Indian Air Force Jets Land in Akhilesh Yadav's Ancestral Village Saifai during 'Gagan Shakti 2018'
Two Hawk aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) landed at Saifi, the ancestral village of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and Party chief Akhilesh Yadav during its war-like exercise Gagan Shakti 2018.
Etawah, April 18: Two Hawk aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) landed at Saifi, the ancestral village of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and Party chief Akhilesh Yadav during its war-like exercise Gagan Shakti 2018. The two aircraft landed at the airstrip of Saifi Village on Tuesday Morning.
Akhilesh Yadav tweeted about the landing. Yadav said, “While the UP government’s ‘defence corridor’ plan is still a castle in the air, the Saifai airstrip that we made could come in handy for the IAF for the air exercise.” This is not first time the IAF has used Saifi’s airstrip. In May 16, 2015 The Indian Air Force tested the airstrip so that it could be used for emergency landing. Two Mirage 2000 aircraft landed at Saifi’s airstrip at that time.
Akhilesh Yadav's Tweet:
The Saifai Airstrip is in Etawah district of Uttar Pradesh This airstrip has an existing area of 370 acres and it is suitable for Airbus 320/Boeing 747 with turning pads at both ends. The IAF has also used Agra-Lucknow Highway and Yamuna Express Highway for landing its planes five times since 2015. The Inidan Air Force also used Agra-Lucknow Highway for landing its transport aircraft.
The Gagan Shakti 2018 is the biggest exercise of the IAF to test its capability and war preparedness. The entire fleet strength of the IAF is participating in the exercise across all the IAF bases of the country. As per media reports around 1,100 IAF aircraft, including fighter jets, Helicopters and transport carriers are part of this exercise. Around 300 IAF officers and 15,000 airmen are taking part in the exercise. The exercise is to take part along the western border with Pakistan and the northern border with China.
The Joint maritime operations in coordination with the Indian Army and the Indian navy are to be conducted during the exercise. Air Chief Marshal yesterday visited western and northern sectors to review the exercise.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 18, 2018 05:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).