ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images
The Pentagon is set to shift funds from the US’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program to refit a jet gifted to the US and President Donald Trump by Qatar.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing last week that the funds were from “excess to need in 2024,” per Defense One.
He went on to stress that redirecting the funds would not set back the $140 billion Sentinel program, an initiative to replace the US’s aging nuclear missiles that has experienced years of delays and a near doubling of its estimated cost.
“Let me be very clear, the Sentinel program is fully funded [and has] all the resources it needs to execute as quickly as possible,” he said, per Defense News.
The US accepted the Boeing 747 from Qatar back in May, but critics have raised numerous concerns, including the cost of refitting it as well as security issues with turning a foreign jet into a flying White House.
Others have criticised the deal over Constitutional rules related to accepting expensive gifts from foreign leaders.
Some lawmakers and outside experts have said the expected costs of modifying the jet could be as high as $1 billion, as the aircraft would require extensive retrofitting of security and communications systems before it could be used for presidential air travel.
But Meink disputed that cost, and said that refitting the plane would cost around $400 million, and could be completed in a year.
Trump, during his first term, signed a contract for two new Boeing aircraft to enter the Air Force One fleet, but delays mean the planes are unlikely to be ready for service until 2027 or 2028, near the end of Trump’s second term.
The Sentinel program was designed to replace the US’s stockpile of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, which can be fitted with nuclear warheads.
In January, it was reported that costs for the program were spiralling, from an initial projection of $77 billion to potentially $140 billion.
Air Force Global Strike Command oversees the 400 Minuteman III missiles deployed in silos across the central US. These long-range missiles have been one of the most threatening elements of the US nuclear force since they became operational five decades ago. The Sentinels are set to replace them in the 2030s.
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