Pentagon looking to spend billions in coming years on new Air Force One fleet

Pentagon looking to spend billions in coming years on new Air Force One fleet
(Image credit: Koen Van Weel-Pool/Getty Images)

According to the Pentagon, it would be cheaper in the long run to replace the aircraft that carries the President of the United States, and the goal is to have three new Boeing 747s to use as Air Force One by 2023.

Air Force Col. Amy McCain, whom CBS News reports is in charge of ordering the new fleet of planes, said that the current airplane used to transport the commander-in-chief was fielded in 1991, and is the only plane of its type (747-200) flying in the U.S.

Congress initially requested $102 million for the project, a number CBS reports will grow to more than $3 billion over the next five years, not including the final three years of the project.

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Teresa Mull