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U.S. Air Force C-32.
The U.S. Air Force wants to recapitalize its executive airlift fleet with a single platform as it faces reduced availability on its current aircraft, and in the meantime still hopes to buy the first militarized version of the Boeing 737 MAX.
The service’s long-term goal is to replace both the C-32A and C-40B/C executive transports with a single platform, though that platform has not been identified.
Meanwhile, the service has outlined plans to buy what has been designated as the C-40D, a newer version of its 737-based C-40B/C VIP transport fleet. The aircraft would be a Boeing Business Jet MAX 9, operated to augment the current fleet of 757-based C-32As because of reduced aircraft availability.
The goal is outlined in an Air Force presentation from late 2024 obtained by Aviation Week. The U.S. Air Force’s fiscal 2025 budget request called for an award in September 2025, with delivery expected in August 2028. The request includes $328.689 million in fiscal 2025 funding to procure the C-40D, with interim supply support, support equipment and program support costs. The aircraft itself would cost $100 million.
Congress, in the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, blocked the plan in this cycle, calling the increase in funding unjustified. The service could try again in its fiscal 2026 request, expected later this spring. For now, an Air Force spokesperson says the service is not currently authorized nor appropriated to purchase the C-40D.
Planned modifications to the 737 would include military-specific changes and installation of the Senior Leader Communications System-Airborne suite, which is already in use on the C-32A and C-40B fleets.
The C-40’s mission is to support the “top five” users—vice president, first lady, secretary of state, secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The current C-40 fleet is based on the Boeing 737-700 business jet. The C-32A is based on the 757.
The Air Force also operates a fleet of Gulfstream C-37As for VIP transport, and though they also need to be replaced, the pace of that effort has yet to be decided by senior service and Pentagon leaders.
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