The Qatari donated 747-8 is currently serving as the VC-25B “Bridge” aircraft, a temporary presidential transport intended to fill the gap until Boeing delivers the long delayed next generation VC-25B fleet. According to the report, the threat was not specific to the aircraft itself, but the incident has renewed scrutiny over its defensive capabilities, as it lacks some of the advanced defensive systems carried by the current VC-25A and future VC-25B fleets.
President Trump appeared to acknowledge those limitations earlier this week when, after being asked about the aircraft’s lack of antimissile defenses, he told reporters the jet would soon be taken out of service to be “maxed out” with additional upgrades, a process that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed would take approximately one month.
Source: nytimes.com/2026/07/24/us/po…