The Air Force has not divulged how much it reprogrammed in fiscal 2024 funds from the Sentinel to modify the Qatari jet for use as a stand-in Air Force One by President Donald Trump.
The Qatari gift of a Boeing 747-8i luxury airliner to the U.S. for use as Air Force One was a gift that President Trump welcomed, at least in part due to delays in the VC-25B program. The program to modify the Qatari jet to Air Force One standards, including the amounts required, is classified, but neither the Pentagon nor the U.S. Air Force have explained why the Air Force is allowed to classify the program, given the yearly budget submissions that list program details and amounts for the VC-25B.
The New York Times reported that the amount was $934 million. The Qatari government and DoD recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the transfer of the Qatari 747-8i, and the jet is parked at a classified facility in San Antonio, Texas where it awaits modifications by L3Harris Technologies to meet Air Force One requirements.
Congressional appropriators have received a “spend plan” from the Pentagon on how it plans to use the broad reprogramming afforded DoD by the fiscal 2025 yearlong continuing resolution. That spending plan includes re-programmings from Sentinel to “classified programs.”
“The more we learn about this deal, the more disturbing it becomes,” according to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense (SAC-D) panel. “The security implications of accepting a private plane from a foreign nation as Air Force One and the resulting ethical concerns a gift of that size creates were already significant. So, it’s even more troubling that this Administration is diverting funds from the nuclear modernization budget to finance costly renovations to this plane.”
Shaheen added that, “In doing so, we’re weakening our credibility to fund a vanity project for President Trump, and it’s totally unacceptable that congressional Republicans would go behind the American people’s backs by replenishing the Sentinel program through the deficit-busting budget reconciliation bill. It goes against congressional intent, weakens our national security and sends a signal to our adversaries that we’re not serious about nuclear deterrence.”
The Air Force is restructuring the Northrop Grumman LGM-35A Sentinel future intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program after a critical Nunn-McCurdy breach announced by the service in January last year, and that restructuring/new integrated schedule is to happen by next summer.
Congress may consider concurrent Sentinel silo construction at the Air Force’s three missile wings as a possible measure to reduce Sentinel costs, which have ballooned to $140 billion. Sentinel was to field in 2029, but that date now looks to be 2033 or later.
At a SAC-D hearing on June 26, Shaheen asked Air Force Secretary Troy Meink the origin of the fiscal 2025 funds to modify the Qatari jet to Air Force One standards. “If it’s going to cost $400 million to $1 billion, where is it going to come from?” she asked Meink.
Meink replied, “in the reallocation of resources, there were dollars that were moved from the Sentinel program that were excess to need in [fiscal] ‘24, and that’s what was used to fund the [Qatari jet] program.”
Meink added, “The Sentinel program is fully funded, all the resources it needs to execute as quickly as possible. It’s just that with the Nunn-McCurdy [breach] and some of the restructuring, the termination liability, I don’t want to go into the details, but that money was early to need and that was what was used to fund this effort.”
Meink said that the reprogramming would “absolutely not” further delay the Sentinel program.
At a June 5 hearing on the fiscal 2026 Department of the Air Force budget, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said that “the Air Force has taken $1.2 billion out of [fiscal 2024] Sentinel funds and used them instead to meet other priorities in FY25.”
“I want to be very clear,” Rogers said. “The Sentinel program is vital to modernizing our triad and ensuring nuclear deterrence. Senior Air Force leaders have made frequent statements agreeing that the service must prioritize nuclear deterrence. It’s time to start walking the walk.”
Exchange Monitor affiliate Defense Daily originally published this article.
