For first time, IAF’s C-130J aircraft carries out night landing at Kargil

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, January 7

For the first time, the Indian Air Force has carried out night landing of a fixed-wing plane at the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at Kargil near the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

Carried Garud commandos

IAF used the maiden flight to practise “insertion” of commando team Garud. As part of drill, fully armed Garuds were “inserted” at the site.

“A C-130J Hercules aircraft carried out the landing,” the IAF said on Sunday. The IAF has 12 such planes which were ordered between 2008 and 2013.

“This was the first-ever night landing of a fixed-wing plane at Kargil,” an IAF functionary said on Sunday.

The plane, sourced from Lockheed Martin US, used its own night landing aids, night vision abilities on board and positioning system to land at the airstrip located at an altitude of 9,600 feet.

The runaway at Kargil is paved, but does not have night landing facility or aids.

The plane had taken off from an airbase under the Western Air Command.

Located close to the Line of Control, Kargil is an important runaway that can be used to move troops, ammunition, artillery guns and even tanks besides supplies.

The Indian Air Force used the maiden flight to also practice “insertion” of its commando team known as the Garuds. As part of the exercise, fully armed Garuds were “inserted” at the location. The runway was built by the Jammu and Kashmir Government in 1996 during the India-Pakistan clash in Kargil.