Narendra Modi being received by Chief BRICS Coordinator in Brazilian Foreign Affairs Ministry Luis Lopes on his arrival at Fortaliza International Airport for the BRICS Summit on July 14, 2014. Narendra Modi being received by Chief BRICS Coordinator in Brazilian Foreign Affairs Ministry Luis Lopes on his arrival at Fortaliza International Airport for the BRICS Summit on July 14, 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Boeing 747-400 aircraft flew over Ukraine just minutes before Malaysian Airlines' MH17 was shot down over the northern rebel-held part of the country, killing 298 people on board.

The Prime Minister was flying from Frankfurt to New Delhi on a route passing over southern Ukraine on July 17. Air India has clarified that the PM's aircraft was flying over 200 km south of where MH17 was shot down and hence was in no danger.



However, Air India One, a Boeing 747-400 detached from Air India's civilian fleet to fly the Prime Minister, does not even have rudimentary protection against incoming missiles.The irony is that the aircraft, equipped with self-protection systems - the IAF's VVIP Boeings - does not meet the Special Protection Group's (SPG) requirements for four engines.

In 2009, the IAF's Communications Squadron inducted three specially-equipped 46-seater Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) for Rs 936.93 crore.

These aircrafts flown by Air Force pilots from the IAF's communication squadron are equipped with Electronic Countermeasures that can protect the planes from incoming missiles.



The Rs 200-crore ECM suite has a Missile Advanced Warning System that sets off an alarm in the cockpit when a radar locks onto the aircraft. The aircraft can then launch chaff and flares to decoy incoming missiles.

The BBJs with a maximum range of 11,000 km and twin engine configuration are deemed insufficient for a long range VIP aircraft.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Tegel Military Airport in Berlin on his way to Brazil to attend the BRICS Summit, on July 13. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at Tegel Military Airport in Berlin on his way to Brazil to attend the BRICS Summit, on July 13.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) questioned the rationale behind the BBJ acquisition in 2008. "Despite spending Rs 936.93 crore, newly acquired VIP aircraft will not be used for international travel necessitating continued use of Air India aircraft for international travel with all its adverse consequences," noted a CAG report.

Air India One was one of two AI aircrafts in the vicinity of MH17. AI113, a 787 Dreamliner, flying from New Delhi to Birmingham, was less than 50 km away from MH17.

"The Ukrainian ATC requested AI113 to contact MH17 because it had disappeared from their radar. It was only after the AI pilot landed in Birmingham did he realise his close shave," an Air India official said.

Also read: Missile that downed MH17 is Indian Navy's primary defensive weapon



MH17 was given a different, more direct, flight path by the Ukrainian ATC, a common practice to save fuel and time. Most international air traffic now steers away from Ukraine. They were earlier asked only to avoid Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula, a known hot spot.

Defence analysts say the incident illustrates why India needs to acquire four-engined aircraft such as the Boeing 747-800 retrofitted with self-protection suites.

Air Force One, a converted Boeing VC-25A used by US President Barack Obama, and Ilyushin IL-96 four-engined jet, used by Russian President Vladimir Putin, feature missile protection systems and special escape capsules.

"The fact is that Air India One is a simple commercial airliner without any self-protection systems. All it can do is stay far away from conflict zones," says Air Vice-Marshal (retired) Manmohan Bahadur of the Centre for Air Power Studies.

Military experts say that the capture of military-grade weaponry by non-state actors puts global security at risk. "(Japanese) Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has spoken of an arc of peace and prosperity, but there is also an emerging arc of asymmetry that is developing which we need to guard against," says Vice-Admiral Anup Singh, a former eastern naval commander.

All Israeli commercial airliners have been equipped with directional infrared countermeasures or DIRCM pods that jam incoming missiles. The pods were installed after an Israeli-owned chartered airliner was targeted by, but escaped, two shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile launched by Al Qaeda operatives near Mombassa in Kenya in 2002.





