New Delhi: Six-year-old Siya Singh may not know the first name of the US President but, she knows, for sure, that he rides in ‘The Beast’. When Barack Obama arrived at the Rajpath on Monday in his bulletproof vehicle, Siya’s mother held her aloft so that she could see the armoured limousine.
Siya’s mother Sonia Singh said she came to the parade along with her daughter and friends because they “wanted to see Obama and his Beast”.
“And, it’s a pretty impressive one, I must say, brought all the way from America,” she said.
Ten-year-old Ojas Dabas from Gurgaon, who also came to the witness the Republic Day parade along with his family, said his entire class was excited ever since they heard about Obama’s visit.
“When I came for the parade, I knew I had to get the best seat to get the best view of the Beast. And I saw it. It was awesome,” Ojas said.
His sister Anjali, a student of Class 10, said the media played a great role in making people know about the vehicle by “talking so much about it”.
“I had no idea about what the Beast was but, I have read so much about it that I wanted to see it. And I think it’s a good thing that the media talked about it,” she said.
‘The Beast’, based on a Cadillac DTS, is the first presidential limousine not to have a specific model name.
Obama on Monday became the first US President to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade and the only American President to visit India twice while in office.
In a departure from tradition, Obama arrived in his own highly-secured bomb-proof vehicle at Rajpath. The Republic Day Chief Guest normally travels with the President of India in his car from Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Since 2012, the President of India travels in a heavily armoured black Mercedes Benz S600 (W221) Pullman Guard. The armour is designed to protect against military rifle shots, bomb shrapnels and other explosives.
Meanwhile, ‘The Beast’ has an eight-inch thick body armour plating and five-inch thick bullet-proof windows which insulates the President from all sorts of threats including chemical attacks.
Its doors weigh similar to those on a Boeing-757 aircraft. The eight-tonner runs on shred and puncture resistant Kevlar-reinforced tyres with steel rims underneath which ensure that the vehicle does not come to a halt even if its tyres get damaged.
The fuel tank is covered with a special foam that negates any possibility of an explosion.