The American "Marine One", the call sign of the US Marine Corps helicopter which ferries the US President, would of course have been much more high-tech and "souped-up" helicopter compared to the Indian variant.
Obama had shot down the Marine One project, under which the US Navy was to have acquired 28 helicopters, after cost escalations had taken the overall cost to over $13 billion in June 2009, as per some estimates.
Money, instead, was invested to upgrade the existing US Presidential helicopter fleet. Last heard, another AW-101 variant was again in contention to bag the US Navy's latest programme to develop the "Marine One Presidential Helicopter".
Three of the 12 AW-101 choppers contracted by India — eight in VVIP configuration and four in non-VVIP - have already been inducted in the IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries around the President, PM and other VVIPs, at the Palam airbase. They are slated to replace the ageing Russian-origin Mi-8s and Mi-17s being currently used to fly VVIPs within the country.
Indian VVIPs have been getting plush new aircraft and helicopters to travel in style and security over the last decade. The AW-101s, for instance, have robust self-defence systems like missile-approach warners, chaff and flare dispensers and directed infra-red electronic counter-measures to protect VVIPs on board. In the VVIP configuration, they ferry only 10 passengers instead of the usual 40.
Another concern of the Special Protection Group (SPG), which provides proximate security to the PM, was the helicopters have "a high tail boom" to allow cars to come right next to the rear exit staircase without "exposing" VVIPs to a threat from anyone in the vicinity.
Earlier, India had inducted five mid-sized Embraer 135BJ Legacy jets, under a Rs 727-crore deal in September 2003, and three Business Boeing Jets (BBJs), under a Rs 937-crore contract in October 2005, for the travel of VVIPs. The BBJs also have advanced self-protection suites to guard against missiles and other threats. While the Legacy jets replaced old HS-748 Avros with the Communication Squadron, the BBJs substituted the two 737-200 aircraft bought in 1983.
Major defence scams
Jeep Scandal: One of the first scandals to hit independent India, and definitely the country's first brush with allegations of impropriety in defence procurement. In 1948, Indian high commissioner in Britain V K Krishna Menon was accused of bypassing procurement protocols to sign a deal worth Rs 80 lakh to buy 155 jeeps from the UK. Many also alleged they were second-hand jeeps. Government did not permit a judicial inquiry. Menon went on to become India's defence minister.
Bofors Scandal: The most infamous of all defence scandals the country has seen. Allegations emerged in the late 1980s that there were kickbacks in the purchase of Bofors guns from Sweden. Several high profile individuals figured among the accused, the investigations went on for many years and finally ended in a whimper. It brought down the fortunes of the young Rajiv
HDW Scandal: Allegations emerged in 1987 that the German defence firm had paid a commission for the purchase of submarines by India, in the early 80s. Former Navy chief and one of the architects of the 1971 war, Admiral S M Nanda, was among those raided. The CBI closed its investigations, failing to find any evidence of the alleged payment of bribes.
Tehelka Tapes: Two reporters who went around as representatives of a fake defence firm recorded many key political leaders, military officers and civil servants talking in detail about how bribes were paid in defence deals. Defence minister George Fernandes had to resign after his party's treasurer boasted in the tapes about collecting bribes along with Jaya Jaitly from arms dealers. Specific evidence emerged of paybacks in purchase of Barak missiles from Israel, upgunning of artillery guns etc. No major breakthrough in CBI investigations until today. It has closed at least one of the cases without any evidence.
Denel Scandal: Allegations emerged in South Africa that Denel, a government-controlled firm which had supplied anti-material rifle to Indian Army, had paid bribes to middlemen for the Indian contract. Chargesheet yet to be filed.
Sudipto Ghosh Scandal: In 2009, the CBI arrested the just-retired chief of Ordnance Factory Board Sudipto Ghosh and several of his associates for fixing contracts of OFB. After CBI found evidence of bribery, the government in March 2012 blacklisted six companies for 10 years -- Singapore Technologies, Israeli Military Industries, Germany's Rheinmetall Air Defence, Russian firm Corporation Defence, Indian firms T S Kisan & Company and R K Machine Tool.
Abhishek Verma Scandal: The son of former members of Parliament is in jail, and he and his wife are accused of stealing defence secrets and accepting bribes from defence firms. Investigations are continuing into the affairs of Verma, who may have also had a role in the VVIP helicopter deal.
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