Shawdesh Desk:

Two custom-made B777 planes, which will be used to fly Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top Indian dignitaries from July next year, will be operated by pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and not of Air India.

Air India is training around 10 IAF pilots for the new aircraft Boeing 777 to be used to fly PM Modi and other top Indian dignitaries from July 2020, reports The Statesman.

Currently, Prime Minister Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu fly on Air India’s B747 planes, which have the call sign ‘Air India One’.

The B777 planes will have state-of-the-art missile defence systems called Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) and Self-Protection Suites (SPS).

The missile warning subsystem will use multiple sensors to provide full spatial coverage.

The pilot will simply be informed that a threat missile was detected and jammed.