Is Trump’s cancelled Boeing Air Force One worth $4 billion?

We explore quite what makes the controversial presidential private jet so expensive

You might have thought that The Donald wouldn’t need an aircraft with an ego as inflated as his. But the President-Elect was supposed to inherit a brand new fleet of Boeing 747s which he says will cost the US taxpayer over $4 billion.

Deciding that this is an unacceptable bill for a fleet of new Air Force One jets, Trump recently put the projects in jeopardy claiming that Boeing’s costs were spiralling ‘out of control’.

He then also tweeted that he was going to ‘cancel [the] order!’ Shortly afterwards, Boeing’s share value took a nosedive.

A normal 747 will only set you back $357 million, and Trump’s own 757, Trump Force One as it became known during the campaign, only cost him $100 million when he bought from Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen.

Air Force One’s extra technological wizardry and security is the reason the replacements are estimated to cost £4 billion. Purchasing the basic aircraft will actually amount to just a fifth of the overall cost.

Most importantly, in the case of a natural disaster or terrorist attack, Air Force One must be able to stay in the air. An important feature, therefore, is that it must be able to refuel midair. With this feature the President’s plane can essentially fly indefinitely – or at least until the nuclear fallout blows over.

According to Boeing, four improved engines mean the new Air Force Ones will be ‘the fastest passenger aircraft in the world’, traveling at over 1,000km per hour. New engines will also be far more efficient which is a welcome update because in 2016 Air Force One cost an estimated $180,000 for every hour it was flying.

The tech on board is out of this world. The President and his staff must be able to access all the communications equipment that they could in the Oval Office, which means that the aircraft is more or less a flying White House. The current 747s, for example, include state-of-the-art multi-frequency radios capable of satellite and air-to-air or air-to-ground communications.

There are capabilities for secure audio and video calls, access to a classified computer system, and, of course, the controls to deliver a nuclear-strike.

With all these technological demands, there is also a huge set of power unit requirements. There are also backup power units in case anything goes wrong. Moreover, every inch of electronics and technology needs to be protected from the electromagnetic waves that you might encounter if a nuclear explosion hit the craft.

Inside the new craft there are also numerous style and interior designs that make Air Force One a unique project. There are stairs built into the doors, meaning Trump can hop off whenever he wants rather than waiting for the seatbelt light to turn off. There are also quarters for the President and First Lady, a kitchen, medical facility and a dinning galley that can seat 100 people at a time.

$4 billion may be too much to spend on Air Force One, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the Theresa May’s $12 million converted Airbus A330 that has been dismissively nicknamed “Austerity Force One”.

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