The VIP-configured B747-8, which will probably be transformed into Air Drive One, was photographed departing Alliance Fort Value en path to Waco.
On Aug. 8, the Boeing 747-8 N7478D, donated by Qatar to U.S. President Donald Trump, was photographed at Alliance Fort Value, Texas, departing southbound to Waco, Texas, likely for the primary spherical of inspections and prep work by L3Harris Applied sciences, who’ve reportedly been contracted to transform the plane to the Air Drive’s specs. The sighting tracks with current reporting that the plane is already in Texas and that preliminary flooring plans for its refit have circulated amongst senior U.S. officers.
The airplane is a VIP-configured 747-8 that Qatar has agreed to switch as an “unconditional donation” to the U.S. Division of Protection underneath a memorandum of understanding signed July 7, 2025, by Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth and Qatar’s deputy prime minister and protection minister, Soud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. The textual content, described by each retailers that obtained it, grants the Pentagon vast latitude to make use of the jet “in any method it deems acceptable” underneath U.S. legislation. It additionally features a clause stating that nothing within the MoU constitutes bribery or undue affect, a line clearly aimed toward political scrutiny across the association.
Previously operated as a non-public jet for the Qatari Royal Household, underneath the registration A7-HBJ, the plane was withdrawn from use in 2023 and finally given the non permanent registration P4-HBJ whereas a brand new operator was discovered.
As already reported right here at The Aviationist, Boeing, within the technique of changing two 747-8s into VC-25Bs, initially supposed to ship substitute plane by the mid 2020s. In February 2025, U.S. officers mentioned the VC-25Bs won’t enter service earlier than 2029, and could also be even later than that. 82-8000 and 92-9000, the 2 U.S. Air Drive’s two VC-25As, have been delivered in 1990 and are bespoke derivatives of the 747-200 mannequin. By the point of their anticipated retirement, they are going to be round 40 to 45 years previous.
Subsequently, the Qatar-donated “Jumbo Jet” would function Trump’s major Air Drive One plane till the top of his time period in January 2029, when will probably be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library.
As The Washington Submit first laid out on July 25, the deal was offered this spring as completed, then slowed whereas the Protection Division sought edits to the language. Finishing the paperwork would enable the Air Drive to start the total renovation, a job the Submit famous might run into the lots of of thousands and thousands and take vital time, regardless of public statements from service leaders that the work is perhaps saved underneath a yr. Lawmakers have pressed for extra element on value and schedule, and a few have questioned the authorized pathway for accepting and in the end transferring the plane after the administration ends.
CBS Information reported on July 28 that preparations for the refit are already underway and that senior officers have reviewed inside schematics. The community additionally cited the signed MoU’s language on the donation and its lack of any express reference to “Air Drive One,” whereas confirming that the plane will be employed by the Pentagon because it sees match. That framing issues as a result of the Air Drive should certify any platform used to hold the president, with work starting from safe communications and hardening to countermeasures, electromagnetic shielding and rigorous cyber testing. None of these gadgets are trivial on a wide-body airframe that started life as a non-public head-of-state transport.
The funding path is one other flashpoint. In accordance with the Submit, the Pentagon intends to cowl near-term prices by transferring cash from the Sentinel ICBM program, filling the hole later by means of a broader protection appropriations package deal, an strategy that has drawn criticism from Democrats who argue the refit will crowd out different priorities. Air Drive Secretary Troy Meink instructed Congress the renovation would value “lower than $400 million,” a determine challenged by skeptics on Capitol Hill. CBS Information echoed each the “lower than $400 million” estimate and the plan to faucet Sentinel funds labeled “extra to wish,” whereas noting the missile program’s well-documented overruns and delays.
From an aviation perspective, the airframe itself is the simple half; what seems to be tougher is its “missionization.” Even a low-time, 13-year previous 747-8 should be stripped, audited for overseas {hardware}, rewired and rebuilt round government-grade communications, defensive techniques and survivability options, then validated by means of flight take a look at and certification. That’s exactly why current administrations procured extremely modified 747-8s from Boeing by means of the VC-25B program, a path that has confirmed longer and dearer than initially deliberate. The donated jet is being positioned, at the very least on paper, as a bridge resolution till the VC-25B effort delivers an actual final result, however each indication from each retailers is that the refit will probably be measured in lots of months and lots of thousands and thousands.
H/T to our contributor and pal Victoria Fontana, for sending us the picture of N7478D you’ll find on this article.
