(United States)

Notes: Replacing the two VC-137C Stratoliners, these two aircraft entered service in 1990. The decision to procure the VC-25 was made by the Reagan administration but George HW Bush was the first President to use the type.

The VC-25 is a modified Boeing 747-200 airliner. The lower deck contains two galleys, cold storage for 2000 meals, and a cargo bay. The main deck has a presidential suite (with beds, bathroom and shower), an office, an ER (with pharmacy and operating table), a meeting room, a small exercise area, and separate seating sections for the President, senior staff, Secret Service, general passengers, and media. Most of the rooms are offset to the planes’ right, with a long corridor on the left. The upper deck has military communications gear and facilities for the flight crew. Each plane has 85 telephones, 19 televisions, and 283 miles of wiring. They are NBC-sealed and EMP-hardened.

The VC-25 can be refueled mid-air via a receptacle on the nose. Electronics equipment includes GPS, ECM, SATCOM, flares, military IFF, and a trailing wire antenna. The engines are fitted with AN/ALQ-204 “HAVE CHARCOAL” jammers, the VC-25 being the only USAF type to carry this sensor. The main radar is the AN/APS-133 X-band multi-function set.

The name “Air Force One” refers to any USAF plane with the President onboard. In popular culture however, it has come to be associated with the VC-25.