The Air Force is using money previously given to its Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program to convert a Qatari luxury jet into an Air Force One. “There were dollars that were removed from the Sentinel program that were access-to-need in [fiscal] 2024 and that's what was used to fund the program. We will ensure that those resources are there,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told lawmakers Thursday during a Senate appropriations defense subcommittee hearing.
Shifting these funds won’t further delay the Sentinel program, Meink said, which is being restructured after major delays and unforeseen costs pushed its estimated cost to nearly $141 billion—some 81 percent above initial projections. That restructuring meant the service had some money that was “early to need” that could be used to fund the conversion, Meink said
Officials have been cagey about how much it will take to make the Qatari jet suitable for presidential use, as President Trump has ordered, and where they will get the money. Meink has previously estimated that it would cost about $400 million to do the conversion, far less than the $1 billion mark other officials have offered.
During the hearing, Meink also disclosed that he expects the retrofit will take “just short of a year” once the Air Force accepts the jet. The administration has reportedly tapped L3Harris to modify the Qatari jet. Meink did not say whether a formal contract had been signed but that they have “discussed it” with the contractor.
The project was born out of Trump’s frustration over delays building new two VC-25B jets. That $3.9 billion contract was originally struck with Boeing during Trump’s firm term. Delays have pushed delivery of the VC-25Bs back to 2029 or 2030, but the service is trying to accelerate delivery to 2028.
Asked about plans to give it to Trump after his presidency, Meink said, “I can just speak [to] what I've been asked to do, what we signed up to do, which is the current VC-25 is challenged from a readiness perspective, very challenged. It's a very old aircraft. The VC-25Bs are going to show up later than we'd initially hoped for. And I've been asked to modify this aircraft as soon as we get possession of it, and we are positioned to do that.”
Posted by John3262005
7 Comments
Your tax dollars at work for the glory of thy god-king.
Glad to know his personal jet will be funded by my paycheck.
The next president has to make sure that the “Trump Library” doesn’t get to keep the jet.
That last paragraph is so pathetic, the shamelessness is unbelievable.
Golden plane instead of a golden dome.
This whole story sums up so much of how our government is failing. It’s not even the idiotic Trump stuff about even attempting to turn this plane into Air Force one.
We also have a missile project that’s delayed and 81% over budget. We have a contract with Boeing that’s delayed and we’re looking at more than 10 years just to build 2 planes. Then there’s the quote from the guy who is in charge of this stupid shit basically screaming out “I know this is wrong but it’s what I’ve been told to do.”
This would all be hilarious if it wasn’t my government.
If the next Dem president doesn’t immediately sue the Trump Foundation and block his access to this plane I really might be done with the party. I know the plane is relatively minor given everything else these crooks are doing but something about this story just pisses me off more than anything else. The grift is just so blatant.