Is Lufthansa Selling 2 Boeing 747-8s To The US Air Force?

YouTube ^ | 12/15/2025

[devane617]

Lufthansa is rumoured to be selling off two of its Boeing 747-8s with reports that the buyer is the US Air Force. While the carrier has yet to officially confirm the move, we know that Lufthansa was planning to hold on to its newer 747-8s and operate them into the 2030s.

[devane617]

Odd story if true. Maybe the POTUS wants his new ride quicker.

[Rlsau1]

Boeing’s BOD better step in and clean out the executive suite pretty soon or things could go from really bad to a lot worse.

[devane617]

The Boeing BOD and management want nothing to do with Trump and will wait him out then charge three prices for the new jets.

[Abathar]

They’ll hold a lot of one way illegals if configured properly, wasn’t he looking for a few planes just to use for that recently?

[Rlsau1]

Boeing has many more problems than anything related to DJT.

[FreedomPoster]

When the 737Max issues first hit the news several years ago, I took a long look at Boeing’s web site. It was covered up in DEI horse poop. If anyone cares to you can look at when that was, and look at Boeing.com at archive.org, AKA The Wayback Machine, and see what I’m talking about.

[Red Badger]

BRAVE AI:

Boeing YAL-1 airborne laser demonstrator aircraft by Boeing

The Boeing YAL-1 was the United States Air Force’s (USAF) airborne laser demonstrator aircraft, designed as an anti-ballistic missile weapons system.

It was a modified Boeing 747-400F freighter developed under the Airborne Laser (ABL) program, with the primary mission of intercepting and destroying tactical ballistic missiles during their boost phase.

The aircraft first flew on July 18, 2002, and successfully demonstrated its capability by destroying a ballistic missile in flight in February 2010.

Despite this milestone, the program was canceled in 2010 due to high costs, estimated at $5 billion over 16 years, and operational limitations such as the need to operate close to enemy territory.

The sole YAL-1 was retired on September 25, 2014, and subsequently scrapped at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

More recently, the USAF has shifted focus toward developing next-generation laser systems for fighter jets, such as the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) and the Tactical Airborne Laser Weapon System (TALWS), both of which are pod-mounted, electric-powered lasers intended to defend aircraft like the F-15E, F-15C, F-15EX, and F-16 from incoming missiles.

These systems are expected to be deployed by 2025 and represent a move toward more affordable, scalable, and versatile laser defense technologies compared to the YAL-1.

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Perhaps the Air Force has a new system..................

[Pontiac]

They’ll hold a lot of one way illegals if configured properly, wasn’t he looking for a few planes just to use for that recently?

That was my first thought as well.

Yank the First Class and Business Class seats and replace them with Coach seating and you might get 500+ illegals per trip.

And what Air Force Pilot wouldn't want some hours in a 747-800?

If they already have the most efficient engines installed it could save some money over charted flights.

[CodeToad]

The cancer of liberalism has killed Boeing.

[House Atreides]

“ Yank the First Class and Business Class seats and replace them with Coach seating and you might get 500+ illegals per trip.”
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Seating? Do they really have to sit? /sarc

[T.B. Yoits]

This looks related to the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) replacement for the E-4 "Nightwatch"/"Doomsday" planes. The SAOC is the new descriptor for what has been known as the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP) / National Airborne Operations Center" (NAOC) program. There are currently four 747s to be replaced.

From 2021: U.S. Air Force Looking into Acquisition Strategy; Possible Used, Commercial Derivative Aircraft for E-4B Replacement

https://www.defensedaily.com/u-s-air-force-looking-into-acquisition-strategy-possible-used-commercial-derivative-aircraft-for-e-4b-replacement/air-force/

From 2023: Sierra Nevada wins $13B contract to build Air Force ‘doomsday plane’
"...Sierra Nevada will build SAOC out of a hardened and modified version of a commercial derivative aircraft..."

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024/04/26/sierra-nevada-wins-13b-contract-to-build-air-force-doomsday-plane/

From 2024: U.S. Air Force E-4B Doomsday Planes Replacement Program Progresses

https://theaviationist.com/2024/12/12/u-s-air-force-e-4b-doomsday-planes-replacement-program-progresses/