SHAHJAHANPUR, India — Under a moonless Uttar Pradesh sky, the Indian Air Force turned a stretch of the Ganga Expressway into a roaring stage for combat-ready fighter jets on May 2, 2025. The 3.5-kilometer airstrip near Piru village, nestled in Shahjahanpur district, hummed with the scream of Rafale, Sukhoi-30 MKI, Jaguar, and Mirage-2000 jets as they executed a rare night-time drill, a first for this newly carved expressway runway.
The exercise, running from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., wasn’t just a show of muscle. It was a meticulous test of the expressway’s potential as an emergency landing strip—a critical backup for war or national crises. Jets swooped down, tires kissing the asphalt in touch-and-go landings, before rocketing back into the dark. Others mimicked combat ops, weaving through simulated scenarios to prove the strip could handle high-stakes missions under cover of night.
Originally planned as a two-day affair, the IAF wrapped it up in one. The objective—validating the airstrip’s day-and-night readiness—was nailed early. Local officials, buzzing with pride, called it a historic moment for Shahjahanpur. The strip, recently inspected by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, now stands certified for fighter jet operations, a feather in the cap of India’s growing network of highway-turned-runways.
Security was iron-tight. Roads around the Jalalabad Police Station area were sealed, and locals were kept at a distance, though the roar of engines carried far. A handful of villagers, peering from afar, caught glimpses of sleek jets slicing through the night, their afterburners glowing like distant stars.
This wasn’t the IAF’s first rodeo with expressway airstrips, but it marked a bold step in prepping civilian infrastructure for military use. The Ganga Expressway, still under construction, is one of several highways nationwide being eyed for dual-purpose roles. The drill’s success means this stretch is now a proven asset, ready to serve if the need arises.
The operation involved no mishaps. All jets returned to base, and the airstrip held up under the strain of high-speed landings. District officials confirmed the exercise met every benchmark, with no follow-up drills scheduled for now. For Shahjahanpur, a quiet corner of Uttar Pradesh, the night of May 2 was anything but ordinary—a fleeting moment when a rural highway became the backbone of India’s air defense strategy.