Trump's first military spending comment

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I've not seen it mentioned anywhere but thought Trump's first public comment about military spending was an interesting surprise.

Trump says Air Force One Boeing order should be cancelled

President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants to cut government costs by cancelling the order for new planes to carry the American president.
Six weeks ahead of taking office, he tweeted: "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!"
The government has a contract with Boeing to build two or more new planes.
They would enter service around 2024.
Boeing shares fell more than 1% after the president-elect's tweet.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38221579

[Bushpilot]

If he wants to ride in a worn out airframe, bring it on

[slogen51]

Maybe B757 N757AF will be promoted to AF1 when DJT is on board!

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I suspect Boeing will help reduce the cost so that US industry and US government-to-be can both be seen to be doing the right thing while they exist within a near bankrupt nation.

[22A]

http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/06/news/co ... index.html
The president-elect said in a tweet Tuesday that the new Boeing (BA) 747 jet that's being built to carry "future presidents" already costs more than $4 billion, and that he wants to cancel the order. "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!" Asked by reporters Tuesday morning about the tweet, Trump responded, "Well the plane is totally out of control. It's going to be over $4 billion for [the] Air Force One program," he said. "And I think it's ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money."

Could this be a hint he'll look at all future government spending?

[GUNHOG]

Let's wait and see!

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Could this be a hint he'll look at all future government spending?

Every piece of future US government spending needs to be, and will be, reconsidered by the next government, it's a country heading for bankruptcy.

[GUNHOG]

While Russia and China expand their Military spending!!!!
Kev

[Knife 04]

Boeing shares fell more than 1% after the president-elect's tweet.

Wish that was only the amount the company I works for shares fell by in the last week!

[turmo]

The 'requirements' for Presidential transports are a case study in uncontrolled scope-creep with every department making sure it leaves its mark. Finally, though, it seems like the end-user might be voicing *his* requirements! Funny that no-one thought to ask him...

Does the VC-X really need to be able to do everything at once? So long as it can securely communicate with the TACAMO fleet then the ICBMs can be launched. Anything else can be delegated to the Vice-President, that's what he's there for after all.

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Turmo, unfortunately the day to day requirements of Air Force One, along with its wartime role, mean there's little option but to use a large airliner - even before every department has had its chance to add its pet requirements to the list. I've pasted the capabilities from the Boeing public web site which we can see are quite truncated, to even do what it does right now with limited space and old equipment, a 757 would be too small and mean they'd have to take two aircraft on each trip rather than one larger one.


Today, the chief executive flies aboard a specially configured 747-200B, the newest and largest presidential airplane. Its capabilities include:
* Longer range for presidential travel
* Aerial refueling
* Self-sufficiency at airports around the world


The "flying Oval Office" has 4,000 square feet of interior floor space. Among its accommodations are:
* Conference/dining room
* Quarters for the president and the first lady
* An office area for senior staff members
* Another office that converts into a medical facility when necessary
* Work and rest areas for the presidential staff, media representatives and Air Force crews
* Two galleys that can provide 100 meals at one sitting
* Multi-frequency radios for air-to-air, air-to-ground and satellite communications

Principal differences between Air Force One and the standard Boeing 747 include state-of-the-art navigation, electronic and communications equipment; its interior configuration and furnishings; self-contained baggage loader; and front and aft air-stairs.

[Andy_99]

A daresay it also has a number of unpublished features as well

It must have some form of defensive suite to protect against Missiles taking it down, It's it Shielded/Hardened to allow it to remain functional in the event of Electro-Magnetic pulse following a Nuclear attack ?

[PR9]

Offer him a A380 at a discounted price.

[thorny1a]

I hope he doesn't use his 757 for official visits. AirForce One represents a Nation, his 757 with TRUMP down the side just represents a fat ego

[Surrey Sam]

A slight tangent but well worth a read; is this collection/timeline of accounts, for that fateful September day aboard Air Force 1.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ ... sky-214230

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Surrey Sam, that article was an incredible read. The tactical thinking of the Colonel/aircraft commander was unprecedented considering America had never been "at war" before - flying at FL450-500 on the basis that any other aircraft at that height must've been after them was a great example of leadership in the time of crisis. That and where to divert to despite Bush wanting to get back to Washington asap. A USAF Colonel that I shared that link with said that walking off with the maps from Base Ops was an immediate sign that every rule book was ripped up on the spot, up until that point it was one of the biggest crimes a USAF pilot could commit etc. etc.

[Snoop 95]

Interesting article on BBC website about AirForce One here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38236404

[Surrey Sam]

Surrey Sam, that article was an incredible read.

Glad you enjoyed it, I too thought the same.

[hertsman]

Donald now has F35 programme costs in his sights.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-38261846

h.

[bentwaters81tfw]

Latest on Air Force 1.
https://www.facebook.com/airtrafficcont ... 642767959/