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The training of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots on the Agusta Westland AW 101 helicopters has begun in Britain. India is expecting deliveries of the helicopter which has been bought for ferrying dignitaries, by end-2012. The AgustaWestland Training Academy (UK) is located in Yeovil, in the South West of England, which is approximately 135 miles south-west of London. Yeovil is also just 2 hours from Heathrow airport and 40 miles south of Bristol International Airport. The Academy has 12 state-of-the-art electronic classrooms, which are used to deliver aircrew, groundcrew and maintenance training to our UK Ministry of Defence customers as well as international students from more than 30 Military Export countries. The Academy also has dedicated Composite Repair training facilities, where the repair of composite structures can be taught and assessed.


Finmeccanica group CEO Giuseppe Orsi told India Strategic during a media interaction at the Farnborough Air Show that the first batch of the IAF pilots had arrived in Britain as scheduled and were undergoing training at the Agusta Westland facility.


He did not give any details but said that some of the pilots would be trained in Britain as instructors also and they would in turn train their colleagues in India.

IAF had selected the three-engined AW 101 for its VIP squadron in 2010 in a euro 560 million ($827 million) deal for 12 helicopters inclusive of training. The delivery of the 12 helicopters is scheduled be completed in 2013.

It was evaluated by the IAF and the Special Protection Group (SPG), responsible for protection of the prime minister and select political leaders. It is expected to be armed with missile jammers and electronic warfare counter-measure gadgets. Eight AW 101 helicopters are being configured for VIP use and the remaining four for carrying support crew, security personnel, baggage and training. American Sikorsky S92 Superhawk was competing for the order.


The IAF is currently flying Soviet-vintage Mi-8s and some Mi-17s to fly the prime minister and other dignitaries.


The VIP Squadron, officially designated Air HQ Communication Squadron, was set up in 1952. According to an IAF statement, "the primary role of the squadron is to convey VVIPs/VIPs of India and visiting foreign heads of state and government." The foreign dignitaries transported by this squadron include erstwhile Yugoslavia's Josip Broz Tito, China's Zhou Enlai, Palestine's Yasser Arafat, UN Secretary General U Thant, South Africa's Nelson Mandela, Britain's Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. The squadron had the unique privilege of flying Mother Teresa too.


The Squadron had acquired Boeing 737s in the 1980s and recently they were replaced with newer generation models with some equipment similar to that also installed on the US President's Air Force One. The US government gave a special sanction once the Indian authorities made a request for some of the equipment.