The Air Force has started upgrading a 747 jetliner that the government of Qatar donated to the United States this summer, the Air Force said in a statement this week.
President Trump has said he wants to modify the aircraft quickly so it can be put into use as a new Air Force One. But the plane, which industry executives estimated is worth about $200 million, will require extensive work before it can be considered secure enough to carry Mr. Trump, Pentagon officials say.
In a statement this week, the Air Force said that it was modifying the Boeing 747 for “executive airlift” support, on orders of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but that all other details about the upgrade were classified.
The plan has drawn concern from some members of Congress. They worry that Mr. Trump will pressure the Air Force to do the work so fast that sufficient security measures will not be built into the plane, such as missile defense systems or even systems to protect it from the electromagnetic effects of a nuclear blast.
Industry and Pentagon officials have said such an extensive upgrade could cost as much as $1 billion and take up to two years to complete. But in testimony before Congress in June, Troy E. Meink, the Air Force secretary estimated the modifications would run “probably less than $400 million.”
Congressional budget analysts suspect that a mysterious $934 million transfer earlier this year from one of the Pentagon’s most over-budget, out-of-control projects — the modernization of America’s aging, ground-based nuclear missiles — is paying for much of the new, gold-adorned Air Force One that Mr. Trump desperately wants in the air before his term is over.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress also worry that Qatar may be trying to improperly influence Mr. Trump, or that the plane itself might have listening devices.
Qatar’s defense minister and Mr. Hegseth signed the final memorandum of understanding several weeks ago, paving the way for the refurbishing that the Air Force announced this week would start at a Texas facility known for secret technology projects.
Mr. Trump has said that the plane will be transferred to the yet-to-be-created Trump presidential library after he leaves office in 2029.
The new plane will be the third being retrofitted for use as Air Force One, replacing two planes that have been in use for 35 years and have had maintenance problems.
Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades.
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