One of the most famous aircraft on earth was caught ‘in the nude’ very recently as it underwent deep maintenance and upgrades at L3Harris’s Mission Integration plant at Majors Field in Greenville, Texas. The facility is a mecca for large special mission aircraft in need of enhancements and TLC.
While the Air Force’s twin VC-25A aircraft, which are based on the 747-200, get most of the attention, the C-32As, based on the 757-200, are the real workhorses of the executive airlift fleet. Like their much larger counterparts, the eight C-32As in the 99th Airlift Wing’s stable are into the back half of their service lives and have been receiving a number of upgrades to keep them relevant. These include new interiors and enhancements to their communications, navigation, and defensive systems. Above all else, they need periodic deep maintenance like any other aircraft, and that is often a great time to make those upgrades. This is what the C-32 in the photos here is seen undergoing.
The shots come to us from our friend on X @SR_Planespotter, who captures some awesome shots of the aerospace happenings around Texas. In this case, he caught the C-32A 09-0016, operating under its common “Venus” callsign, on a test flight with its iconic blue, white, and gold paint removed. Once work on the jet is wrapped up, it will go to the paint barn where workers there will dress the jet in its ‘uniform’ once again.
@SR_Planespotter said the following about the unique work at Majors Field (also known as Majors Airport) that brings some very interesting flying machines to northeastern Texas:
“At Majors Airport in Greenville, L3 Harris has contracts with the USAF to maintain the VIP airlift fleet and the RC-135 fleet. They do a lot of communications upgrades and then test them on their own unique test range called the MSTF (Multi-Sensor Test Facility). It’s pretty fun watching them go along on ADSB and then come back and get up close and personal with them.”
As the C-32As continue to receive upgrades, the USAF is also looking on the horizon for a replacement. Around 30 years old already, even with the best maintenance, the government’s VVIP 757s won’t last forever. Now, according to a recent report from Aviation Week, it appears that the flying force wants to consolidate the high end of its executive airlift suite from two to one new type. Under such a plan, the 737-based C-40s and C-32As would be replaced with one type. This would simplify many aspects of operating two narrow-body airliner types in the executive airlift role. The 757 went out of production in 2005.
In 2023, the Air Force had also expressed interest in potentially supplementing rather than replacing the C-32 fleet with new commercial airliners converted into VVIP transports. It isn’t clear exactly what airframe the service would favor as a replacement or a supplement, although the 737 MAX seems like the only clear choice. Still, the short field performance of the 757, which is a huge selling point when using the jet in the Air Force One role in order to get into smaller airports while still carrying the president and their entourage. The USAF still hasn’t taken a delivery of a 737 MAX for any mission. One was in the service’s requested budget for the 2025 Fiscal Year, but remains unfunded.
Regardless of what the Air Force and the White House finally decide on when it comes to any new jet to replace the aging C-32As, they will continue to soldier on with more lumps and bumps — housing communications and defensive countermeasures — than ever before. And as a result, they will still have to fly around naked out of Greenville for years to come.
Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com