Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is unveiling its heads of state jet. In the coming days, a Boeing 767-300 that was converted over the past three years by IAI's Aviation Group into an airplane for transporting prime ministers and presidents will make its first test flight. The cost of converting the plane, which took place in great secrecy, was estimated at over NIS 700 million.
IAI said today that the plane would be able to fly directly without intermediate stops to China and Japan in the Far East and the US and Brazil in the west. Advanced encoded communications systems are installed on the aircraft in order to enable a president or prime minister to maintain continuous contact with various parties when the plane is airborne and far from the country's borders. IAI adds that the plane meets all of the difficult security requirements dictated by the nature of its mission.
The test flights scheduled for the aircraft are designed to complete its lengthy conversion process. IAI is one of the few companies in the world capable of designing, developing, converting, and providing armored protection for airplanes. The company's Aviation Group, headed by Yossi Melamed, is responsible for this activity. "The aircraft's configuration and technology highlight the unique technological capability of the Aviation Group's specialists and employees. Some of this business consists of converting old passenger planes into different configurations, such as airborne refueling, cargo, and intelligence planes," IAI stated.
"The new heads of state plane contains sophisticated systems designed, manufactured, and assembled at IAI to enable it to serve heads of state in the coming decades," IAI added.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 31, 2019
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