Watch | Indian Air Force's C-130J conducts historic night landing at Kargil airstrip
Indian Air Force lands its C-130J at the Kargil airstrip in the night for the first time
In a major boost to the operational setup of the Indian Air Force (IAF), the C-130J aircraft recently landed at the challenging Kargil airstrip at night for the first time ever.
The IAF took to its social media handleon Sunday (Jan 7) to announce the significant milestone.
“In a first, an IAF C-130J aircraft recently carried out a night landing at the Kargil airstrip,"read the post on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The IAF added that the mission, characterised by a terrain masking en route, demonstrated the IAF's capabilities in challenging environments as well as helped theGaruds further hone their skills.
The mission underscores IAF's continuous effort to evolve and adapt to any condition. Kargil is where the 1999 war with Pakistan was fought and having a workhorse likeC-130J landing there means that the nation's security is strengthened further.
In November last year, IAF similarly landed two of itsLockheed Martin C-130J-30 ‘Super Hercules’ military transport aircraftat a rudimentary and unfeasible airstrip in Uttarakhand.
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About C-130J Super Hercules
C-130J, also known as the Super Hercules, is a military aircraft that is meant for special operations and has the capability to land at short and rough airstrips.
The C-130J Super Hercules is the most advanced C-130 ever designed, built, flown and maintained.C-130J Super Hercules aircraft is designed and manufactured by American defence company Lockheed Martin. It has a landing distance of 914 metres and a flying range of 4,000 kilometres.
The C-130Jaircraft conducted its first flight in 1996 and completed a million flight hours worldwide by 2013.
(With inputs from agencies)