The Boeing Co., Seattle, Washington, has been awarded a $158,298,436 firm-fixed-price contract modification P00092 to contract FA8625-16-C-6599 for VC-25B Spares Phase 1 – Long Lead Parts. This contract modification is for the VC-25B (Air Force One) initial spares with a production lead time of greater than 12 months that are required for the initial support period, which is the first 18 months beginning at initial operational capability. Work will be performed at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 15, 2025.The contracting activity is Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
The Boeing VC-25 is a military version of the Boeing 747 airliner, modified for presidential transport and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) as Air Force One, the call sign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. While the VC-25 has two main decks and a cargo area, its 4,000 square feet (370 m²) of floor space has been reconfigured for presidential duties. Its lowest level is mostly cargo space, carrying luggage and the onboard food supply. Two new aircraft, designated VC-25B and based on the Boeing Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental,, have been ordered by the USAF to replace the aging VC-25As (based on Boeing 747-200B).
On 1 August 2017, in an effort to pay less for the replacement program, the U.S. Air Force entered into a contract to purchase two 747-8 Intercontinentals from Boeing, which had originally been ordered by Transaero, a Russian airline, in 2011. Before they could be delivered, the company filed for bankruptcy and was closed down, with the two aircraft stored at Southern California Logistics Airport in the Mojave desert to prevent corrosion. On 27 February 2018, the White House announced a US$3.9 billion agreement with Boeing to modify the two unsold 747-8s to replace the current VC-25As. The new aircraft will be designated VC-25B.
The future VC-25Bs are to be retrofitted with telecommunications and security equipment to bring them to the required security level for the presidential aircraft, and are due to be delivered by 2024.[24] Once the new aircraft are delivered, the VC-25As will be retired and placed in museum. After the commercial interiors, engines, APUs and other components were removed from the airframes, modification work started in March 2020 at the USAF’s Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas. The first phase of the work involved structural modifications to install the internal airstairs.