India has received the first of 15 Boeing CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopters during a ceremony at the manufacturer's production facility in Philadelphia.
The IAF's Chinooks are expected to be shipped to Mundra Port on India's west coast in March.
India signed its government-to-government deal with the US in September 2015, with the USD1.1 billion contract covering 15 Chinooks plus the option for a further seven.
Once operational, the Chinooks will replace the three Mil Mi-26 'Halo' heavy-lift helicopters that the IAF received from the then-Soviet Union in 1986.