Airforce wants to augment the C-32's in the VIP fleet

 

I like the B757 series of airplanes, I thought Boeing did a huge disservice to itself when they quit making the airframe in 2004, Airlines love the plane, nothing can do quite what a B757 can do, the combination of range, capacity and power. It is my favorite plane to work on, I am ETOPS rated on that airplane.  My son like's to harass me and say "When the last 757 retires from our employer, you will retire also", and I reply "of course, it is fitting".  The reality is that planes as well maintained as my employer's planes and the C32's, they will still break occasionally, you can't predict everything.   

     I don't know what plane they will try to fit in that role, they could go with Airbus, the "321 NEO"

it would an easier sell because Airbus has an manufacture facility in Mobile and the plane would be made there or possibly the "B787 Dreamliner" but in my opinion, the 321 fills the '57 spot closest.  Boeing needs to do the "Boeing 797 derivative" they have been promising for years as the B'57 gets longer in the tooth and some airlines are going to the 321 NEO because their Boeings are too old, and metal fatigue is a real thing as is parts availability. Those B757's then go become freighters with FEDEX and UPS.

      It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and what is selected.

Credit: Avpics/Alamy Stock Photo

The U.S. Air Force has started looking for a derivative of a large commercial aircraft to serve as a new “Air Force Two” executive airlift platform and augment a fleet of aging Boeing C-32s based on the 757-200, which has been out of production since 2004.

A market survey launched on Nov. 15 by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center suggests that the Air Force is open to other platforms, and that the program office will not be able to determine precisely how many aircraft will be needed before a contract is awarded.

The survey asks for companies that would be interested in supplying two to 10 modified, large, commercial derivative aircraft. If configured as a C-32, the aircraft would need to be modified with a stateroom, conference center, communications center and 42 business-class seats.

The Air Force’s C-32s are now 25 years old and the youngest 757-200 in commercial service is nearly 20 years old, so new models are more likely. Options now in production would include aircraft that are slightly larger and smaller than the C-32, such as the Boeing 767-200, Airbus A321XLR and Boeing 737 Max 10.

The Air Force already operates a 767-2C modified to become the KC-46. Another 11 C-40B/Cs based on the 737-700C also are used by the Air Force, but a C-32 is 45 ft. longer.

The Air Force also has awarded contracts to several companies pursuing development of high-speed commercial airliners, including Boom Supersonic, Exosonic and Hermeus. But all three companies are still at least several years away from fielding a certified commercial aircraft, so it is unclear how they would fit into the Air Force’s plans for the market survey.

The Air Force document does not specify a time period for contract award or delivery. The required specifications for the aircraft were withheld from a public version of the survey, but are available to contractors that can receive documents stamped as “controlled unclassified information.”

The contract being considered would be an “indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity” award. Most military aircraft, including commercial derivatives, are acquired under either a cost-plus or fixed-price contract with a preplanned quantity. But so-called ID/IQ awards can be used if the operator is not certain about the total quantity at the time of contract award.

The Air Force’s four C-32s perform a wide variety of airlift missions. The aircraft are commonly known for flying the first lady, vice president and secretary of defense. Despite being several years younger than the 747-200-derived VC-25B, the small C-32 fleet has been linked to several high-profile maintenance problems, including a string of component failures that stranded Secretary of State John Kerry in 2014 and more recent breakdowns that disrupted travel plans for Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021.