NEW DELHI: Two Boeing 777 aircraft, with missile defence systems which will serve on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Air India One’ fleet, will arrive in India today.

Air India One Boeing 777: Hers is everything about the PM Narendra Modi's new plane cost, interior, speed, features, facilities, images and other details. This is a B777 plane on the lines of Air. Aug 17, 2020 Boeing's commercial airplanes business will get a third quarter boost from the delivery of two new VVIP 777-300 jets to India's government, offering new long-distance rides to Prime Minister. PM Narendra Modi to soon fly in custom-made aircraft Boeing 777 'Air India One'. The New Boeing 777-300ERs will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and not of Air India, as.

The Boeing-777 will be equipped with conference rooms, extensive communication equipment and would have the range to fly from India to the US without landing for refuelling. Referred to as 'Air India One', the two Boeing-777 jets will replace Boeing-747 jets of Air India that were being used for transporting the three senior-most officials on.

The two aircraft were initially scheduled to land in India early 2020 but it was delayed due to “operational issues”.

Air India had sent the two long-haul Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to a Boeing facility in Dallas to be modified for VVIP travel. The aircraft will only be used by PM Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.

Here’s all you need to know about the first customised Boeing 777 aircraft:

- The aircraft has its own missile defence system called the Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS), which is capable of countering missile threats.

- The two aircraft will be on par with the US President’s Air Force One in terms of security measures.

- The pair can fly between the US and India in one go without having to stop for refuelling.

The two Boeing 777 aircraft will have the Self-Protection Suites (SPS), which is used in the US President’s Air Force One.

- SPS includes large aircraft infrared countermeasures, counter-measures dispensing system and integrated defensive electronic warfare suite . These protection systems can jam enemy radar frequencies and divert heat-seeking missiles by disturbing their guidance systems.

- This will be India’s first dedicated aircraft for the President, Vice President and Prime Minister - who usually travel via state-run airline, Air India.

- The Boeing 777 aircraft will be operated by Indian Air Force pilots and not by pilots of Air India.

- Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), which is a subsidiary of the Indian national carrier, will be maintaining the two new planes.

India has got the delivery of one of the two specially modified Boeing 777 aircraft, which will fly VVIPs like president, vice president and prime minister. The custom-made B777 aircraft arrived from Texas, the US, in Delhi on Thursday this week after undergoing modification for over two years.

Boeing had earlier planned to deliver the aircraft to Air India by August after a postponement in July due to COVID-19 but the delivery was delayed again due to technical reasons, PTI d officials as saying.

Boeing will now deliver another custom-made VVIP aircraft to Air India by this month. These two planes will incur the retrofitting cost worth Rs 8,400 crore.

The VVIPs like PM or president earlier flew on Air India's Boeing 747 aircraft. These 20-year-old planes lack ultra-modern security features like sensors to detect and jam missiles and safe and secure communications systems.

These two special planes will be flown by two Indian Air Force pilots, who have been trained by Air India to operate the VVIP planes.

The aircraft's call sign is 'Air India One' like that of US President Donald Trump's, which is Air Force One. The current Boeing 747 planes of the president, vice president and the prime minister also bear the call sign 'Air India One'. Unlike the new modified planes, Boeing 747 planes are flown by Air India staff.

These planes are also used by the national carrier for commercial flights when they are not flying VVIPs. In a change, the new planes will be used for the travel of the dignitaries only. Both these modified planes were briefly included in the Air India fleet in 2018 but were later sent back to the US for modification.

Here are some special features of VVIP plane:

• State-of-the-art missile defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS)
• The LAIRCM is an advanced missile detection system that automatically detects and jams enemy missile systems, without any action required by the pilot
• Self-Protection Suites are also used by the US President's Air Force One. It includes countermeasures dispensing systems and defensive warfare suites
• They provide extraordinary comfort, have superior range, are best in terms of fuel efficiency

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