5.3 billion, nearly one-third more than the figure routinely touted by the White House, according to Air Force officials and Pentagon budget documents.
The projected price tag — included in the Pentagon’s fiscal 2020 budget proposal — marks the first time the Defense Department has provided a total cost estimate for the project.
It includes not only the cost of the planes themselves, but also work to build a new hangar complex at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and other administrative, engineering, and development work.
Il nuovo Air Force One ...
Al Presidente piacerebbe vederlo pittàto così ...
President Donald Trump unveiled his plan for the livery of the next Air Force One during a June 13 television interview, though the new paint scheme may require Congressional approval.
During an interview with ABC News, Trump showed a piece of paper with the proposed redesigned paint scheme for the next Air Force One.
Unlike the white, blues, and chrome livery of the current VC-25A, the VC-25B would be blue on its bottom, with a red strike and a white top half.
The first 747-8 aircraft has begun the modification process to become a VC-25B, or the next Air Force One.
The aircraft, which were originally bought by a Russian airline but never delivered, were ferried to a Boeing modification facility in San Antonio, Texas, from a “boneyard” in California in spring 2019.
The modification work began on Feb. 25.
Since arriving at the Boeing facility, the company prepared the aircraft by removing commercial interiors, engines, auxiliary power units, and other system components ...
The US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) has announced that the first of two Boeing 747-8s to be modified to VC-25B standard to become a new “Air Force One”, has begun.
The announcement came via a press release (*) on March 11, which detailed that work began on the first aircraft on February 25.
The USAF’s VC-25B programme is being managed by the AFLCMC’s Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate, with Boeing conducting the work at its modification facility in San Antonio, Texas.
The effort to replace Air Force One is moving along smoothly despite the new coronavirus, and has essentially completed a key design milestone, USAF acquisition boss Will Roper said April 16.
Program officials held the critical design review online rather than coming together in person during the pandemic, a practice that Roper touted as an easy and efficient model for the future.
He’s a fan of having participants raise their digital hand during a livestream to line up for questions.
“I don’t think we’re going to go back to people [temporary duty traveling] and sitting in large conference rooms,” he said.
“I don’t know if it makes any sense to do CDRs, at least at an unclass[ified] level, outside of tools like this.”
Boeing will have to pay $168 million out of pocket to cover increased costs on the VC-25B Air Force One replacement program, the company said Wednesday.
Boeing attributed the overrun to “engineering inefficiencies” caused by the impact of COVID-19, but Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith said the program remains on schedule with a projected delivery of the first VC-25B in 2024.
However, Boeing’s quarterly report to the Security and Exchange Commission noted future risk to the program’s cost and schedule as a result of the engineering challenges.
“We believe these inefficiencies will result in staffing challenges, schedule inefficiencies and higher costs in the upcoming phases of the program,” the company stated in the report.
La scelta della livrea del nuovo Air Force One non appare ancora nella lista delle urgenze del Presidente Biden ...
Want to know what the next Air Force One Will look like?
You’ll have to wait.
Deciding on the color scheme for the VC-25B, which is under development to replace the current VC-25As that serve as Air Force One, is not on the immediate to-do list for President Joe Biden, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a Jan. 22 briefing.
Former President Donald J. Trump in June 2019 displayed a proposed new livery for the next Air Force One, which would replace the famous white, gold, and light blue with a red, white, and blue scheme.
“The President has not spent a moment thinking about the color scheme of Air Force One,” Psaki said, adding that,
“Certainly, we’re aware of the proposal.”
Boeing will be late to deliver the two new Air Force One planes currently under construction, the U.S. Air Force’s top uniformed acquisition official said Thursday.
Last month, Boeing reported a $318 million charge on the VC-25B program to turn two Boeing 747s into new presidential aircraft, which are given the call sign “Air Force One” when the commander in chief is onboard.
The charges occurred just weeks after Boeing canceled its contract with GDC Technics, a Texas-based company contracted to supply VC-25B interiors, for falling more than a year behind schedule.
GDC later countersued Boeing, alleging that Boeing was responsible for the delays.
Ultimately the Air Force is still analyzing the full impact of the dispute on the program’s schedule, said Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, the military deputy for the Air Force’s acquisition, technology and logistics enterprise.
“I think we’re definitely expecting an impact; the extent of it is not yet known,” he told attendees at the McAleese & Associates conference.
Boeing propone un ulteriore slittamento ... ma l'USAF potrebbe non essere d'accordo ...
The existing VC-25As, known as Air Force One when the President is on board, may have to undergo another maintenance cycle, requiring Air Mobility Command to take funding from other requirements, as the replacement program faces a possible schedule delay.
Boeing presented the Air Force with a revised schedule for the production of the VC-25B, which would push back the delivery of the first aircraft by one year to 2025. Darlene Costello, the acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, said during a June 9 House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee hearing that the Air Force is reviewing this schedule and will make a decision on it by September.
“Boeing has proposed, or informed, us that they believe they will be about 12 months beyond their original schedule. That doesn’t mean that we agree with that yet,” she said.
Ulteriore ritardo nella consegna del primo VC-125B ... si slitta al 2026 ...
The next Air Force One will be further delayed, with delivery of the first aircraft from Boeing now expected in 2026 as the company deals with supplier issues, pandemic-related problems and a contract that limits how the service can speed up the process.
“We’ve had some schedule slips because of supply chain issues and because of various factors,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said during an interview at the Farnborough International Air Show here.
“So I think, like several other programs, Boeing’s in a loss position and they’re doing the best they can to make up lost ground and recover.”
The delivery of the first VC-25B, a converted used Boeing 747-800, previously expected in 2024.
On June 28, William LaPlante, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, approved the new schedule baseline with the first delivery planned for September 2026 - a 24-month delay from the original contractual date.
The second aircraft would be delivered in September 2027 - a 36-month delay.
The deliveries have “threshold dates,” meaning the latest they can be delivered without breaking the contract, of September 2027 for the first aircraft and February 2028 for the second.
Biden è a Kiev. Qualche giorni fa ho visto su FR24 una delle macchine deputate a trasportare POTUS in volo dalla Polonia (mi pare) verso Occidente, non era segnata la destinazione.
Il Presidente Biden ha deciso di rinunciare allo schema di tinteggiatura voluto dal suo predecessore Trump per il nuovo Air Force One ...
The U.S. Air Force's two future VC-25B presidential aircraft will wear a paint scheme more in line with the iconic ones on the existing VC-25A Air Force Ones.
President Joe Biden's decision on the paint job reverses one made by his predecessor, Donald Trump, which would have seen the aircraft wear an entirely new red, white, and blue livery.
The Secretary of the Air Force's Public Affairs Office announced the decision on the VC-25B's paint job today and provided specifics on how it differs from the VC-25A's scheme.
The current Air Force One livery dates back to President John F. Kennedy's administration.
The core scheme was created by the legendary designer Raymond Loewy at the urging of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
Sembra che il Presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump stia valutando opzioni alternative riguardo il prossimo velivolo presidenziale VC-25B (Air Force One), la cui data di consegna è stata potenzialmente posticipata oltre il 2029 …
richelieu ha scritto: 20 febbraio 2025, 21:54Sembra che il Presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump stia valutando opzioni alternative riguardo il prossimo velivolo presidenziale VC-25B (Air Force One), la cui data di consegna è stata potenzialmente posticipata oltre il 2029 …
L'USAF è in trattative con Boeing allo scopo di modificare i requisiti del nuovo aereo presidenziale VC-25B, nel tentativo di farlo entrare in servizio entro il 2027 …
