WASHINGTON, July 20 - The newly announced grounding of President Donald Trump's Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet is likely for security upgrades, experts said, though they questioned whether a month was enough time to significantly enhance the aircraft's defenses.

Trump said on Sunday the Boeing 747, which began flying him on July 1, would soon be sent away to be "maxed out" with new capabilities, a process he said would take about a month.

The plane's security readiness came under fresh scrutiny after Trump abruptly switched to an older Air Force One for the leg of his trip from Turkey to the United Kingdom on July 8, as tensions with Iran escalated. The new plane, with red, white, dark blue and gold livery chosen by Trump, is a Boeing 747 gifted to the United States by Qatar last year and refitted by defense contractor L3Harris Technologies LHX.N. It was meant to serve as a temporary replacement while Boeing BA.N struggled to deliver long-delayed next-generation Air Force One planes.

"The standard Air Force One fleet carries a sophisticated suite of protections, including anti-missile systems, but the White House appears to have accepted a lower baseline of protection for the Qatari jet in order to get it flying quickly," said Douglas Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

Birkey said the aircraft was likely configured for "neutral or low-level" threat environments and that officials are now working to add additional defenses. Any work completed within a month, he said, is likely limited to non-kinetic systems such as electronic jammers, infrared "dazzler" devices designed to confuse heat-seeking missiles, and possibly chaff — a cloud of tiny metallic strips released from an aircraft to scatter radar signals and throw off radar-guided munitions.

Infrared-guided missiles have become an increasing concern for military planners, Birkey said, since they are harder to detect than traditional radar-guided threats and "can kind of come out of nowhere."

The Air Force did not comment. "The new Air Force One is perfectly safe for the President's travels, but will receive additional upgrades and enhancements in the fall whi...