WASHINGTON — A group of 13 Democratic senators are pressing the Air Force and L3Harris for answers about whether money and other resources were diverted from pressing national security requirements to accelerate the transformation of a Qatari-gifted Boeing 747 jumbo jet into a new Air Force One plane.
The group of lawmakers — headed by Sen. Chris Murphy, a defense appropriator from Connecticut — raised concerns in a letter sent today to Air Force Secretary Troy Meink and L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik about the quick timeline involved in the conversion of the VC-25B bridge aircraft, which shortened the usually yearslong process into a 10-month period.
“The Air Force seems to have committed to a rushed, expensive aircraft modification program for the purpose of meeting President [Donald] Trump’s demand to fly on ‘the world’s most luxurious plane,’ with his favored paint job, during Independence Day festivities,” the senators stated in the letter.
The letter specifically a report from Breaking Defense last month in which an L3Harris executive said the company was tasked to modify the Qatari jet by a July 4 deadline, resulting in a team of about 400 employees working 24/7. Jason Lambert, president of L3Harris’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance division, praised the security work done on the plane but declined to comment at the time on what specific modifications meant to enhance the aircraft’s survivability were included or excluded to meet the delivery timeline.
