By David Shepardson and Mike Stone
WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) – The U.S. Air Force is rolling out a new paint scheme across its executive airlift fleet, including the next-generation Air Force One aircraft, in a color palette of red, white, dark blue, and gold, the service announced on Tuesday.
The new design marks a departure from the current white and two-tone blue livery dating to President John F. Kennedy’s administration, and revives elements of former President Donald Trump’s proposed red, white and blue scheme that was scrapped in 2022 after the Air Force determined darker colors could cause overheating issues.
The redesign will be applied to the VC-25B – the military designation for the Boeing 747-8i aircraft that will serve as Air Force One.
The Air Force One program involves converting two 747-8 aircraft into specialized jets equipped with advanced communications and defense systems to serve as the next generation of U.S. presidential air transport. That effort is four years behind schedule with delivery now expected in 2028.
As a stopgap, the U.S. government has tapped defense contractor L3Harris Technologies , to overhaul a Boeing 747 formerly used by the Qatari government for use as an interim Air Force One.
In 2025, the United States accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jetliner as a gift from Qatar. The White House asked the Air Force to rapidly upgrade the gift for use as Air Force One.
In addition, four modified Boeing 757-200s used to transport the vice president, cabinet members, members of Congress and other senior government officials will carry the new livery, the Air Force said.
The 757-200 aircraft will receive their new livery during regularly scheduled maintenance windows. One of those jets has already been repainted and should be delivered in the coming months, the Air Force said.
The Air Force did not provide details on how the new design addresses the thermal concerns that doomed Trump’s previous paint proposal, which the Biden administration rejected after determining it “could drive additional engineering, time and cost.”
The Air Force One program has faced delays and cost overruns since Boeing agreed to a $3.9 billion fixed-price contract in 2018 to deliver two modified 747-8s to replace the current fleet. The cost for Boeing’s current effort to build the two new jets is over $5 billion. The current Air Force One airplanes entered service in 1990.
In December, the Air Force purchased two used 747-8 aircraft for $400 million to establish crew training and spare parts support ahead of the transition from the aging 747-200 fleet.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington, Editing by Franklin Paul, Rosalba O’Brien and Diane Craft)
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