#gulfstream

Gulfstream G650 Interior

Trump and Capitol Hill Republicans want to triple the healthcare premiums of many Americans. But dog-killer Kristi Noem and her ICE cronies are getting TWO luxury jets so that they don't have to fly with ordinary riffraff who pay their salaries with their taxes.

The Department of Homeland Security, led by Secretary Kristi Noem, has purchased two Gulfstream G700 luxury jets for top officials – a deal worth about $172 million that is now fueling questions over how the agency paid for them and why it needed two. According to records reviewed by The New York Times, the jets marketed by Gulfstream as offering “the most spacious cabin in the industry,” were bought for what a DHS spokesperson said was “a matter of safety.” The spokesperson said in a statement that the department’s existing jet was more than 20 years old and “well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft.”

While replacing aging vehicles is understandable, would you replace your aging Ford Escort with TWO Maseratis?

Earlier this year, the United States Coast Guard requested in its budget a single long-range Gulfstream V jet estimated to cost $50 million to replace an aging one used by Noem.

So ICE Barbie ballooned the budget for a replacement plane by $122 million.

As governor of South Dakota, Noem was a notorious spendthrift.

Noem’s spending as South Dakota governor also drew attention, according to The Sioux Falls Argus Leader who reported in 2021 that she spent $68,000 in taxpayer money to redecorate the governor’s mansion. And South Dakota taxpayers also covered about $150,000 in Noem’s personal and political travel costs, the Associated Press reported back in March.

RAAF C17A Globemaster (A41-210)

This plane was produced by Boeing for the Royal Australian Air Force thirteen years ago. The Globemaster is just over fifty metres long and about as wide, giving it an aspect ratio of around 1:1. It’s used as a strategic heavy lifter, and it can comfortably move as many people as most 737s, or take seventy-five tonnes of freight (on top of its empty weight of 128 tonnes!). To give you a concept, this lovely beast can fit a CH-47 Chinook in her belly. This plane is capable of carrying a large helicopter inside it. For four and a half thousand kilometres.

NASA Gulfstream V (N95NA)

This sleek beauty came to Australia to watch the Starship return to Earth. The landing is cool enough in itself but then we also get graced by this small jet with a very recognisable logo on the tail. This plane is 23 years old, and its usual callsign is NASA 5. This plane has a max range of over 10000 km, and can reach a ceiling of more than 50,000 feet. Since this photo was taken it has now returned to the US (currently in Texas), which it made in three legs.

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