The IAF on Friday night commenced its much-anticipated “land and go” drill on the 3.5-km stretch of the Ganga Expressway in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur district, marking a significant milestone in the country’s defence preparedness.

What sets this expressway stretch apart is its unique capability to facilitate both day and night landings of fighter jets, making it the first such airstrip in the country. Until now, similar emergency landing drills were carried out on the Lucknow-Agra and Purvanchal expressways, but those were limited to daytime operations.