Boeing 747 to Become Presidential Jet

The Pentagon said Thursday it will buy two Boeing 747 jumbo jets to replace the Boeing 707s used as Air Force One, the presidential aircraft.

Acting Air Force Secretary Edward C. Aldridge Jr. selected the four-engine 747 in competition between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, which had hoped its three-engine DC-10 would become the new White House jetliner.

Maj. Mike Perini, an Air Force spokesman, said the exact price for the two new planes could not be disclosed until a contract is signed after congressional approval, but the total cost would be under the $280-million figure in an appropriations bill passed by Congress.

A separate authorization measure, however, has so far failed to win approval of the House, despite approval in the Senate. The issue likely will be resolved in a House-Senate conference committee.

An Air Force statement said the planes, to be delivered in late 1988 and early 1989, “will have complete on-board, state-of-the-art communications equipment, including secure voice terminals and cryptographic equipment for writing and deciphering classified messages.”