New Delhi, 25 March: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Bangladesh is also special because he will be riding the new VVIP aircraft ‘Air India One’ for the first time.
For Prime Minister Modi, this new aircraft came from America in October 2020 but due to the outbreak of global pandemic novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), he did not have any foreign trips.
As the first foreign trip in 15 months, he will arrive in Dhaka from Delhi on Friday in this state-of-the-art VVIP aircraft equipped with missile defense system (MDS).
Prime Minister Modi will be the chief guest at the Independence Day celebrations of Bangladesh on March 26. During this journey to reach Dhaka from ‘Air India One’, he will pass through places like Satkhera, Orakandi and Tungipara in the Bangladesh air border. During this journey, he will use a helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) from Dhaka.
Presently, the Prime Minister, the President and the Vice President travel by Air India B-747 aircraft, which carry the Air India mark. Ashok’s lot is made in two ‘Air India One’ aircraft which have been included in India’s VVIP fleet, which has ‘Bharat’ in Hindi on one side and ‘INDIA’ in English on the other side.
These will be used for the flight of the Prime Minister, President and Vice President, to be flown by Air Force pilots.
Meanwhile, the Air India One made its maiden voyage as a VVIP aircraft in November 2020 when President Ram Nath Kovind travelled from Delhi to Chennai.
The new VVIP aircraft, equipped with missile defense systems, function as full air command centers, whose state-of-the-art audio-video communications cannot be tapped or hacked.
These aircraft feature advanced electronic warfare suits, which not only prevent any attack on the aircraft, but can also, retaliate at the time of attack.
Being equipped with self-protection suits (SPS), the aircraft can also divert the direction of nearby missiles by blocking the enemy’s radar signals. Inside the plane are a conference room, a cabin for VVIP passengers, a medical center and seats for other dignitaries, staff.
