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> total cost paid by the gov’t 3.2 billion. The sticker on just the two planes, without modifications, would be $0.8 billion. So it's a $1.2 billion increase p

by HWR_14 5y ago

> total cost paid by the gov’t 3.2 billion. The sticker on just the two planes, without modifications, would be $0.8 billion. So it's a $1.2 billion increase per plane. > Don’t they fly with fighter jet escorts Not usually > What exactly do they need This is classified (or more secret than that). But you can imagine it needs to be resilient to atmospheric nuclear blasts, have the ability to support tons of communication gear, internal security, radar jamming/chaff systems, infrared suppression, support for press operations. There are rumors about things like onboard surgery suites.

bmitc 5y ago
> But you can imagine it needs to be resilient to atmospheric nuclear blasts, have the ability to support tons of communication gear, internal security, radar jamming/chaff systems, infrared suppression, support for press operations. There are rumors about things like onboard surgery suites. Why?
- Thorrez 5y ago
  They might be useful to help the president in case of an emergency.
  - pjc50 5y ago
    Following Abraham Lincoln's "I can make a brigadier general in five minutes, but it is not easy to replace a hundred and ten horses", an alternative would be to accept a higher risk of losing the President and having to failover to the hot spare, in the weird and unlikely circumstances that the AF1 measures would actually help. Thereby saving a few billion dollars. Zelensky seems to be doing OK in a helmet and flak jacket. I did check whether he has a presidential plane - the previous president was a notorious big spender - and the answer appears to be a leasing co. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_Air_Enterprise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_Air_Enterprise based at Boryspil airport southeast of Kyiv. "Temporarily closed" on google maps.
    - Thorrez 5y ago
      I think it's not just about keeping the president alive, but also about keeping the president functional. A president who's alive but trapped in a plane without good communication isn't very helpful to the country. In a time of emergency the president needs to make decisions and communicate them quickly.

by HWR_14 5y ago

bmitc 5y ago

> But you can imagine it needs to be resilient to atmospheric nuclear blasts, have the ability to support tons of communication gear, internal security, radar jamming/chaff systems, infrared suppression, support for press operations. There are rumors about things like onboard surgery suites. Why?

Thorrez 5y ago
They might be useful to help the president in case of an emergency.
- pjc50 5y ago
  Following Abraham Lincoln's "I can make a brigadier general in five minutes, but it is not easy to replace a hundred and ten horses", an alternative would be to accept a higher risk of losing the President and having to failover to the hot spare, in the weird and unlikely circumstances that the AF1 measures would actually help. Thereby saving a few billion dollars. Zelensky seems to be doing OK in a helmet and flak jacket. I did check whether he has a presidential plane - the previous president was a notorious big spender - and the answer appears to be a leasing co. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_Air_Enterprise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_Air_Enterprise based at Boryspil airport southeast of Kyiv. "Temporarily closed" on google maps.
  - Thorrez 5y ago
    I think it's not just about keeping the president alive, but also about keeping the president functional. A president who's alive but trapped in a plane without good communication isn't very helpful to the country. In a time of emergency the president needs to make decisions and communicate them quickly.