US president Joe Biden has selected the livery design for the “Next Air Force One,” a new aircraft that will be used to ferry the president and other officials on their missions across the globe.
The design of the VC-25B will closely resemble the livery of the current Air Force One, VC-25A, while also modernizing for the 21st century, the air force said.
Under former president Donald Trump, the service previously displayed a red, white, and blue livery for the VC-25B. A thermal study later concluded the dark blue in the design would require additional Federal Aviation Administration qualification testing for several commercial components due to the added heat in certain environments.
While accounting for the VC-25B’s larger 747-8i aircraft, the VC-25B livery has three primary differences with the VC-25A’s livery.
The light blue on VC-25B is a slightly deeper, more modern tone than VC-25A’s robin’s egg blue.
Additionally, the VC-25B engines will use the darker blue from the cockpit area vice the VC-25A’s robin’s egg blue. Finally, there is no polished metal section on the VC-25B because modern commercial aircraft skin alloys don’t allow for it.
A formal contractual decision for a VC-25B livery was not required until this year for Boeing to conduct engineering, certification preparation, and supplier selection activities for the program.
The VC-25B program will deliver a new fleet of aircraft to enable POTUS to execute the duties of Head of State, Chief Executive, and Commander in Chief. The aircraft will be uniquely modified to provide the POTUS, staff, and guests with safe and reliable air transportation with the equivalent level of communications capability and security available in the White House.
The VC-25B aircraft will replace the current VC-25A fleet, which faces capability gaps, rising maintenance costs, and parts obsolescence. Modifications to the aircraft will include electrical power upgrades, a mission communication system, a medical facility, an executive interior, a self-defense system, and autonomous ground operations capabilities.
Boeing is expected to deliver the first aircraft in 2027 and the second one in 2028. As the new airframe is expected to be delayed by two to three years due to problems with modifications of the aircraft’s interior, the air force noted it would keep the VC-25A available and mission-ready until delivery of the VC-25B.
