No Air Refueling Capability For The New Air Force One?

Concept art of the next Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8. (Boeing photo)

Defense One: Searching for $1 Billion: Inside the Pentagon’s Struggle to Match Trump’s Air Force One Boast

Details emerge about Boeing’s cost-saving pitches at Mar-a-Lago, and what Air Force leaders are really planning to cut. First to go: aerial refueling.

Two weeks after Donald Trump threatened to kill the plan to replace aging Air Force One jets, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg walked into Mar-a-Lago with some ideas for slashing its estimated $4.4 billion cost. In a Dec. 21 meeting with the president-elect, Muilenburg laid out four proposals. One of them would have cut about $1 billion, and Trump was soon boasting that he had saved that very amount.

But the Air Force — which oversees the jets’ acquisition and operation — rejected all of the proposals, saying that they would have produced a plane unsuited to the uniquely demanding requirements of flying the commander in chief in peace and war.

Since then, Air Force and White House officials have sought other ways to lower the cost of the aircraft, service spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in an email. Added to some changes already in the works before Trump’s criticism, these are expected to save significant money.

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Update: The Next Air Force One Aircraft Will Not Be Able to Refuel in Midair (Breaking Defense)

WNU Editor: Is refueling necessary? This capability has not been used by previous Air Force Ones, and the new version will be able to fly almost anywhere in the world non-stop. But like all procurement the focus is on the money when the focus should be on what is necessary.