If you are living in the vicinity of Agra-Lucknow expressway and are a die-hard Air Force fan, get ready for the biggest surprise near you. In a historical event, 8-11 Indian Air Force fighter jets will touch down on Agra-Lucknow expressway on its grand opening on November 21, which also happens to be Mulayam Singh Yadav’s 78th birthday.
The squadron of fighter jets will land and take off from the newly constructed expressway.
The 302-km expressway is a dream project of UP CM Akhilesh Yadav. It took 22 months with a cost of ₹13,200 crore to complete the project. It will be open to the public by December.
Necessary safety requirements such as bird clearance, safety services, rescue vehicles and temporary air traffic control are being set up to conduct safe landings of the fighter jets.
The speciality of this expressway is that a dedicated 2 km stretch has been built for war-like emergencies on the expressway, though authorities have also ensured that eco-system on the stretch is not disturbed.
This is a follow-up of last year’s trial when an IAF Mirage 2000 had landed successfully on the Yamuna Expressway.
The exercise is aimed at testing the quality of build of the expressway, and would also go a long way in aiding the Defence Ministry’s plan to use highways and expressways as possible landing and take-off strips.
Although it is yet unclear which fighter jets of the IAF will participate in the exercise, the 11 Indian Air Force (IAF) jets will land and take-off from the expressway to test the quality of build. These jet fighters will follow a release of tri-coloured smoke performing aerobatics in the sky.
The Agra-Lucknow expressway will pass through Unnao, Kannauj, Etawah, Mainpuri and Firozabad. It will also shrink the travel time between Agra and Lucknow to just four hours.
At present, countries such as Germany, Poland, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, Singapore, Czechoslovakia and Pakistan have dedicated stretches on their expressways and highways for aeroplanes to land and take off in the case of an emergency.
