page_title: Air Force One
section_title: VC-25B
hierarchical_section_title: Air Force One / History / VC-25B
caption_attribution_description: President Trump Arrives in Germany for the G20 Summit
context_page_description: Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used to transport the president. The aircraft are prominent symbols of the American presidency and its power.
  The idea of designating specific military aircraft to transport the President arose in 1943, when officials of the United States Army Air Forces, the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force, became concerned about using commercial airlines for presidential travel. A C-87 Liberator Express was reconfigured for use as the first dedicated VIP-and-presidential transport aircraft and named Guess Where II, but the Secret Service rejected it because of its safety record. A C-54 Skymaster was then converted for presidential use; dubbed the Sacred Cow, it carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945 and was used for another two years by President Harry S. Truman.
  The "Air Force One" call sign was created in 1953, after a Lockheed Constellation named Columbine II carrying President Dwight D.
context_section_description: The VC-25As are to be replaced, because they have become less cost-effective to operate. On 28 January 2015, the Air Force announced that the Boeing 747-8 would be the next presidential aircraft.  On 6 December 2016, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted his opposition to the Air Force One replacement because of its high cost, "more than $4 billion". The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated the total cost at $3.2 billion, and the U.S. Air Force's budget for the program is projected to be nearly $4 billion.  In December 2016, Boeing was on contract for preliminary development worth $170 million.
  On 1 August 2017, Defense One reported that, in an effort to pay less for the replacement program, the U.S. Air Force had contracted to purchase two of the bankrupt Russian airline Transaero's undelivered 747-8 Intercontinentals from Boeing, which was storing them in the Mojave Desert to prevent corrosion. These airplanes, which were flight-tested but never delivered, will be retrofitted with telecommunications and security equipment to bring them to the required security level of presidential aircraft.
caption: President Donald Trump debarking Air Force One in Germany for the G20 Summit, July 2017
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