Posted on 12/08/2016 3:56:15 PM PST by pissant
tThe Pentagon program that will replace the pair of aging 'Air Force One' planes is already slated to cost $4.265 billion through the year 2021, according to federal budget and procurement documents obtained by DailyMail.com.
That number supports what President-elect Donald Trump said two days ago when he claimed the U.S. Air Force should cancel its order with Boeing because the project's cost had spiraled above $4 billion.
'Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!' Trump tweeted Tuesday.
Critics immediately pounced, including Boeing itself – which claimed it is 'currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serves the unique requirements of the president of the United States.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
My understanding is it's actually four aircraft. The VP also gets two.
Piper Cub?
Different jet, not 747.
A pack mule?
A ‘stock’ 747 might be *listed* at that price but no one pays list price...except maybe the federal government because it’s not their money, they’re terrible at negotiating, and for certain other products negotiation is outlawed due to company lobbying.
Common discounts on Boeing and Airbus planes for the commercial sector are in the 25-60 percent range depending on model and customer order volume.
Defense contract costs, as well as many other things that the federal government buys, are mostly never justifiable. The US government is routinely ripped off and it’s usually intended to be that way.
Poor planning for both to be old.
Nothing DoD procures on open (non-black program) contracts is worth every penny. The insane procurement process alone adds a large multiple to the cost - you know, the process where to make it work right Frank Kendell actually needs another 1000 direct reports to him - that process.
I’d put the press corps on the cargo nets.
What is amusing is that folks have challenged Trumps assertions and question how he could possibly know. It's intended to be a replacement for his airplane as President. If he says it's not worth it, well who is to argue. "No dear, that evening dress that you really want is not too expensive."
It's just that we have never had anyone express the outrage that should be expressed at the cost of this stuff. They keep talking about supporting the warfighter. The closest warfighter to the Pentagon is in Quantico, and I am astonished that a brigade of marines don't march north, invest the Pentagon, throw the bums [the marines might use family inappropriate language here] out on their bums and try to get the stuff the "war-fighter" really needs at a reasonable price and on a reasonable schedule without the 100% - 200% skim off the top by the DC kleptocracy.
They should not cost more than $1B apiece.
“Defense contract costs, as well as many other things that the federal government buys, are mostly never justifiable. The US government is routinely ripped off and it’s usually intended to be that way.”
I worked for a small defense contractor back in the Vietnam War days. We had several CPFF sub-contracts on the Minuteman ICBM. When the management found we were coming in under budget, they put all of us on scheduled overtime to correct the “deficiency!”
why does af1 need 700 passengers seating abilty? If you have a president similar to 0, 700 is not near enough
Interesting.
Things have changed and oversight is regulation-driven.
Not everything is 100% efficient, but to be honest, a story from 40-yrs ago is, well, a bit dated when it comes to the FARS/DFARs and how acquistion operates today.
I won’t use google and never have (they used to have major privacy issues per various governments).
I did a search on bing for Air Force One Trump and a lot of articles came up:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=air+force+one+trump&src=IE-TopResult&FORM=IETR02&conversationid=
The current AF1 that Obummer has worn out with his frequent golf trips, fund raisers, vacays, etc. Hope Trump has the great mechanics that work on Trump Force One (and perhaps his current pilot) check the plane out or work along side those that will be doing same.
Everyone realizes, don’t they, that this aircraft was custom ordered for Hilary Clinton?
A CVN (air craft carrier) costs $6Billion. How can just two aircraft possibly cost over half of what a CVN costs?
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