Jaguar, Rafale, Mirage to Land on Ganga Expressway’s Night-Ready Airstrip; CM Yogi to Attend Historic Show

In a powerful display of strength amid rising tensions with Pakistan, the Indian Air Force is set to conduct a historic landing drill on the newly developed airstrip along the Ganga Expressway in Shahjahanpur’s Jalalabad area. This 3-km-long airstrip is India’s first expressway runway equipped for both day and night fighter jet landings. Jets like Jaguar, Mirage 2000, Rafale, MiG-29, and Sukhoi Su-30MKI will participate in the exercise, marking a significant milestone in India’s military preparedness.The event will be attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and is expected to draw crowds from nearby areas, including schoolchildren and locals, witnessing history unfold. Special arrangements have been made with high-tech lighting and 250 CCTV cameras installed across the strip to ensure night-landing readiness and top-tier security.This marks the fourth expressway in Uttar Pradesh—after Agra-Lucknow, Purvanchal, and Bundelkhand—to feature IAF fighter jet landings, but the Ganga Expressway’s facility is the first with full night-operational capability. Roads leading to the area, especially the Katra-Jalalabad route, will remain closed from 7 PM to 10 PM. Due to inclement weather, the morning landings were delayed slightly, but preparations remain tight with Air Force and local administration fully alert.

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