Sukhois, Jaguars and Mirages of the IAF on Tuesday made touchdowns and takeoffs on a 4-km stretch of the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh as hundreds of thousands of people lined up to watch the thrilling spectacle.
While more than a dozen of the 16 planes that landed were fighter planes, the remaining were carriers.
The 4-km stretch was strengthened during construction for the purpose, an official said.
Drill in November last
In November 2016, a similar drill involving eight fighter planes was conducted a few days before the inauguration of the 302-km Expressway by then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
A special U.S.C-130 plane was also involved in Tuesday's drill, officials said.
In this video grab, an IAF aircraft makes a touchdown on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway, on Tuesday. Courtesy: Doordarshan
The two-hour drill, officials said, was to train the IAF fighters and personnel to deal with emergency situations like an aerial attack or destruction of a base, which would require immediate touchdowns and takeoffs from other places to retaliate, an informed source clarified.
The Expressway has been thrown out of bounds for vehicular traffic for the past few days in view of the drill.