Decoding the IAF highway touchdown: Why is this exercise important for India’s defence

It normally takes a couple of hours to repair a runway and hence in such an event an airborne aircraft will be able to land on the highway and also refuel in case of an emergency.

The Indian Air Force on Tuesday conducted a touchdown exercise on the Agra Expressway. The exercise was conducted to test the capability of the jets to land on highways in case of an emergency or war like situation.

It is an important exercise for the Air Force and to explain the same, OneIndia caught up with Air Marshal (retd), B K Pandey. Breaking down the exercise and its significance, Air Marshal Pandey said that in the event of a war, the first task of any air force is to counter air operations.

This means the enemy's air resources are first struck. The enemy would try and target the infrastructure, ammunition dumps and most importantly the run way. It is difficult to target the aircraft as it is parked in blast tents which is made of a very heavy concrete structure.

The runways are always vulnerable, Pandey says and once it is punctured, the aircrafts will not be able to take off. If the landing capabilities on highways is improved then those air borne aircrafts during a war or emergency situation will be able to land on highways in case the enemy has punctured the runway.

It normally takes a couple of hours to repair a runway and hence in such an event an airborne aircraft will be able to land on the highway and also refuel in case of an emergency.

This concept of landing on the highways was first developed by the Germans during the Second World War. It was then adopted by the rest of the European nations. Later on it was adopted by China, South Korea and Pakistan which carried out an exercise like this 17 years back. India first carried out such a drill in May 2015.

In Pakistan such an exercise is carried out on two highways known as M-1 and M-2. The first connects Islamabad with Peshawar while the second connects Lahore and Peshawar, Air Marshal Pandey also said.

It is an important step for India. Earlier we did not have such highways. Now the IAF is developing these capabilities and it is a very important step. This is not an air show or a display of fire power. It is only an exercise to train the pilots to land on highways in case of emergency situations. This exercise would be helpful in a war or emergency situation when the enemy cripples the runway, Air Marshal B K Pandey also says.

OneIndia News