President Donald Trump’s touted deal to secure a new Air Force One for the United States at a lower price than a previous agreement has proven not exactly representative of the actual situation. The U.S. is reportedly gearing up to pay a whopping $84 million just for the instruction manuals for the two aircraft that are getting converted to use as Air Force One. The manuals will reportedly include more than 100,000 pages of information, and they’re not slated to be complete until early 2025, around the time that the planes themselves are expected to be ready — which is after, of course, Trump himself may be out of office.
In the Air Force’s announcement, they state, in reference to the official military designation for Air Force One:
‘This contract modification is to modify commercial manuals, update with VC-25B-specific information and deliver integrated manuals for the VC-25B system. This includes manuals developed by both Boeing and their subcontractors.’
Originally, the official price tag for a new Air Force One was $4.4 billion. Trump eventually announced that he’d supposedly shaved half a billion dollars off that cost, but the newly reported cost of $3.9 million didn’t actually cover all the money that authorities would need to spend in order to secure the aircraft. As Defense One explains, the Air Force is actually slated to “spend another $1.4 billion on testing, spare parts, support equipment, training, and building new hangers at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C.” — which, of course, brings the total cost past the price that Trump was so upset about before.
The cost of the Air Force One manuals is reportedly on par with the cost for other manuals for similarly large-scale military systems. For example, in 2018, the Navy dished out nearly $31 million for an update to a manual for the Boeing P-8 Poseidon military aircraft.
In this case, the new Air Force One planes are getting developed from Boeing 747-8 airliners, which have been in use for ordinary passenger travel for a number of years. The alterations, however, are major — Defense One notes that the planes, once they’re complete, “will be incredibly bespoke inside with offices, conference rooms, and a communications center” and the “amount of wiring inside the aircraft will be at least double that of airliners.” There will also be a medical facility on board, according to an Air Force announcement, besides the “electrical power upgrades, a mission communication system… executive interior, and autonomous ground operations capabilities.”
These developments have emerged amidst Trump’s repeatedly fumbled efforts to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic.
High end steak house receives $20 million in aid.
Many Mom and Pop shops have been shut out.
We c/n blindly give this administration billions more and expect things to be different.
That’s why House Dems are fighting for changes.
FACTS.https://t.co/QPYYn58397
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) April 17, 2020
Recently, a small business loan program that Congress recently enacted ran out of money — after it sent sums like a full $20 million to a steak house chain.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) commented:
‘There are thousands of businesses in my district that are struggling to get relief and find a lender to work with. This article demonstrates exactly why we cannot simply dump more money into a broken program without first improving it.’
Congressional Democrats have been attempting to enact oversight to rein that in.
There are thousands of businesses in my district that are struggling to get relief and find a lender to work with. This article demonstrates exactly why we cannot simply dump more money into a broken program without first improving it.https://t.co/8EuBVQu54p
— (((Rep. Nadler))) (@RepJerryNadler) April 17, 2020
