Frustrated by repeated delays in Boeing's new Air Force One production timeline, President Trump has reportedly commissioned defense contractor L3Harris Technologies to retrofit a Boeing 747 previously used by the Qatari government as an interim presidential aircraft.
The Wall Street Journal reported that L3Harris has been tasked with retrofitting the Qatari 747 with communications systems and other equipment to transform the luxury aircraft into Air Force One.
According to the people familiar with the matter, President Trump requested that L3Harris complete the needed retrofitting of the jumbo jet by as early as fall.
In February, FOX Business' Edward Lawrence confirmed that Boeing had suffered global supply chain snarls that changed project timings and delayed the completion date to 2029.
White House communications director Steven Cheung told FOX Business at the time: "It is ridiculous that the delivery of a new Air Force One airplane has been delayed for such a long time," adding, "The president working on identifying ways to speed up the delivery of a new plane, which has been needed for a while."
Months later, WSJ's L3Harris report may suggest that there were very limited options to speed up the Boeing delivery.
Here's more from the report:
Before Trump's inauguration, White House Military Office and senior Air Force officials considered canceling Boeing's contract for the new planes, according to people familiar with the matter. White House officials under Trump have also discussed whether they can sue the plane manufacturer, some of the people said.
Trump initially tapped the bloated defense contractor to build the next-generation presidential aircraft during his first term, aiming to replace the aging fleet. Boeing's failure to deliver on time has become emblematic of the broader military-industrial complex: bloated, sluggish, and unaccountable.
The military-industrial complex's failures must urgently be corrected. For now, L3Harris is stepping in, aiming to deliver a retrofitted Qatari 747 as an interim Air Force One jet by this fall.
America's defense space needs more domestic competition if it wants to compete in the 2030s.
