As part of preparedness to use expressways during emergencies, the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft on Wednesday conducted 'touch-and-go' operations on the Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Sultanpur district .
Videos capturing the exercise showed the IAF transport aircraft taxiing on the expressway before take-off, and was later seen making a steep, clean approach before landing smoothly on the same stretch of tarmac.
Spectators and security personnel lined the sides of the highway to witness the exercise.
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According to an IAF spokesperson, the exercise saw participation from Sukhoi Su-30MKI, SEPECAT Jaguar and Mirage 2000 fighter jets. Helicopter operations featured Mi-17 carrying out slithering drills, while transport aircraft including the Airbus C-295 and Antonov An-32 undertook full landing and take-off operations.
The specially developed 3.2-km Emergency Landing Field (ELF), located at Karwal Kheri along the 341-km expressway, has been designed to support air operations in scenarios where conventional airbases may be compromised due to conflict or natural disasters.
These Emergency Landing Fields are engineered as straight highway stretches, typically 3 to 4 kilometres long, with reinforced pavement capable of handling the weight and stress of fighter jets and transport aircraft. Developed by the National Highways Authority of India in coordination with the IAF, they function as regular highways under normal conditions and can be rapidly converted into operational airstrips when required.
Moreover, the concept has been steadily expanding across India. India's first operational ELF was inaugurated in September 2021 on National Highway-925A in Barmer, Rajasthan, and the Northeast's first ELF was inaugurated at Moran in Assam in February 2026.
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The Purvanchal Expressway airstrip in Sultanpur is one of four such facilities across Uttar Pradesh, alongside stretches on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, Bundelkhand Expressway, and the newly added Ganga Expressway.
India has now identified around 28 ELF sites across 11 states, with nearly 15 already functional. These facilities are strategically located near border and remote areas along the western and eastern frontiers.
Assam alone accounts for five identified sites.
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