AS YOU may have heard, President Biden is visiting Ireland this week – in fact, he may well already have touched down in Belfast to begin his four-day visit as you’re reading this.
Being Head of State of the most powerful nation on Earth, obviously President Biden won’t simply be stopping by the car rental desks at Belfast International Airport to sort out his transportation needs. Instead, he’s brought his own Presidential Motorcade along with him, a formidable fleet of motors and aircraft all specially designed to ensure his absolute safety while in transit.
Naturally, the precise composition of the motorcade is top secret until it actually hits the road, but a number of giant United States Airforce C-17 Globemaster cargo planes were spotted landing at Belfast International earlier this week where they deposited some of the key vehicles to be used by President Biden and his entourage during their Irish visit, which includes stops in Carlingford, Dundalk, Dublin and Ballina.
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Sadly, the President has apparently not brought along his gorgeous personal vehicle,a 1967 Corvette Stingray, but those lining the streets to get a glimpse of the US leader in the coming days will be seeing a pair of Presidential State Car limousines, nicknamed ‘The Beast’ and assigned the codename ‘Stagecoach’ whenever the President is actually onboard - this applies to any vehicle containing the President, with any alternate car(s) he may ride in then designated ‘Spare’ and assigned a number.
There will also be a pair of Presidential security detail SUVs, codename 'Halfback', a Counter Assault Team vehicle, codename ‘Hawkeye’, the Hazardous Agent Mitigation Medical Emergency Response Team vehicles (nicknamed ‘Hammer’) and the White House Communications vehicles, codenamed ‘Roadrunner’ and ‘Watchtower’.
Two Presidential Helicopters, codenamed 'Marine One' when the President is onboard, were also delivered to Dublin International Airport earlier this week.
These vehicles are likely to be supplemented by various vehicles supplied by local law enforcement and medical facilities to make up a full-strength Presidential motorcade, which typically comprises 20-plus vehicles configured something like this:
- Route Car – travels ahead of the motorcade and provides route and security updates and traffic control tandem with the Pilot Car and Sweepers
- Pilot Car – Assistance and back-up for Route Car
- Sweepers – Police patrol cars and motorcycle units
- Lead Car – The spearhead/buffer/battering ram of the motorcade
- Spare #1 – US Presidents like to travel with at least one extra Presidential limousine as a security decoy and back-up in case of breakdowns
- Spare #2 and/or Presidential State Car aka ‘The Beast’ Codename: Stagecoach - see below for details
- Presidential Security Detail vehicle, Codename: Halfback - Carries the President's Secret Service protective detail, usually an armoured Chevrolet Suburban
- Electronic Counter Measures vehicle, Codename: Watchtower – Another armoured SUV kitted out with the latest electronic counter measures, missile guidance-jamming technology and early warning systems designed to detect and neutralise weapons-based threat
- Support Vehicle & Control Vehicle – These vehicles transport cabinet members and a top military aid who can assist the President during any major military incident
- Overwatch helicopter – Air support, usually provided by a Homeland Security chopper
- Secret Service Counter Assault Team vehicles, Codename: Hawkeye Renegade – Large SUVs stuffed with heavily armed Secret Service commandos who can provide cover and neutralise armed threats
- Intelligence Division vehicle – The ‘ID’ car co-ordinates the security operation protecting the motorcade and is linked into each individual unit.
- Hazardous Agent Mitigation Medical Emergency Response vehicle, aka ‘Hammer’ – Equipped with sensors which can detect nuclear, biological or chemical weapons and loaded with protective gear and other defensive equipment
- Press vehicles – These cars transport the White House Press Corps and members of high-level media outlets covering the Presidential Visit
- President’s Mobile Command & Control Vehicle, Codename: Roadrunner – Keeps the President in secure communication with the Pentagon and ensures communications within the motorcade remain secure
- Ambulance – Provides immediate medical response in case of emergency
- Rear Guard – Usually comprised of local police vehicles
Presidential Limousine aka ‘The Beast’
US Presidents on the move have long been synonymous with black stretch limousines outfitted with armour plating, bulletproof glass and other high-security measures, but ‘The Beast’ took this to the next level when it was first introduced back in 2001 for President George W Bush.
While previous Presidential limos were stock luxury vehicles supplied by Cadillac or Lincoln and then heavily modified, which occasionally resulted in reliability issues for drivetrain and brake components due to the added weight of bullet and bomb-proofing, ‘The Beast’ was constructed from scratch by General Motors in Detroit as a purpose-built Presidential limousine – although even it wasn’t immune to mechanical failure, as evidenced when one ‘Beast’ conked-out during a trip to Rome in 2007.
Still badged as a Cadillac, ‘The Beast’ has evolved over the past 22 years to take advantage of technological advances. President Trump took delivery of the latest version in 2018 and had a lot of fun with it, even leading stock cars out on a lap of the Daytona 500 racing circuit in 2020.
For obvious reasons, nearly all of the Presidential limo’s features are top secret, though confirmed specs include 13cm-thick laminated bulletproof glass (so thick it blocks out part of the UV spectrum) and 20cm thick military-grade armoured body panels, run-flat tyres, a bomb/blast-proof petrol tank and onboard emergency equipment including firefighting gear, oxygen tanks and even reserves of the President’s blood type.
The car itself is actually rumoured to be based on GM’s large truck platform, and is thought to weigh up to nine tonnes.
The current ‘Beast’ was used during President Biden’s first visit to Britain and Ireland in June 2021, during his trip to the Cop26 climate summit in Scotland in November 2021 and when he attended the state funeral of the Queen in September 2022.
With that much weight to carry, 'The Beast' is a thirsty motor - indeed, President Biden was spotted stopping for fuel en route to Cop26 - but according to his press secretary Jen Psaki, the next evolution of the Presidential Limo could be electric-powered.
It seems that the US leader was so impressed by Ford's prototype all-electric F150 Lightning pick-up when he took it for a spin in 2021 that the electrification of The Beast is "an objective for him".
GM's boffins are no doubt already working on a battery big enough to take nine tonnes worth of vehicle more than a few miles.
