https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/08 ... placement/
USAF to buy unclaimed Russian 747s for Air Force One replacement
Now parked in the Mojave Desert, aircraft will still have to be upgraded.
8/1/2017, 10:22 PM
Boeing has two completed 747-8 aircraft that were ordered in 2013 by the Russian airline Transaero,
which used to be Russia's second-largest air carrier.
But Transaero went bankrupt two years after placing the order and making partial payment for the planes.
Russia's Aeroflot acquired Transaero's operations, but the airline decided not to complete the purchase of the two 747s.
That left Boeing stuck with two completed, flight-tested aircraft and no buyer.
Five months ago, the planes were flown to a storage facility in the Mojave Desert to preserve them until Boeing could find someone to take them off its hands.
The Air Force came to the (somewhat delayed) rescue
and is currently negotiating a deal for the aircraft.
In a prepared statement, Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek told the press,
"We're working through the final stages of coordination to purchase two commercial 747-8 aircraft and expect to award a contract soon."
http://www.defenseone.com/business/2017 ... reaking_nl
Trump Wanted a Cheaper Air Force One. So the USAF Is Buying a Bankrupt Russian Firm’s Undelivered 747s
The service is reportedly getting a good deal on the jets, which list for around $390 million and are now sitting in the Mojave Desert.
President Donald Trump said the projected cost of new Air Force One aircraft was too high,
so the U.S. Air Force found a way to lower it:
by buying a pair of Boeing 747 jetliners abandoned by a bankrupt Russian airline.
Air Force officials are now finalizing a contract with Boeing for the two planes,
according to three defense officials with knowledge of the deal.
The Pentagon could publicly announce the deal as soon as this week.
“We’re working through the final stages of coordination to purchase two commercial 747-8 aircraft and expect to award a contract soon,”
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in a statement.
The Air Force is not expected to disclose the specific value of the contract,
but officials said that the military is getting a good deal on the planes.
Boeing lists the average sticker price of a 747-8 as $386.8 million;
the actual amount paid by airlines and other customers varies with quantities, configurations, and so forth.
“We’re still working toward a deal to provide two 747-8s to the Air Force
— this deal is focused on providing a great value for the Air Force and the best price for the taxpayer,”
Boeing spokeswoman Caroline Hutcheson said in a statement.
The 747s that will be transformed for Presidential transport were originally ordered in 2013 by Transaero,
which was Russia’s second-largest airline until it went bankrupt in 2015.
Boeing built two of the four jets in the order, but the airline never took ownership of them.
Typically, an airline makes a 1 percent down payment when it orders a plane, then pays the balance in installments.
Transaero did not fulfill its scheduled payments, according to an industry source.
“Aeroflot absorbed most of Transaero’s existing fleet, but declined to pick up Transaero’s 747-8I orders worth $1.5 billion at list prices,” FlightGlobal reported last month.
So Boeing flight-tested the two completed jets and put them in storage.
Flight tracking data shows that the aircraft, numbered N894BA and N895BA,
were last flown in February 2017,
to the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville,
a sprawling facility in the Mojave Desert
whose hot, dry air prevents corrosion.
This “boneyard” is largely occupied by retired commercial jets that still bear the liveries of Delta, FedEx, British Airways, and Cathay Pacific.
Other planes, unmarked, sit with their engines shrinkwrapped in anticipation of one day returning to flight.
Boeing has been paying to store the two 747s in new condition while searching for a buyer,
which allowed the Air Force to negotiate a good deal for them, sources said.
It’s similar to the way car dealers discount new vehicles from the previous year when new models hit the lot.
Turning a standard 747 into a flying White House requires more than a blue-and-white paint job.
After the Air Force takes ownership of the planes, contractors will give them a state-of-the-art communications system,
defensive countermeasures,
and hardening to withstand an electromagnetic pulse caused by a nuclear explosion.
New custom interiors will have conference rooms, offices and seating for White House staff, guests and journalists.
The Pentagon’s 2018 budget request, sent to Congress in February,
shows that the Air Force plans to spend nearly $3.2 billion between 2018 and 2022 on two new Air Force One jets.
Trump would likely fly on the new planes if he is elected to a second term.
The 747s currently flown as Air Force One are 747-200s, older models that started flying presidents in the early 1990s
.
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