Photo: Exosonic
The airplanes designed to carry the American presidents to and fro have always been impressive pieces of machinery. Packed with technology and coming with features civilian planes can only dream of, these planes are poised to get only more impressive as time passes.
To date, however, there is one thing civilian aviation managed to do, but the Air Force Ones never got round to it: fly supersonic. The Concorde did that for people, and there are now several companies trying to bring back civilian supersonic flight. One of them, it seems, targets a supersonic Air Force One as well.
In September last year, an entity called Exosonic entered a partnership with the U.S. Air Force's Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate (PE) to develop such a machine. Based on an existing project meant for regular folk, the presidential plane should be ready for deployment sometime over the next decade.
At the beginning of April, CNN got exclusive access to details and images of the plane’s interior. Capable of seating a total of 31 people, the airplane is packed with everything the executive branch would need to carry on with its business while in the air.
Two private suites, fitted with secure video teleconferencing, lie-flat seats, and adjustable-height tables, are on deck for the President and his staff to do work in, while press and other personnel can travel in the 20-seat cabin. The plane also has two galleys and two lavatories.
As for its capabilities, what is known so far is that it should be able to reach a top speed of Mach 1.8 (1,380 mph/2,220 kph). It should also be capable of covering a distance of up to 5,700 miles (9,170 km).
And as a means to calm worries, the plane could cause disturbance on the ground on account of the noise it makes, Exosonic claims the still-unnamed plane comes with some type of low-boom technology.
In September last year, an entity called Exosonic entered a partnership with the U.S. Air Force's Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate (PE) to develop such a machine. Based on an existing project meant for regular folk, the presidential plane should be ready for deployment sometime over the next decade.
At the beginning of April, CNN got exclusive access to details and images of the plane’s interior. Capable of seating a total of 31 people, the airplane is packed with everything the executive branch would need to carry on with its business while in the air.
Two private suites, fitted with secure video teleconferencing, lie-flat seats, and adjustable-height tables, are on deck for the President and his staff to do work in, while press and other personnel can travel in the 20-seat cabin. The plane also has two galleys and two lavatories.
As for its capabilities, what is known so far is that it should be able to reach a top speed of Mach 1.8 (1,380 mph/2,220 kph). It should also be capable of covering a distance of up to 5,700 miles (9,170 km).
And as a means to calm worries, the plane could cause disturbance on the ground on account of the noise it makes, Exosonic claims the still-unnamed plane comes with some type of low-boom technology.
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