Here’s what the future Air Force One replacement will look like

Within the end of the decade, the U.S. Air Force will have to replace its most famous and representative plane, the same that has brought President Obama on his surprise trip to Afghanistan at the beginning of the month: the Air Force One.

What is commonly known as “Air Force One” by the radio callsign used when the President of the U.S. is on board is actually a pair of highly modified Boeing 747 aircraft, designated VC-25A.
Since Airbus has already said it will not pursue the replacement program, there is only one aircraft manufacturer interested in the bid: Boeing.

Although the new B787 dreamliner has been reported as one of the candidates, the most likely VC-25 replacement is the Boeing 747-8.

In order to see what a future Presidential 747-8 could look like Al Clark has prepared a digital mock-up of the new plane sporting the plane’s traditional light-blue and sky-blue color scheme, with the Seal of the President of the United States just above front gear and the flag of the United States on the tailfin.

Digital mock-up by Al Clark

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• The (not-so) secret Air Force One trip to Afghanistan (theaviationist.com)

About David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.