Finance
The Indian Air Force C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, in a first, successfully landed at the Kargil airstrip during the night.
Sharing the video on Sunday, the IAF said, “In a first, an IAF C-130 J aircraft recently carried out a night landing at the Kargil airstrip. Employing terrain masking enroute, the exercise also dovetailed a training mission of the Garuds.”
In a first, an IAF C-130 J aircraft recently carried out a night landing at the Kargil airstrip. Employing terrain masking enroute, the exercise also dovetailed a training mission of the Garuds.#SakshamSashaktAtmanirbhar pic.twitter.com/MNwLzaQDz7
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) January 7, 2024
The Kargil strip is situated at an elevation of more than 8,800 feet in the difficult Himalayan environment. The IAF has been carrying personnel and military hardware to the forward outposts with several sorties using its C-17 Globemaster III and C-130 J Super Hercules since 2020.
The IAF also employed this aircraft for a risky nighttime rescue operation in Sudan in April of last year. Eight Garud Commandos, the IAF’s elite special forces squad, plus the normal crew, which included a navigator, a flight gunner, a flight engineer, and two to three technical staff, boarded the C 130 J shortly after it took off from Jeddah at 8:00 p.m. The team brought tactical lamps and night vision gadgets in addition to firearms and equipment for any eventuality.
Source:IE
