Kamal Ghorui
An Airbus C295 aircraft landed on the Purvanchal Expressway in Sultanpur as the Indian Air Force carried out takeoff and landing drills to test operational readiness during wartime.Video footage showed the exercise being conducted to assess the expressway’s viability as an alternative runway during times of war or national emergencies.Fighter jets of the IAF also carried out a flypast over the airstrip on the Purvanchal Expressway in Sultanpur as part of an Emergency Landing Field activation exercise.
The exercise is being carried out at the Arval-Kiri Karwat airstrip, where fighter aircraft are conducting “touch-and-go” operations as part of efforts to assess the use of expressways as alternative runways during emergencies, officials said.They added that an air traffic control system has been set up near the expressway to manage aircraft movement during the drill.The local administration has stepped up security around the airstrip and urged residents to keep a safe distance and avoid rumours. Traffic on a 12-km stretch of the expressway has been diverted until May 1 as a precaution, and will resume on May 2 after the exercise concludes.Officials noted that similar drills have been held earlier, including in June 2023, when Sukhoi and Mirage aircraft carried out “touch-and-go” operations on the 3.2-km airstrip, as cited by PTI.The expressway was also used during its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021, when fighter jets and a Hercules aircraft landed on the stretch.
Airbus C295
The Airbus C295 can carry up to eight tonnes of payload or around 70 troops and has a maximum cruise speed of 260 knots. It can also be configured for air-to-air refuelling of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.The aircraft has retractable landing gear and a 12.69-metre pressurised cabin, and can operate at altitudes of up to 30,000 feet. It is capable of short take-off and landing from unpaved, soft and grass airstrips.It is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprop engines, allowing operations of up to 13 hours. The engine model has been used on more than 6,000 aircraft and has logged over 160 million flight hours.The Airbus C295 now includes winglets, which improve performance across different phases of flight, including take-off from high-altitude airfields, higher cruising levels and longer endurance. The changes also reduce fuel consumption by about three to six percent.The Airbus C295 is used for humanitarian and non-military roles, including disaster relief, search and rescue (SAR), and surveillance operations such as monitoring illegal immigration, drug smuggling, piracy and deforestation. It is also used for marine pollution control.With short take-off and landing capability and the ability to operate from unprepared airstrips, the aircraft is used for resupply missions in remote areas.
