New Delhi: The Indian Air Force's C-130 J aircraft in a groundbreaking feat successfully carried out its maiden night landing at Kargil airstrip recently.
"In a first, an IAF C-130 J aircraft recently carried out a night landing at the Kargil airstrip. Employing terrain masking en route, the exercise also dovetailed a training mission of the Garuds," the Indian Air Force tweeted on Sunday. The IAF also shared a 1-minute 2-second video clip which detailed the challenging maiden night landing of Indian Air Force's C-130 J aircraft on the Kargil airstrip.
The move is seen as a major achievement by the IAF which displayed capabilities to land for operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) at night and during the day.
Though such ALG landings are a usual practice and were done earlier, this is the first time when a night landing has been undertaken. The Kargil ALG, which is engulfed by hills and offers fighter jets limited space for manoeuvring, is stationed at about 10,500 feet and the approach is unidirectional.
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