On Tuesday morning, a C-130 transport aircraft with special forces commandos and 17 frontline fighters landed on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway. The aircrafts were from the Indian Air Force’s inventory to exercise landing on the highway strips.
This exercise comes after the government developed a plan to build expressways that can be used as runways during emergencies.
Lucknow-Agra Expressway was lined up with 3 Jaguars, 3 Mirages and 3 Sukhoi jets on display.
The Expressway along Bangarmau in Unnao district, 65 km from Lucknow was blocked for the exercise.
This event was being conducted by the Indian Air Force in alliance with the state government.
In May this year, the Indian Air Force managed to successfully land a Mirage 2000 on the Yamuna Expressway.
The officials from the Road and Transport Ministry have reportedly plan to use 12 highways for the same landing operations. Among the 12 highways, 3 connect Maoist affected areas in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. The areas are not only affected by the Maoists but also witness floods and cyclones every year.
The Indian Air Force stated these strips will be only used in cases of emergencies such as disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and war or conflict.
