IAF fighter jets touchdown on Lucknow-Agra Expressway: 10 big highlights

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force on Tuesday showcased its ability to have its fighter jets and transport plane make use of public highways in case of emergencies. Over 16 planes either landed, did a low flyby or did touchdowns on the Lucknow-Agra expressway in front of hundreds of cheering specatators as part of the two-hour drill.

Here's all you need to know:

* A Super Hercules C130J transport plane was the first to land and it offloaded Garud commandos and a vehicle to 'secure the landing area.' It was the main highlight because it was for the first time that an IAF transport plane landed on a highway. India has six of these Hercules transport planes.

* Mirage 2000 fighter jets were next at the expressway with several of them either doing a touchdown or whizzing past in a low flyby manoeuvre. There were six of these jets in two formations of three each.

* Sukhoi 30 jets too did touchdowns and low flyby manoeuvre. These and the Mirage 2000s have also previously landed on public highways - the most recent being last year on the Yamuna Expressway.

* The objective of the exercise was to practice IAF's operational ability to make use of public highways during times of emergencies. It is learnt that the IAF did not want to bring any of its jets to a complete halt here as it was a training-related exercise.

* The exercise was conducted on a highway stretch near Bangarmau in Unnao district, about 65 kms from Lucknow.

* The drill was conducted by the IAF in collaboration with the UP state government.

* During construction, this stretch was reinforced to help fighter jets make use of it when required. Vehicular traffic here was restricted in the days leading up to the IAF exercise.

* According to officials of the Road and Transport Ministry, 12 highways have been cleared for similar landing operations, with three of those connecting Maoist-affected areas in Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, which also witness vagaries of nature like floods and cyclones almost every year.

* While such exercises are conducted regulary by western countries on its public highways, India too is fast catching up. Officials say such exercises help IAF fighters and personnel to deal with emergency situations like an aerial attack or destruction of a base, which would require immediate touch down and take off from other places to retaliate.

* "It’s a very important operational achievement, we have done it earlier where we have the Mirages land on this highway, and highways can be very important during wartime when the runway is denied for some reason, Vice Chief of Indian Air Force Air Marshal SB Deo said on the sidelines of an event in Delhi.