Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Friday that the gift of a 747 jet from Qatar is just the beginning of a long trip to readiness for what may be the next Air Force One. Holt told The Record With Greta Van Susteren, “Right. So we’ll make it mission-ready. And first thing we have to do is find out, is there a business case for making it mission-ready?”
Holt said the plane needs to be stripped down and rebuilt to standards, along with safety checks. “It’s going to cost a lot of money to take the skin off the aircraft, to reinforce it where it needs to be, find any surveillance items that may be lingering around the airplane,” he explained.
And the process, he said, is costly, “All the electronics, communications gear, everything else involved that goes into that. Probably going to run a few dollars. But it is a gift.”
The gift end of the picture, said Holt, is important. He pointed out that the government order for a new Air Force One from Boeing is years overdue. “We’ll take it because we’re certainly not getting it out of the defense base right now at any really good amount of money or speed.” Holt said let’s jump in and get it done. “So we could use this, and I’ll bet you it’s going to end up working out quite well.”
Holt blames the unfulfilled order on simple government red tape. “We don’t keep things simple,” he said, “and we have a convoluted procurement process that lends itself to every little congressional district in the nation taking out their little wedge. It slows things down.”
And most importantly, said Holt, “It runs the cost right through the roof.”
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