Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots have begun training on the Agusta Westland
AW 101 helicopters that have been purchased for ferrying dignitaries,
the first of which are to be delivered by end-2012.
Finmeccanica
group CEO Giuseppe Orsi told India Strategic during a media interaction
at the Farnborough Air Show that the first batch of the IAF pilots had
arrived in Britain as scheduled and were undergoing training at the
Agusta Westland facility.
He did not give any details but said
that some of the pilots would be trained in Britain as instructors also
and they would in turn train their colleagues in India.
Agusta
Westland, incorporating the former British Westland Helicopters, is a
Finmeccanica group company now. It has delivered some 300 helicopters of
different types to 22 countries since the merger of Augusta and
Westland in 2000.
The week-long air show ended July 15.
IAF
had selected the three-engined AW 101 for its VIP squadron in 2010 in a
euro 560 million ($827 million) deal for 12 helicopters inclusive of
training. The delivery of the 12 helicopters would be completed in 2013.
The
AW 101 had also been selected by the US Army for White House use, but
President Barack Obama had the deal cancelled as part of the measures to
reduce defence expenditure.
The helicopter was selected after
field trials whose results were evaluated by the IAF and the Special
Protection Group (SPG), responsible for protection of the prime minister
and select political leaders. It was chosen over the American Sikorsky
S92 Superhawk and is considered to have got the nod as it had features
that suited security requirements.
The IAF has been using
Soviet-vintage Mi-8s and some Mi-17s to fly the prime minister and other
dignitaries, but both the IAF and the security agencies have been
sweating over their continued use. It has also been felt that the VIP
helicopters have to be modern, with the best of the communication
equipment, and also secured against terror threats.
It is
understood that the AW 101 machines are being fitted with missile
jammers and electronic warfare counter-measure gadgets as indeed like
those of the US or other presidents around the world. No details are
available though.
According to IAF sources, eight AW 101
helicopters are being configured for VIP use and the remaining four for
carrying support crew, security personnel, baggage and training.
The
VIP Squadron, officially designated Air HQ Communication Squadron, was
set up in 1952. According to an IAF statement, "the primary role of the
squadron is to convey VVIPs/VIPs of India and visiting foreign heads of
state and government".
Besides flying Indian leaders for duties
and varied missions like aerial survey of disaster-struck areas, the
squadron has the distinction of flying the first president of
independent India and thereafter all the VVIPs of the country.
The
foreign dignitaries transported by this squadron include erstwhile
Yugoslavia's Josip Broz Tito, China's Zhou Enlai, Palestine's Yasser
Arafat, UN Secretary General U Thant, South Africa's Nelson Mandela,
Britain's Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II.
The squadron
had the unique privilege of flying Mother Teresa also. The list of such
distinguished dignitaries, though, is endless.
The Squadron had
acquired Boeing 737s in the 1980s and recently they were replaced with
newer generation models with some equipment similar to that also
installed on the US President's Air Force One. The US government gave a
special sanction once the Indian authorities made a request for some of
the equipment.
IAF pilots training on VIP helicopters in Britain
