President Donald Trump flew home from a NATO summit in Turkey on an older Air Force One plane instead of the new Qatari-gifted jet he arrived in. Trump said he would fly on the legacy aircraft ‘for old time’s sake’, and indicated that both aircraft would make a previously unscheduled stop on the way back to the US at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.
Security Concerns Raised
The travel switch raised fresh security questions about the new aircraft that the US spent $400 million to retrofit. Images of the Qatari-gifted jet show it is not equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the older jets.
The swap was also announced less than a day after the US military conducted a series of large strikes in Iran in retaliation for its attacks on merchant shipping in the region. Iran shares a border with Turkey.
When asked about security concerns, Trump didn’t directly answer but said that when it came to Iran, he was ‘No. 1 on the list for killing’. The US Air Force directed questions to the White House, stating that the new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft with high-level security protocols.
Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
