New Phones Aboard Air Forcefulness One

(Updated: July 24, 2014)

The location that best represents Top Level Telecommunications inward every sense of the give-and-take is in all likelihood Air Force One, the aircraft that carries the president of the United States.

As unbelievable every bit it sounds, the telephone sets used aboard this airplane dated dorsum to the 1980s in addition to thus they were in conclusion replaced past times novel ones inward August 2012. Here nosotros volition direct maintain a await at this novel telephone equipment, which is immediately used past times president Obama when he travels past times air.

The novel phones

In a attain of pictures showing president Barack Obama using a telephone aboard Air Force One, nosotros tin run across that the novel phones consist of a handset inward a customized cradle. In the conference room they direct maintain a prophylactic human foot thus they tin hold upward placed on the tabular array without sliding away:

President Obama using i of the novel phones aboard Air Force One
(Photo: AP - Oct 24, 2012)

The telephone sets to hold upward used past times the president inward his percentage room in addition to the conference room direct maintain a brown/goldish color that matches the woods in addition to the leather chairs. All other handsets that direct maintain been installed throughout the airplane are inward touchstone gray:

President Obama talks with Chief of Staff Jack Lew, quondam President Bill Clinton,
Justin Cooper, David Axelrod, in addition to Senior Advisor David Plouffe. Nov 4, 2012.
In the dorsum nosotros run across 2 novel phones inward grayish on a wall mounted cradle.
(White House Photo past times Pete Souza - Click to enlarge)

President Obama in addition to Press Secretary Jay Carney disembark from Air Force One.
Left of the door nosotros run across a wall mounted version of novel telephone inward gray.
(White House Photo past times Pete Souza - June 17, 2014)

The Airborne Executive Phone

These novel phones aboard Air Force One tin hold upward recognized every bit the Airborne Executive Phone (AEP) made past times L-3 Communications. This is a armed services contractor that, alongside many other things, besides manufactures the STE, the secure desktop telephone that is most widely used past times US armed services in addition to government.

The Airborne Executive Phone is able to brand both secure in addition to non-secure calls from a unmarried handset. It besides provides Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) for digital vox in addition to network information access. This should furnish cease users with the sense of "reliable connectivity, interoperability in addition to safety they would direct maintain inward an executive percentage environment".

Global Secure Information Management Systems

The Airborne Executive Phone is percentage of L-3 Communication's Global Secure Information Management Systems (GSIMS). This is an IP-based organisation for secure airborne communications in addition to has a modular, scalable, in addition to redundant design.

GSIMS integrates existing analog in addition to digital radio in addition to interphone systems with its ain IP-based architecture, this inward social club to furnish reliable connectivity, secure video conferencing in addition to controlled wireless connections. The organisation is effectively controlled from an operator workstation.

L-3 Communications advertises (pdf) the GSIMS organisation every bit the most advanced secure communication organisation for VIP in addition to Head of States aircraft:

More details virtually the Global Secure Information Management Systems (GSIMS) tin hold upward institute inward the fact canvas (pdf).

Development in addition to installation

The installation of novel phones aboard Air Force One was percentage of a larger, 81 1000000 dollar contract that was awarded to L-3 Communications inward 2009. This contract included the installation of Airborne Information Management Systems (AIMS) hardware in addition to software. It modernized the on-board communication systems in addition to replaced outdated analog systems, providing fixed bandwidth switching in addition to integrated secure/non-secure video teleconferencing. Also included was the installation of seamless rider information interfaces throughout the VC-25 aircraft that serve every bit Air Force One.

It seems that the Airborne Executive Phone (AEP) was originally developed past times Telecore Inc., every bit tin hold upward read inward the resume of individual who made a video presentation of this device (he did the same for the Senior Leadership Airborne Information Management System of L-3 Communications). Telecore is the society that manufactures the IST-2 telephone for the Defense Red Switch Network (DRSN), which is besides a unmarried device that tin hold upward used for both secure in addition to non-secure calls. Probably Telecore sold the AEP to L-3 Communications.

Secure in addition to non-secure calls

As nosotros tin run across inward the L-3 Communications advertisement, secure calls are indicated past times a blood-red background inward the display in addition to non-secure calls past times a light-green one. This corresponds with 2 lights on the dorsum of the handset: a light-green low-cal which is on when the telephone recall is non-secure, in addition to a blood-red low-cal that volition request when it's a secure telephone recall over a highly encrypted line.

President Obama talks with NASA's Curiosity Mars rover squad aboard Air Force One,
August 13, 2012. We run across the light-green low-cal on, every bit this is an unencrypted call.
(White House Photo past times Pete Souza - Click to run across the total version)

President Barack Obama talks on the telephone aboard Air Force One, Apr 10, 2014.
Here nosotros run across the blood-red low-cal on, in addition to interestingly, the White House didn't
unloose to whom Obama was talking on this occasion.
(White House Photo past times Pete Souza - Click to run across the total version)

Air Force Two

The novel Airborne Executive Phones are besides installed inward the smaller Boeing C-32, a modified Boeing 757, which gets the air traffic telephone recall sign Air Force Two when it is carrying the vice-president of the United States. Sometimes this airplane is besides used past times the president, in addition to and thus serves every bit Air Force One, similar for illustration for a trip on July 17, 2014 to the Port of Wilmington inward Delaware:

President Obama talks on the telephone with president Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine
virtually the Malaysia Airlines airplane crash inward eastern Ukraine, July 17, 2014.
Here nosotros run across the novel telephone inward gray, in addition to every bit Obama's finger is covering
the blood-red light, in addition to the light-green low-cal is off, it seems a secure call.
(White House Photo past times Pete Souza - Click to enlarge)

The old phones aboard Air Force One

Initially, Air Force One had sets of 2 telephone handsets installed all over the plane. These consisted of a cradle in addition to an old-fashioned, so-called G-style handset, i inward white in addition to i inward beige. The white handset was for non-secure calls in addition to the beige i for phonecalls over a secure line. These phones were introduced on the previous airplane that served every bit Air Force One, during the presidency of Ronald Reagan(!).

President Obama takes questions from vii reporters from the dark press aboard
Air Force One on their agency to the NAACP convention inward New York. July 2009.
In this painting nosotros run across the phones that were previously used.
(White House Photo)

After the novel Executive Voice over Secure IP (VoSIP) telephone network was installed inward 2007-2008, which connects the White House with unopen to of the most senior policy makers, the Cisco 7975G Unified IP Phone used for this network was besides placed inward Air Force One, where the large device was somewhat out of place:

Close-up of the white in addition to the beige handsets in addition to the Cisco 7975 IP phone
inward the conference room of Air Force One, March 2009.
(Photo: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)