Scare Force One? Security questions swirl over Trump’s new plane

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump faced questions about the security of his new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar, after he took an older jet home from a NATO summit this week.

The billionaire president has been unable to contain his excitement over the retrofitted Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which took him to Ankara on its maiden trip outside the United States.

Trump then abruptly announced in Turkey that he would send the aircraft ahead to a British airbase saying the decision was made to allow US troops to tour the luxury plane.

The New York Times reported on July 10 that the new plane lacked the same security countermeasures boasted by the older jet, including anti-missile defenses. US media also reported that the Secret Service had advised the switch.

Speculation was fueled by the fact that US hostilities had flared again with Iran, which borders Turkey, and because journalists on the old plane out of Ankara were also told to keep their window blinds down, a step normally reserved for war zones.

Trump himself denied any security concerns, but after switching back to the new plane for the flight from the UK to Washington, he referred to alleged Iranian assassination attempts.

“You’re probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleazebags we have to deal with,” he said.

The New York Times said several of its journalists received subpoenas from the Trump administration on July 10, following its report on the new Air Force One.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said David McCraw, the publication’s top newsroom lawyer.

The White House defended the new plane’s safety.

“The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the President and his staff,” Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement to AFP on July 10.

“As the President has said recently, there are many enemies of America who have their sights on him, and we use every tool at our disposal to address those threats.”

In a similar statement to some US media on July 9, Cheung said those tools included “distraction and misdirection,” in an apparent reference to the plane swap.

The Secret Service referred queries to the White House.

While US officials never disclose details, the older Air Force Ones are widely reported to have sophisticated countermeasures that can jam enemy radar and infrared tracking systems.

They also reportedly have dispensers for chaff - metal shavings that distract radar-guided missiles - and flares that blind heat-seeking missiles.

It is unclear which if any of those measures are on the Qatari plane, although it lacks some of the specialised external equipment fairings that are visible on the older jets.

Qatar’s royal family donated the luxury airliner last year after Trump complained about the state of the two aging Boeing 747 jets that had served as Air Force One since 1990.

The plane was then rapidly retrofitted and flew Trump for the first time on July 1, to North Dakota.

But the US military has previously admitted it had to make compromises - mainly on the internal decor - to get the aircraft into service as quickly as possible for Trump.

“No risk was taken in security, safety or mission communications, but the collective team made trades on some of the less commonly used mission sets that Boeing must deliver to support the next 40 years,” the US Air Force said in a June statement.

But Senate Democrats asked the Air Force in a letter sent the day Trump arrived in Turkey to explain “real national security concerns” about the Qatari plane.

Former US security officials also expressed doubts.

“No matter what you do to retrofit a Qatari jet, it’s never going to be built from scratch to have the defensive capabilities like a tailor-made Air Force One,” retired Brigadier General John Teichert, former US Air Force assistant deputy under secretary, told Fox News.

The Qatari jet is acting as a stopgap until two brand new Boeing Air Force Ones are delivered later this decade following a series of delays. After that it is due to be donated to Trump’s planned presidential library.

But Qatar’s donation of a jet worth hundreds of millions of dollars has also raised ethical questions about whether a US president should receive or use such a gift from a foreign power. AFP