India’s first dedicated aircraft for the imp three dignitaries - the President, Vice President and Prime Minister is likely to arrive soon in the country. It will be India’s first dedicated aircraft for the three dignitaries - the President, Vice President and Prime Minister - who usually travel abroad on an aircraft chartered from the state-run airline, Air India. According to reports, India has bought two Boeing-777 aircraft from America. The aircraft, which has its own missile defence system, called the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS) besides state-of-the-art communication system, will be operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF), although Air India would receive it.
All of these features, will make the aircraft as secure as the Boeing 747-200B used by US President Donald Trump. A team consisting of senior officers from Air India, IAF and security agencies are already in the US to finish the formalities and bring the aircraft to India. Currently, VVIPs travel long hours on Air India’s Boeing 747 aircraft. However, the aircraft is not capable of flying more than 10 hours without refuelling. The new aircraft can fly over 17 hours continuously without refuelling. Meanwhile, advanced and secured communication system will be installed in similar to the US Air Force. At present, for short trips, aircraft from IAF’s Communications Squadron’s VVIP fleet of Boeing business jet and Embraer executive jet are being utiilized.