L3Harris delivers VC-25B Air Force One aircraft to USAF

L3Harris Technologies announced the delivery of its VC-25B Bridge aircraft to the US Air Force in June 2026, which is a part of the modernisation of the Air Force One fleet. (US Air Force)

L3Harris Technologies announced the delivery of its VC-25B Bridge aircraft to the US Air Force (USAF) on 19 June 2026, which will join the fleet of the VC-25A and C-32s that serve as the official aircraft of the President of the United States of America.

The aircraft was delivered to the USAF at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where it joins the Presidential Airlift Group and begins its initial commissioning flights, according to the USAF.

The commissioning flights will allow the White House to “validate mission-capability, while also finalizing protocols required to safely and securely transport the President of the United States”, according to the USAF.

The company transformed a Boeing 747-8i into the VC-25B over a 10-month timeframe, which Christopher Kubasik, chairman and CEO of L3Harris Technologies, described as a “fast-tracked partnership” with the USAF.

The USAF said that the aircraft will “relieve pressure on the aging VC-25A fleet as heavy maintenance cycles extend, safeguarding the continuity of presidential airlift operations until the long-term Boeing VC-25B enters service”.

The aircraft was acquired as a gift from the government of Qatar in May 2025 and is intended as a “bridge” aircraft until the VC-25B, which has faced significant delays, enters projected service in 2028.

The USAF said that a “group of interagency experts developed benchmark protocols to detect and, if necessary, neutralize potential technical hazards on the previously owned aircraft” to ensure security and safety for the US President.