How L3Harris transformed a Qatari 747 into a new Air Force One plane before July 4

WASHINGTON — A new Air Force One plane that originated as a 747 jumbo jet gifted by Qatar will be available to transport the president beginning in July, following a 10-month sprint by L3Harris to deliver the plane last week, a company executive told Breaking Defense. President Donald Trump accepted the controversial Qatari gift during a delivery ceremony on Friday at Joint Base Andrews, Md., following months of criticism from lawmakers that the plane could open up security vulnerabilities and ethical concerns. Trump said the new plane will lead a flyover of military aircraft on July 4 as part of Independence Day festivities in Washington. “The workmanship of this plane is — when you see it, you won’t believe it,” he said at the delivery ceremony. “The quality of woods, the quality of the materials, the quality of the engines — these engines are the finest and the best in the world. Nothing like it.” L3Harris was tasked to modify the Qatari jet by the July 4 deadline, resulting in a team of about 400 employees working 24/7 to deliver the plane in 10 months, Jason Lambert, president of L3Harris’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance division, said in an interview with Breaking Defense on Monday evening. Normally, the process would take several years. “Making sure we had the personnel in place to do the work in advance of going under contract for this, and leaning in wherever we could to be able to support this mission set, and jointly deliver this in conjunction with the Air Force, is something that, frankly, in a timeline like this, I don’t think it’s ever been done,” he said. The Air Force said the delivery will “relieve pressure” on the two legacy VC-25A aircraft that currently alternate serving as Air Force One. The aging duo are facing long maintenance cycles, and their planned successors — two new VC-25Bs — have suffered technical setbacks and workforce challenges that already pushed the replacement date from 2024 to mid-2028. Typically, presidential transport aircraft are decked out with a suite of electronic warfare and defensive equipment, with the plane’s electronics hardened to withstand a nuclear electromagnetic pulse. The shortened modification timeline for the Qatari gift plane required L3Harris personnel to scale back the typical upgrade package. While most of those improvements are classified, Lambert confirmed that L3Harris provided a secure communications system with connectivity to classified and unclassified networks, as well as performed modifications to the interior of the aircraft. L3Harris worked constantly with the Air Force to ensure the modifications would “optimize the schedule” while also “mak[ing] sure that we’re delivering with the configuration and systems required to be able to service the president’s mission,” Lambert said. For example, the interiors were reworked with the US presidential seal as well as new wood and leather furnishings, but larger changes — such as moving the bulkheads or fixed structure…