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The President of the United States travels in a heavily armored limousine nicknamed “The Beast.”
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It has a secure communications system and a refrigerator containing the president's blood type.
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A military cargo plane transports the presidential limousine for use overseas.
When the President of the United States is not aboard Air Force One or Marine One helicopters, he travels in a presidential limousine nicknamed “The Beast.”
The latest model of “The Beast,” weighing 20,000 pounds and equipped with advanced security and communications systems, debuted during the Trump administration in 2018.
Take a look inside the famous car.
The President of the United States travels in a secure limousine nicknamed “The Beast.”
For most of the 20th century, U.S. presidents drove Lincoln limousines, but the Reagan administration switched to Cadillacs in the 1980s.
The latest model of the presidential limousine was ordered by the US Secret Service in 2014 and first used by President Donald Trump in 2018.
According to NBC News, the car is designed to look like a stretched Cadillac XT6, but the chassis is actually that of a Chevrolet Kodiak truck made by General Motors. The car weighs about 20,000 pounds and cost about $1.5 million to build.
The heavily armored vehicles are bulletproof, blast-proof, and sealed to withstand biochemical attack.
Details of the limousine's security measures are being kept secret, but NBC News reported that the vehicle is equipped with a night vision system, the ability to fire tear gas, and motorized door handles to ward off intruders.
The windows are estimated to be three inches thick, and the vehicle's armor is approximately eight inches thick.
The Beast is also equipped with medical supplies, including a refrigerator that matches the president's blood type.
The limousine's secure communications system can transmit the launch codes for nuclear weapons.
The Presidential Seal is featured throughout the car's design.
The coat of arms depicts an eagle holding an olive branch and thirteen arrows in its talons, beneath which is written “E Pluribus Unum” (“Choose one from many It appears on both the inside and outside of the passenger door.
The limousine can accommodate up to seven people.
The interior is equipped with water bottle holders and plush leather seats, and the Secret Service says previous presidential limousines have also come equipped with a fold-down desk.
“The Beast” travels with the President.
According to the Secret Service, the presidential limousine is used during the president's travels and is transported on military cargo planes such as the U.S. Air Force C-17.
When overseas, the president's limousine flies the American flag and the flag of the host country.
When Biden visited the UK in June 2021, the presidential limousine flew both the American flag and the Union Jack.
On Inauguration Day, when the new president takes power, Secret Service agents change the license plates on his car.
Axios reports that some presidents have used Washington, D.C. license plates that read “End Taxation Without Representation,” but others have removed the slogan.
“The Beast,” which accompanies the presidential motorcade, remains an instantly recognizable symbol of presidential power.
According to the Secret Service's official website, the Deputy Director of the Secret Service's Protective Operations Division said of the Beast, “It is no exaggeration to say that the vehicle's security and encrypted communications systems make it the most technologically advanced security vehicle in the world.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
