ROAD-RUNWAYS AS FORCE MULTIPLIERS

The drill by the Indian Air Force on a specially designed roadrunway stretch of National Highway-16 in Andhra Pradesh has reaffirmed India's pole position in South Asia's strategic dynamics

-  AMARTYA SINHA

On December 29, 2022, The Indian Air Force conducted a tactical trial of the emergency landing facility specially constructed on a highway in Andhra Pradesh. The emergency landing facility (or ELF) has been made on National Highway-16 located in Andhra Pradesh's Bapatla district. Sukhoi30MKI and LCA Tejas fighter jets, and an AN-32 transport plane were part of the trial run. These combat planes flew very close to the ground without an actual landing on the 4.1 km-long emergency facility. The drill was part of the stringent process that would help the officials to ascertain the readiness of the emergency facility. Constructed in Bapatla's Picchikalagudipadu village, the drill saw the warplanes circuiting, approaching and overshooting the ELF. At present, the emergency facility is not fully functional. Once all the criteria are met, the airstrip will be formally inaugurated.

On September 15, 2021 the Taiwan Air Force had also started a similar exercise when F-16 fighter aircrafts took off from rural roads and highways in the country, which also saw the participation of AWACS aircrafts. A war between China and Taiwan is not imminent, but as China has grown increasingly assertive in both the East China and South China Seas, Taiwan has stepped up its defences. China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, flies fighter bombers toward Taiwan on a regular basis in an effort to bully and intimidate the island nation. Chinese fighter jets, anti-submarine warfare aircraft and combat ships have repeatedly conducted joint assault drills near Taiwan and strategically blackmailed the tiny island with China using the lame excuse that the exercise was necessary to safeguard its sovereignty. The rapidly evolving contemporary tactical warfare scenario has necessitated the execution of highway-landing exercises by both Taiwan and India.

The concept of road-runways