A Boeing rendering of the future Air Force One or VC-25B. The aircraft is the same type of jet as the donated Qatari jet that President Donald Trump is using as a temporary Air Force One.
Boeing
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he exits Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., after attending the World Cup final soccer match, Sunday, July 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press
Without millions more in upgrades, the pair of new Air Force One jets being built at Port San Antonio may be obsolete before they’re delivered, the Pentagon says in a newly released report.
Air Force officials in charge of transforming the two Boeing 747-8s into presidential jets said the program’s years of delays have rendered the communications setup they planned to use as “not viable past CY 2028 due to cybersecurity and obsolescence issues.”
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The jets are expected to enter service by the middle of 2028 and 2029 respectively, four years later than originally scheduled.
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The high-tech gear should let the jets act as an airborne White House and military command center, but without additional upgrades it’s now outdated and likely unable to connect to the secure networks needed for presidential business, according to a Defense Department report to Congress about the program that was released this week.
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The report also highlighted problems with the jets’ passenger windows and a lack of spare windshields that could slow progress on the jets. Window vendor GKN Aerospace hasn’t been able to deliver windows without defects, and the original windshield maker shut down. Boeing has contracted with PPG Industries to restart production of the windshields.
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Officials also warned that ground and flight testing plans won’t meet their timelines if the jets aren’t completed on schedule.
The latest problems with the program known as VC-25B come as the 2027 defense budget is stalled in the Senate. The Pentagon has requested $555.2 million for the program in 2027, nearly $102 million or 23% more than previously planned.
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Some of that amount is expected to go toward the communications tech refresh, on top of $36.7 million, half the amount requested, that Congress approved for the tech upgrade last year.
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If the systems aren’t updated, the “unmitigated risk will drive an inability for (the president) to connect and operate on vital national security systems required for presidential communications,” wrote Air Force Brig. Gen William Ottati and Guy Spencer, the program’s leaders.
The disclosures came in a new “Modernized Selected Acquisition Report” about VC-25B, the first such assessment since 2023.
At 32 pages long, the latest acquisition report is about half the length of the 2023 version, which was 57 pages. The unclassified paper has fewer details than the prior edition about risks to the program.
Like the last report, details about the aircraft technical performance and the program’s schedule were redacted. It called that material “controlled unclassified information,” a quasi-classification that the Pentagon has increasingly used to limit public access without marking the material as secret.
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It shows that taxpayers are now on the hook for about $6 billion to develop the new jets, about $266 million over the original baseline amount.
While costs have risen for taxpayers, Boeing will take the biggest hit on the deal that was negotiated by President Donald Trump during his first term. The $3.9 billion contract for the jets, which was touted as a bargain for taxpayers, is expected to ultimately cost Boeing $8.1 billion, which equates to a loss of $3.7 billion. The company recently revealed it had lost another $280 million on the project this year.
Boeing “made the decision to add significant resources to support the build and test schedule on VC-25B,” CEO Kelly Ortberg said last month. That will “help mitigate potential risks during certification and flight tests.”
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Frustrated with the delays, Trump had the Air Force convert a donated Qatari luxury jet for his use. The Air Force originally estimated that it would cost less than $400 million to retrofit the 14-year-old jet for Trump, but it hasn’t revealed how much the conversion has cost.
That jet, now known as the Bridge Aircraft, is slated to go out of service in the near future for more work to upgrade its security systems. Reports indicate that security concerns led to Trump taking another jet home from a NATO summit last month.
It was supposed to go to Trump’s library in operational condition after his term, but that’s apparently changed. Now, one of the 1990s-era 747s that the VC-25B jets are replacing may go to his library. The White House hasn’t said what will happen to the Qatari jet after Trump leaves office, but most agree that it’s government property and should not go for his personal use.