Indian Air Force activates another road stretch as an emergency airstrip | India News

NEW DELHI: Activating another road stretch to function as an airstrip for military purposes if required, IAF has conducted operations of supersonic fighter jets and transport aircraft on an emergency landing facility (ELF) on national highway-16 in Andhra Pradesh.
Sukhoi-30MKI fighters and Hawk advanced jet trainers successfully carried out “low overshoots”, while AN-32 and Dornier transport aircraft landed and subsequently took off from the airstrip near Addanki in Bapatla district on Monday.
Such ELF airstrips with “reinforced cement concrete construction” on national highways or expressways can provide operational flexibility during conflicts, alternate runways for emergency landings and help humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions in far-flung areas, a senior officer said.
The 4.1-km long and 33-meter wide airstrip on NH-16 was constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as per IAF specifications. It’s the fourth such ELF out of the 28 identified by IAF for military operations.
They include five in Assam; four in West Bengal; three each in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan; two each in Bihar, Haryana, J&K and Tamil Nadu; and one each in Punjab and UP.
“Pakistan Air Force destroyed some of our fighters by bombing our air bases during the 1965 and 1971 wars. In such contingencies, ELFs can be used for unhindered air operations using mobile air traffic and radar control, refuelling and armament-loading facilities. They can even be used during night with temporary lights,” the officer said.

IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Ashish Moghe, in turn, said activation of the ELF on NH-16 showed “the high level of synergy and liaison” between the force and civil agencies like NHAI, district administration and state police towards conduct of complex multifaceted operations.
“While some other airstrips are already operational in other parts of the country, this ELF has been recently operationalised in peninsular India. The IAF is working jointly with the ministry of road transport and highways to create ELFs at suitable locations,” he added.
In September 2021, for instance, a 3-km long ELF was inaugurated on the western front with Pakistan at the Satta-Gandhav stretch on NH-925A near Barmer in Rajasthan.
Earlier, in 2016-2017, Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage-2000 and Jaguar fighters had conducted their first operations at the ELF on the Agra-Lucknow expressway in the Unnao district of UP, with Garud commandos also being inserted and extricated by the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. A similar 3.3-km-long ELF has also come up on the Purvanchal Expressway.
Pakistan and several other countries like Germany, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, Finland, Switzerland, Poland and Singapore also have dedicated stretches on their highways and expressways for aircraft to land and take off in emergencies or war-like events.