New Delhi: VVIPs sure like to travel in plush and secure comfort. After getting three desi versions of US President's 'Air Force One', the Indian President and PM will now also get 12 swanky helicopters for VVIP travel on the lines of 'Marine One'.

The defence ministry has quietly inked a Rs 3,726-crore deal to acquire 12 three-engine AW-101 helicopters from AgustaWestland, a unit of Italian major Finmeccanica, for IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries around the President, PM and other VVIPs. "All the 12 helicopters will be delivered in three years or so," said a report. The ministry as usual remained silent about the deal, leave alone the exact contours of it, despite repeated claims made by defence minister A K Antony of 'total transparency'.

The Cabinet Committee on Security apparently gave the nod for the exorbitant helicopter deal, despite objections from the finance ministry, due to 'security concerns' raised by the Special Protection Group as well as IAF. The government's VVIP helicopter contract comes after the Rs 727-crore deal for five mid-size Embraer 135BJ Legacy jets in September 2003 and the Rs 937-crore contract for three Boeing Business Jets (BBJs) in October 2005, with advanced self-protection suites to guard against missiles and other threats.

The new helicopters will replace ageing Russian-origin Mi-8s and Mi-17s in the Communication Squadron, just like the Legacy jets have replaced the old HS-748 Avros and the BBJs the two 737-200 aircraft bought in 1983. While not as hi-tech as Barack Obama's "Marine One", the call sign of the US Marine Corps helicopter which ferries the US President, the Indian AW-101 helicopters will have self-defence systems like missile-approach warners, chaff and flare dispensers and directed infra-red electronic counter-measures to protect the VVIPs on board.