Despite the controversy over the new US presidential plane, the famous Air Force One, former Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord said that now-former President Donald Trump had very little influence on the aircraft's design. The same goes for the cloud computing program, JEDI.
According to statements by Ellen, who left office yesterday with the end of the Trump istration, the former president showed great interest in some programs, but this had no influence on their respective programs.
Ellen also stated that the former president was very interested in the new plane, “but he, frankly, was focused on the performance and appearance of the aircraft, the color scheme and so on.”
In service since the 80s, the Boeing VC-25, as it is officially designated, replaced the older VC-137s based on the Boeing 707. The VC-25 is based on the 747-200B and should be replaced by the VC-25B, this based on the 747-8.
The JEDI program, the backbone of the Department of Defense's (DoD) shift to cloud computing, has suffered court delays over allegations of Trump's influence. However, Lord answered a simple "No" when asked by reporters if Trump really had any influence on the program, which is estimated to be worth $ 10 billion. in 10 years.
As for the F-35 stealth fighter, Lord did not say whether Trump had any influence on that program. The fighter was the subject of controversy in the istration that ended on Wednesday, with Trump having made numerous statements about the costs of the program and the manufacture of parts by partner countries, even before he was elected in 2016.
With Defense News
