Shahjahanpur: Fighter planes performed the feat of touch and go even at night in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Amidst the tense situation between India and Pakistan, the Air Force on Friday demonstrated amazing bravery on the Ganga Expressway located in Shahjahanpur. The fighter and transport planes of the Air Force did a 'touch and go' landing on the airstrip built near Piru village of Jalalabad and assured the country that the army is fully prepared to deal with any emergency. The night rehearsal on the expressway demonstrated the edge of India's strategic power. With this, India has also joined the club of select countries to do night landing of fighter planes on the expressway.
Night landing drill on the expressway
For the first time in the country, Air Force fighter planes conducted a night landing drill on the airstrip built on the Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur from 9 pm on Friday. Fighter planes like MiG-29, Rafale, Sukhoi and Jaguar participated in it. It was a touch and go drill. Earlier on Friday afternoon, 15 fighter planes had conducted a land and go drill here. The 3.5 km long airstrip on the Ganga Expressway has been prepared to give the Air Force a better landing and take off site in case of emergency.
The C-130J Super Hercules aircraft took off first on Friday afternoon. The Ganga Expressway has become the first expressway in the country on which fighter aircraft can land and take off during the day and night.
The air show was spectacular
In the historic air show, state-of-the-art aircraft like Rafale, Sukhoi-30 MKI, MiG-29, Mirage-2000, Jaguar and C-130J Super Hercules took part on Friday morning. Due to bad weather, this performance started an hour late from the scheduled time at 11:30 am. When the planes were seen roaring in the sky, the excitement of thousands of spectators present reached its peak.
Full flight from Trishul Airbase
After taking off from Trishul Airbase in Bareilly, Air Force planes landed on the strip of Ganga Expressway. The program started with the landing of AN-32, followed by Super Hercules aircraft, and then one after the other several fighter planes passed touching the strip. Also, soldiers practiced landing with the help of ropes from MI-17 V-5 helicopter and demonstrated their preparedness in war-like conditions.
The most special thing about this event was the night landing. In the night operation that started at night, fighter planes successfully landed on the expressway in the dark. This was the first time that fighter planes were landed at night on the runway of an expressway in India. This makes it clear that in times of war or disaster, if conventional airbases are destroyed, this strip of expressway can be used as an alternate airport.
