(Washington) The US Air Force on Friday unveiled a new color scheme for Air Force One, the plane used by the President of the United States, revealing that Joe Biden had abandoned the one chosen by his predecessor Donald Trump.
For the two planes under construction, Mr. Biden opted for light blue and white, classic colors introduced by John Kennedy more than six decades ago.
Donald Trump, who left office in January 2021, wanted to change the paint of future devices, opting for red, white and dark blue. He had a model of the future aircraft bearing these colors on a coffee table in the Oval Office.
Mr. Trump’s plan called for a red stripe in the middle of the plane and dark blue on its lower part, in reference to the American flag.
These new colors have posed technical problems for engineers, however, and an Air Force statement on Friday noted possible delays and trials to achieve the desired darker shade of blue.
The new Air Force One aircraft will therefore look like the current aircraft, although the blue will be a “bit more modern” and there will be no polished metal on the fuselage “because the coating alloys of modern commercial aircraft do not. not allow”.
The term Air Force One is used to refer to two different presidential aircraft. On board, the President can exercise all the prerogatives of his mandate while in the air, including launching a nuclear strike.
They are equipped with state-of-the-art navigation and defense systems, such as an anti-missile system and an explosion-resistant fuselage, and they have a medical area.
The new aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2027 and 2028 and the winner of the 2024 presidential ballot will be the first to board.
The current operational aircraft will fly until that date despite increasingly high maintenance costs and obsolete parts, the statement said.
