The Pentagon reported on Friday that, Boeing Co (BA) has obtained a contract to start pilot work on an innovative fleet of Air Force One presidential aircraft constructed on its 747-8 jumbo jet.
According to the daily digest of arms deals of Pentagon, the United States Air Force bestowed Boeing a preliminary contract worth $25.8 million to diminish risk and lower the cost of the program by looking at the tradeoffs between the rations and design of the new plane.
Particulars about the total value of the new contract have not been announced yet, but the Air Force has earlier said that it had reserved $1.65 billion for two replacement jets. Air Force One is one of the utmost noticeable symbols of the United States. The Air Force initially stated in January 2015 that Boeing’s 747-8 would be used to swap the two current Air Force planes used to transport the United States president.
The ideas of Air Force to transform the contract in upcoming years as the Air Force One program transports into the design and engineering phase, and after that, into production.
The Air Force now works two VC-25s, particularly aligned Boeing 747-200Bs, which are reaching the end of their calculated life of 30-year.
Deborah James, Air Force Secretary said in January that, the Air Force One program would use verified technologies and commercially licensed equipment to keep the package affordable.
Last week the company said it would amend the production of the 747-8 in half in September and take a $569 million responsibility in the fourth quarter as it faces declining sales.
