After taking President Trump to Ankara for the NATO summit, the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft called into RAF Mildenhall to allow deployed U.S. personnel a special chance to view and tour the aircraft.
The visit was officially confirmed by President Trump on the Truth Social platform, where he also suggested that him and his entourage would travel on the ‘old’ Air Force One for “old time’s sake” to Mildenhall. This referred to VC-25A 92-9000, which accompanied the VC-25B Bridge to Ankara as the backup aircraft.
White House staff took to social media to bid farewell to 92-9000 recently, just hours before the VC-25B Bridge was officially unveiled, after it completed what was then planned to be its final flight as Air Force One. We can now see that these plans have changed, and the VC-25A will get at least one more journey in the spotlight.
“To honor our brave men and women of the Military, we are sending the brand new, and truly spectacular, Air Force One to Mildenhall Air Force Base, in the United Kingdom, to give them a chance to tour the Aircraft…” – President Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Nf2qCGDKUs
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 8, 2026
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The VC-25B Bridge, based on a Boeing 747-8i, left Ankara as SAM 33, likely referring to the aircraft’s serial number of 25-3300, ahead of Air Force One’s departure later in the day. It arrived at RAF Mildenhall shortly before 18:30 local time, just as President Trump boarded 92-9000 in Ankara.
POTUS has just departed Turkey on the “Old Air Force” (VC-25A) Speculating if it will meet the new VC-25B Bridge in the UK for a fuel stopover and POTUS will return to Andrews on the VC-25B Bridge. pic.twitter.com/Xm4qOt52uq
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) July 8, 2026
Ahead of the jet arriving, personnel at Mildenhall hastily began to cover the fences at the base’s main spotting locations with plastic fencing. Trucks and trailers were positioned on the inside of the fence as an additional barrier. It is unclear whether this was ordered solely from an operational security perspective – to block the view – or whether there were wider security concerns about the potential for an attempted attack after the U.S. declared its ceasefire with Iran to be over.
#USAF United States Air Force
Boeing VC-25B Bridge 1x#AF83F3 25-3300 – SAM 33
SAM 33, the new VC-25B, is en route to RAF Mildenhall from Turkey.
The USAF are currently covering the fences of the usual viewing areas at Mildenhall. pic.twitter.com/Y7OopAF9pj
— Armchair Admiral 🇬🇧 (@ArmchairAdml) July 8, 2026
Usually when these aircraft, especially when associated with a Presidential movement, land anywhere there is a degree of advance notice involved, allowing additional layers of security to be activated. We don’t know when this decision to visit Mildenhall was taken, and it may be the case that it was made too late for these preparations to be put in place.
Similar measures, with plastic sheeting covering public view spots, were notably deployed at RAF Fairford soon after the base began launching missions as part of Operation Epic Fury. In that case, the sheeting appeared after close-up photographs of various munitions being loaded onto strategic bombers were published in the media minutes after being taken. As the types of munitions being used could be identified, this could have allowed Iran to prepare its air defences for certain types of attack many hours in advance of the bombers arriving.
VC-25B Bridge First Overseas Trip
Until it flew to Ankara as Air Force One, it was questioned by many – including The Aviationist – whether the VC-25B Bridge would be considered secure enough to use for overseas trips. Though the U.S. Air Force says the aircraft has been equipped with advanced communications and self-protection measures, the short timeframe of the aircraft’s conversion compared to the many years it has taken for the heavily delayed VC-25Bs from Boeing to be delivered suggests that at least some shortcuts were taken. It has also been noted that no self-protection measures are visible externally on the aircraft, unlike the VC-25As.
In fact, as the aircraft arrived into RAF Mildenhall it became apparent based on communications between the pilot and air traffic control that SAM 33 is currently unable to communicate via the standard UHF frequencies used by military air traffic controllers. Instead, they had to use the VHF frequencies usually maintained for use by civilian visitors.
Rumor is the VC-25B(Bridge) will make its debut on the upcoming trip to Turkey.
It will be interesting if the Secret Service and US Air Force will allow a trip to the region on an aircraft that does not meet the traditional standards for Air Force 1. https://t.co/cR3rYtWniw
— TheIntelFrog (@TheIntelFrog) June 23, 2026
While it could be that a UHF radio has been fitted for use by the pilots and that it is simply unserviceable on this flight, it would be unusual if only one UHF radio was available, hinting that it may not have been fitted at all. The VC-25As, meanwhile, not only have UHF radios in the cockpit but are configured to use the HAVE QUICK secure communications protocol when circumstances require it.
RAF Mildenhall has been no stranger to the Presidential Airlift Group’s two VC-25As over the years, playing host on many occasions as a refueling stop on longer journeys and – occasionally – as a destination itself. With the greater range of the VC-25B Bridge and the VC-25B, these stopovers might become less necessary in the future, though precautionary stops to keep the fuel tanks full for contingency reasons could remain standard practice.
Being the aircraft’s first overseas trip, this will be the first time the VC-25B Bridge aircraft lands at a UK airfield in its current guise. However, in the aircraft’s previous life as part of the Qatar Amiri Flight, the airframe itself has already touched down in the UK on a number of occasions.
How many more times the VC-25B Bridge lands on British soil is sure to depend on whether there are further delays to Boeing’s VC-25Bs. The last known timeframe planned for the VC-25B’s service entry is in mid-2028, around a year from now, and around half a year before President Trump would leave office at the end of his second term.
There is unlikely to be another full state visit to the UK before then – President Trump already bucked tradition by being the first President to have two state visits to the UK – but there may be another kind of visit, particularly given the impending change of leadership in the UK. Inviting the U.S. President for a visit to the UK, backed by the potential for a private audience with the King, is frequently used as a way for new UK Prime Ministers to build a working relationship with their transatlantic counterparts.
President Trump, in particular, is known to be fond of the UK, owning two golf courses in Scotland and having expressed his liking of King Charles III as well as the late Queen Elizabeth II on several occasions.
There is, of course, also the strong chance of more stopovers during overseas trips elsewhere in the world.
Many thanks to our friend Glenn Lockett for speedily providing his images straight from the camera of the VC-25B Bridge’s arrival!
