China test-flies warplanes first time on highway strip

BEIJING: For the first time, China's air force today successfully test flew warplanes from a highway strip in central China's Henan Province.

Flight tests of military aircraft including the third generation of warplanes were held on the Zhengzhou-Minquan highway, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

However it did not identify the exact location. The strip is one of the best road runways in China, Liu Shenyang, deputy chief of the Jinan Military Area Command said.

The highway can serve as an alternative airport for civilian airplanes and allows take-offs and landings of cargo planes, he said.

It can also be used in exercises and training for military airplanes as well as emergency landings during wartime, he said.

The tests enhanced the air force's capabilities of emergency landing and coordination between military and civilian force, the media report said.