Noida: In a surprise for the onlookers, an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 landed successfully on the Yamuna Expressway on Thursday morning. The exercise was a part of trials to use national highways for emergency landings, said officials.
“Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft landed successfully on Yamuna Expressway near Mathura at 6:40 am on Thursday. The aircraft was brought 100 metre above road before final touchdown,†an official said.
For this capability trial, Makeshift ATC, Safety Setup, Bird clearance parties and other necessary provisions were made by IAF base Agra.
Test operation was conducted in coordination with Civil and Police authorities of Agra, Mathura district as well as the Uttar Pradesh Government.
Before the jet landed, an Indian Air Force helicopter took several rounds in the air. Several Air Force personnel were at the spot.
The jet landing led to a traffic jam on the highway for a few hours.
IAF is likely to test more such capabilities to use national highways in case of emergencies and war.
The six-lane Yamuna Expressway on the outskirts of the capital connects to Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
Several countries like Germany, Poland, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, Singapore, Czechoslovakia and Pakistan have dedicated stretches on their expressways and highways for airplanes to land and take off in emergency or war like events.
The IAF had last month received the first two upgraded Mirage-2000 aircrafts from France under Rs 10,000-crore deal.
Manufactured by Dassault Aviation, the Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter. The IAF purchased 49 Mirage 2000s in the 1980s.