The Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully carried out the landing of IAF’s Mirage 2000 combat jet on Yamuna expressway near Mathura. This test was conducted as a part of trials to use national highways for emergency landing. The IAF has been considering the use of national highways for emergency landing by fighter aircraft.
Road runways are used for emergency landing and become important if airbases are crippled during war times. At present, countries such as Germany, Poland, Finland, Switzerland, Singapore and Pakistan..etc have dedicated stretches on their expressways and highways for airplanes to land and take off in case of an emergency.
The Mirage-2000
- It is a single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by France’s Dassault Aviation.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) purchased 49 Mirage 2000s, comprising 42 single-seaters and 7 two-seaters, in the 1980s.
- In March 2015, India received the first two of the upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter jets from Dassault in France.
GK Questions
Name the Air Base operated by Indian Air Force in Tajikistan? Farkhor Air Base. It is India’s first and only military base outside its territory.
How many Air Commands are operated by the Indian Air Force? Seven
What is the slogan of Indian Air Force? Nabha Sparsham Deeptam (Touch the Sky with Glory).
