Agra expressway turns runway for IAF fighter planes
October 24, 2017 10:46
The Indian Air Force's aircraft touchdown exercise has begun on the Lucknow-Agra expressway near Unnao in Uttar Pradesh.
First, the IAF's C-130J transport aircraft landed on the highway and Special Forces Garud commandos got off from it to take positions on either side of the expressway to secure "their airstrip" for the fighter aircrafts.
Traffic restrictions had been introduced around this patch from yesterday.
This is the first time a transport aircraft -- a Super Hercules, which can carry 200 commandos -- is landing on an expressway.
For the next two hours or so, a fighter aircraft will carry out a touch and go manoeuvre on the expressway every few minutes.
Three Jaguar deep penetration strike aircraft will be the first to land, followed up by six Mirage 2000 aircrafts flying in two formations and then, two more formations of three aircraft each of Sukhoi-30MKI.
The C-130 will return for another short landing to extricate the Garud Commandos. "It's a very important operational achievement... Highways can be very important during wartime when the runway is denied for some reason," Air Marshal SB Deo said.
IAF fighter planes, Mirage-2000 fighters and Sukhoi-30, have twice landed on expressways in Uttar Pradesh. The first was in 2015 when a Mirage-2000 landed on the Yamuna expressway near Delhi.
Last November, six multirole combat aircraft Sukhoi-30 jets touched down on a 3.3 km stretch of the Lucknow - Agra expressway. The Sukhoi-30 MKI, which forms the backbone of the IAF's fighter fleet, is capable of mid-air refuelling. The air force has over 270 aircraft in its inventory.
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