The aircraft - valued at $400m - is being donated by Qatar as an "unconditional gift", with any retrofitting costs being borne by the US government.

Qatar will send the $400 million Boeing 747 aircraft as an unconditional “donation” to the Department of Defense, The Washington Post reported.

The U.S. government and Qatar will finalize a deal next week for Qatar to give the U.S. Air Force a jet to be Air Force One.