Security arrangements for the President of the United States are understandably a closely guarded secret. The President is arguably the most wanted man in the world, with terrorists and wartime enemies seeing the number one coup as taking down the man who runs America. So, whenever the POTUS leaves Washington D.C., according to Politico, there is a secret air force of three aircraft that shadow his "official" convoy of Air Force One and military transports that fly with it.
The aircraft don't look like much. They are unarmed Gulfstream IV VIP jets purchased in 1985. Each is powered by two Rolls Royce Tay turbofan engines and can carry between 12 and 16 passengers. These older planes lack the advanced controls and instrumentation of modern aircraft. Yet they're kept in top condition and have special defensive countermeasures designed to prevent them from being shot down.
The Gulfstream jets, known as C-20Cs to the U.S. Air Force, are meant to ferry a traveling President of the United States to safety during a crisis. The planes typically follow Air Force One, landing at an airbase or airport an hour or less from the President's location. In the event of a war scare, that plane—not Air Force One—would pick up the Commander-in Chief and whisk him or her to one of a dozen ground command posts scattered across the country.
Other sources, including the late aviation writer Robert Dorr, claim the C-20Cs also follow the Secretary of Defense when he leaves the nation's capital and are known as SENEX, or senior executive planes. The President and the Secretary of Defense, as Dorr explained in his 2002 book Air Force One, are the only two individuals in the U.S. government who can authorize the use of nuclear weapons. Dorr also claimed the aircraft also have either AN/APR-17 radar warning receivers or HAVE SIREN infrared-guided missile countermeasures systems (or possibly both), and satellite and high frequency radio communications antennas.
The Gulfstream jets are said to be favored because their antiquated controls are less susceptible to the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) of nuclear weapons that could interfere with their electronics. The planes are allegedly part of the Air Force's 89th Airlift Wing.
Read more at Politico.
