Watch: IAF fighter jets land on UP's Purvanchal Expressway
As spectators cheered, fighter jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Saturday (June 24) performed aerobatics over the newly built Purvanchal Expressway in Uttar Pradesh, district officials in Sultanpur, said.
Around 300 people attended the air show which commenced around 11 am and lasted for two hours.
Sukhoi and Mirage fighter jets made a “touch and go” on the three-and-a-half-kilometre airstrip at Arwal Kiri Karwat in the Kurebhar area here on the expressway, the officials said.
Also read: Purvanchal Expressway opened; airstrip, 40% faster travel & more
In view of the programme, a 12 km stretch of the expressway was closed and a traffic diversion was put in place by the authorities.
District Magistrate Jasjit Kaur, Superintendent of Police Somen Barma, Jaisinghpur MLA Raj Babu Upadhyay, along with several army officials, were present at the event.
Villagers from more than two dozen nearby villages came to watch the air show, the officials said.
The team of Air Force officials was alerted when a dog ran into the airstrip and police personnel were deployed to stop canines from reaching the airstrip.
Also read: Modi’s US visit: GE Aerospace, HAL to jointly produce fighter jets in India
The 341-km long Purvanchal Expressway from Lucknow to Ghazipur, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 16, 2021, passes through nine districts of the state.
During the inauguration, Modi himself landed on the airstrip in a Hercules aircraft of the Air Force.
VIDEO | Indian Air Force fighter jets land on Purvanchal Expressway in UP's Sultanpur as part of emergency exercise. pic.twitter.com/sSI9sawqzM
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 24, 2023
Successful Civil-Military fusion displayed through activation of Purvanchal Expressway by a team of Airforce Gorakhpur on behalf of CAC IAF and UPEIDA and Sultanpur Admin. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/WrRlPxuflG
— CAC, IAF (@CAC_CPRO) June 24, 2023
