Jane Edwards
The U.S. Air Force has asked Boeing to submit a proposal on the engineering and manufacturing development phase for the service branch’s Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program.
The military branch said Monday it issued the request for proposal for the PAR program’s EMD phase after it received authorization from Frank Kendall, defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics.
The RFP covers the design, modification and deployment of two aircraft under the PAR initiative.
“This is a significant step forward for this program, which emphasizes cost control and risk reduction, in balance with system performance, to meet the requirements of the presidential mission,†said Col. Amy McCain, PAR program manager.
Boeing will use the results of risk reduction studies in its proposal in an effort to show how it would design, test and modify the company’s 747-8 commercial aircraft to become the next presidential plane.
The service branch said updates to Boeing 747-8’s mission communications and electrical power systems, autonomous ground operations and self-defense platform are among the proposed aircraft modifications.
The military branch proposed the PAR program in an effort replace the VC-25A aircraft by 2024.
The RFP comes two months after the Air Force awarded Boeing a potential $127.3 million contract modification to continue risk reduction efforts for the program.
