The new “Air Force One” that President Donald Trump flew to Turkey earlier this week does not have the defensive systems of the earlier model.
According to several officials familiar with how the aircraft was refitted, advanced anti-missile capabilities were not added to it.
Experts say that because the Boeing 747-8 received as a gift from Qatar lacks these capabilities, travelling abroad on it is risky. That risk became clearer last Wednesday, when, at the request of the US Secret Service, Trump abruptly decided to leave the new aircraft behind and fly the old Air Force One out of Turkey.
Since then, attention has focused on a claim by the president. Complaining that the older fleet used as the state aircraft had grown too old, he had been adamant that the 747 received from Qatar be quickly made fit for state use. The aircraft gifted by Qatar has been undergoing refurbishment under the supervision of the US Air Force for the past year. US lawmakers are now demanding that the Trump administration clarify whether adequate security has been ensured on it.
The aircraft’s security matters not only for the president but equally for the White House officials, Secret Service members, journalists and invited guests travelling with him.
President Trump had, however, been insisting from the outset that the new aircraft be brought into service as quickly as possible. He had frequently expressed dissatisfaction that the old Air Force One was not attractive or lavish enough for international travel.
On Thursday, the White House did not answer specific questions about the new aircraft’s capabilities but defended its security arrangements. White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement: “The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft. High-level security protocols have been added to it to ensure the safety of the president and his staff. As the president recently said, ‘Many enemies of the United States are watching him.’ We are using every tool at our disposal to counter those threats.”
The US Air Force declined to comment on the specifics of the security arrangements on the Qatar aircraft, saying it was being used as a “bridge”, or interim, aircraft until two Boeing jets being built permanently as part of the presidential fleet are completed.
But when it announced that the gifted aircraft was ready to carry the president, the Air Force had acknowledged that, for interim use, the plane did not have all the equipment normally found on an Air Force One.
In a statement on June 19, the Air Force said: “No risk has been taken with regard to security, protection or mission communications. But in arranging for the aircraft to serve well for the next 40 years, concessions had to be made on less-used mission sets [some less-essential features].”
The Air Force did not clarify what was actually meant by “less-used mission sets”. But officials familiar with the aircraft’s security features, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plane received from Qatar lacks the defensive systems of the earlier model.
Two former Air Force officials who had been involved in modifying the old Air Force One expressed deep surprise at the episode, saying that Trump had travelled abroad on this new aircraft where the security risk was so high.
Notably, Turkey — where Trump had gone to attend the NATO summit — shares a border with Iran, and this very week the United States launched several fresh attacks across Iran.
These former officials were not directly involved in the refurbishment of the Qatar aircraft. But they said the pace of the project alone made clear that there had not been enough time to carry out all the security modifications traditionally required for a full presidential aircraft.
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said: “Because of the time constraints, it was not possible to make all the kinds of modifications of a normal Air Force One here. So gaps remain in its security, communications and other necessary systems.” While Kendall was in office, he had pushed for Boeing to quickly finish delivering the two long-stalled new Air Force One aircraft.
Pointing to the current situation, Kendall added: “Given the current Iran situation, this could be a cause for concern. To be honest, I was quite surprised to see the new aircraft used outside the United States.”
Andrew P Hunter, a former assistant Air Force secretary who oversaw the Air Force One programme during the Biden administration, said the same. In his view, “turning a Boeing 747 into a true Air Force One requires more than a year of work.”
The day before Trump set off for Turkey, Democratic members of the Senate sent a letter to the Air Force raising various questions about the refurbishment of the Qatar aircraft and expressing doubt over whether all the necessary security measures had been added.
The letter, sent by Connecticut Democratic Senator Christopher S Murphy and 12 other senators, said: “Trump himself has expressed delight at the unprecedented luxury of this aircraft. His remarks make clear that, in this decision, Trump’s personal comfort and preference were given greater priority than US national security.”
According to three former Pentagon officials, the older aircraft used as Air Force One had a defence system capable of destroying heat-seeking missiles, and the new Boeing aircraft being built for the president’s use are also planned to have it.
Describing the security protocol on condition of anonymity, a former US Air Force official said that parts of this defence system are visible from the outside beneath the wings and on the tail of the old Air Force One, but that no such system was visible in photographs of the aircraft received from Qatar.
Although this missile-defence system has rarely been used in the history of Air Force One, it has always been regarded as an extremely important part of the aircraft’s security.
The description the Pentagon has released of the Boeing aircraft under construction shows that the new jets will have a “self-defence system” and “mission communications” — measures considered necessary for a president to properly carry out the duties of “head of state, chief executive and commander of the armed forces”.
According to US officials, Iran has targeted Trump ever since he ordered the drone strike that killed the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. Before the deadly attack on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, during the 2024 election campaign, too, the Secret Service had increased his security — a step taken on the basis of intelligence about Iranian espionage.
Despite the resumption of intense US attacks on Iran, US policymakers briefed on current intelligence do not believe Iran has any immediate plan to kill Trump at this moment.
Describing the intelligence assessment on condition of anonymity, a US official said Iran had a clear understanding of how great a provocation any attempt on Trump’s life would be, and how devastating the US response could be.
Even so, while in Ankara, the Secret Service was so concerned about Trump’s security given his proximity to Iran that it forced the president to change aircraft as he left the country. The New York Times first reported this last Wednesday.
When announcing the change of aircraft, however, Trump told a different story. He claimed he was returning to the old aircraft so that the new jet could set off earlier and, stopping over at US military bases, show the troops its “wonderful” form.
A former senior White House official involved in discussions about the military aircraft used for presidential travel said that whenever a security question arises during travel, a degree of tension often develops among White House staff, military advisers and the Secret Service.
But whenever military experts demand a change, White House officials usually accept their decision — which helps to defuse potential threats.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report