Key points
- Air Force buys a 747-8 simulator for Andrews
- The announcement never says Air Force One
- Crews train on a leased freighter for now
- The simulator is due in March 2029
CAE USA Inc. won a $45,319,364 firm-fixed-price contract on Wednesday to build and install one full flight simulator for the Boeing 747-8i at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, along with an initial logistics support package. Work is expected to be completed by March 30, 2029.
The Pentagon announcement never says Air Force One. Joint Base Andrews is where the 89th Airlift Wing's Presidential Airlift Group flies the president, and the two aircraft Boeing is converting to replace the current VC-25A presidential fleet are 747-8i models.
The simulator will be qualified to FAA Level D, the agency's highest qualification level for full flight simulators, which allows extensive training credit under an approved training program. Work will be performed in Tampa, Florida, Saint-Laurent, Quebec, and at Joint Base Andrews. It was a sole source acquisition. The Air Force obligated $43,628,111 in fiscal 2025 research, development, test and evaluation funding at award, and Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio is the contracting activity. It appeared on the same daily contract list as the Army's $581.2 million explosives plant award.
Why the Air Force needs a 747-8 simulator
Boeing signed a $3.9 billion deal in 2018 to convert two 747-8s into the next presidential aircraft, designated VC-25B. They were supposed to be finished in 2024. In a statement on December 12, 2025, the Air Force put first delivery at mid-2028, Air and Space Forces Magazine reported.
The current fleet consists of two modified 747-200Bs designated VC-25A, delivered between August and December 1990, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine. Boeing delivered the last 747 it will ever build in January 2023.
"Given the 747-8i is no longer in active production, and is a very different aircraft than the 747-200, it is important for the Air Force to establish an overall training and sustainment strategy for the future Air Force 747-8i fleet," the Air Force said in the announcement of a separate $400 million purchase of two second-hand Lufthansa 747-8s, bought for training and spare parts.
What crews fly right now
Presidential Airlift Group pilots have been getting their 747-8 hours on a leased Atlas Air freighter, tail number N850GT, flying under the callsign VENUS out of Andrews, Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Hickam in Hawaii and Majors Airport in Greenville, Texas, The Aviationist reported in February. "As part of the presidential airlift acceleration efforts, Atlas Air has been supporting initial 747-8 training for U.S. Air Force aircrew and maintainers," an Air Force spokesperson told the outlet.
There's already a 747-8 flying the president. The jet donated by Qatar carried President Trump to North Dakota on July 1, its first trip carrying the president and therefore its first use of the Air Force One call sign, UPI reported. The Air Force calls it the VC-25B Bridge and has described it as an interim aircraft, not a replacement for the two Boeing is converting.
On paper that puts crews on a leased freighter now, the two Lufthansa jets due in 2026 for training and spares under the Air Force's December statement, the first VC-25B targeted for mid-2028, and the simulator landing at Andrews in March 2029.
What it's worth to CAE
CAE is a Canadian company headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, and it's one of the largest makers of civil flight simulators in the world. Its US defense arm, CAE USA, is based in Tampa. The shares trade in New York and Toronto under the ticker CAE, and closed at $24.04 in New York on Wednesday, down 1%.
The award is small against the company. CAE reported revenue of 4.91 billion Canadian dollars in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, up from 4.71 billion a year earlier. Its market value in New York is near 7.8 billion US dollars. The contract is written in US dollars and covers work through March 2029.
Neither the Air Force nor CAE has said where at Andrews the simulator will sit, or which aircrews will use it first.
