Precise defensive capabilities are classified, but there are almost certainly flares, a vast array of jamming equipment, and the aircraft can survive the EMP of a nuclear explosion. It has the capacity for 76 passengers and their cargo, but several other aircraft are needed for everyone else that goes with a President on his or her travels.
The President can launch Superior Firepower from here. The VC-25A features medical facilities, a pharmacy and 85 telephones. Additionally, there is talk of replacing the VC-25A with a derivative of the newer Boeing 747-8, although plans for when and how are not final.īefore that, Air Force One was a Boeing 707 one of these is on display in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, one is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio and another is at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. With the price of fuel skyrocketing in the 2010s, the C-32s have become more common as Air Force One the C-32 despite certain hardware deficiencies, is much less expensive to operate per-hour than the 747-based VC-25A.
These normally serve as transport for the Vice President (under the callsign "Air Force Two"), but the President will use them when the VC-25A is not practical - e.g., for shorter trips, or when the destination airport can't handle such a large aircraft. Besides the highly recognizable VC-25As, the President has access to slightly smaller aircraft - at least four C-40Bs (modified Boeing 737, entered service in 2002) and at least four C-32s (modified Boeing 757, entered service in 1998). When the aircraft is not carrying passengers (usually for pilot training) it uses the 89th Air Wing call sign "Venus" followed by a flight number. Air Force One is now SAM 27000 (the callsign of one of the two VC-137C aircraft that preceded the current pair of 747s)." When President Nixon flew back to California after announcing his resignation, the plane was known as "Air Force One," until Gerald Ford was sworn in at noon, then the pilot called air traffic control and said, "Air Force One changing call signs. During transport missions where the President or Vice President is not on board, these aircraft use the callsigns "SAM 28000" and "SAM 29000" (short for Special Air Mission). The VC-25A is a heavily modified military version of the Boeing 747-200B, and the current two planes have tail numbers 28000 or 29000. In practice, however, since 1990 Air Force One has been one of two VC-25A aircraft operated by the 1st Airlift Squadron, 89th Airlift Wing. After the incident, the call-sign "Air Force One" was created to be unique to presidential flights. However, during one flight, the call-sign number happened to be identical to a nearby commercial flight's number, leading to much confusion and near mid-air collision. Prior to the Eisenhower presidency, the presidential plane's call-sign was number based. The origin of the call-sign "Air Force One" stemmed from a near-disaster. The Vice-President has "Air Force Two" and "Marine Two," "Navy Two," and "Executive Two" (used relatively often during the presidency of Gerald Ford his Veep Nelson Rockefeller was, well, a Rockefeller and had his own private jet which he preferred to use). "Marine One" is also the name given to the President's helicopter - we'll discuss that here. Bush flew in a S-3B Viking to make his infamous 'Mission Accomplished' speech on USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003), etc. "Marine One" for a Marine aircraft, "Navy One" for a naval aircraft (George W. If the Commander-in-Chief is on a civilian flight (which has happened once: Nixon, while President, rode on an ordinary United Air Lines flight to demonstrate confidence in the airline industry), it's "Executive One". we hope) to an interstellar battle cruiser. This could range from anything from a T-38 Talon trainer jet (the President would be the back-seater. The archetypal Official Presidential Transport, "Air Force One" is actually the call-sign given to any US Air Force aircraft that the President of the United States currently happens to be onboard.