The Boeing 747-8 being offered to Donald Trump by Qatar once served the Qatari royal family and has been sitting unsold for years.

The jet, a lavishly configured version of Boeing's largest passenger aircraft, has been lingering without a buyer since being put up for sale in 2020, according to aircraft listings and aviation analysts.

John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board, told Forbes that giving the 747-8 to the U.S. would allow the Qataris to avoid maintenance costs that were only getting higher—with the 747 fleet shrinking worldwide and fewer mechanics available who know how to work on them.

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[–] 14 points 1 year ago (4 children)

To meet Air Force One standards, the plane would need extensive modifications, including secure communications, nuclear blast shielding and missile defense systems.

Nuclear blast shielding?

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  • [–] 22 points 1 year ago

    EMP shielding. Nuclear explosions release an absolutely insane amount of electromagnetic energy and it fries electronics. This is actually where the first EMP was observed - a high altitude nuclear test fried a bunch of electronics. The idea is that it needs to be able to keep flying even if a nuclear blast goes off even quite some distance away. There's obviously no way to actually nuke proof a plane, it would get vaporized or knocked out of the sky if it were close to the epicenter.

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  • [–] 10 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I think they have systems in place to stop EMPs from affecting and potentially taking down AirForce One, and nuclear blasts create EMPs that if left otherwise unshielded would do exactly that.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    There's also hardening from nuclear radiation.

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