SWIFT TACTICAL AIRLIFTS TO THE BORDER

The Indian Air Force strengthens its ability to deploy at short notice men and materiel to its northern borders, especially the one with China, thanks to an expanding network of all-weather landing grounds, demonstrated most recently by the night landing of an IAF C-130J transport aircraft at the high-altitude Kargil airfield

- Pradip R. Sagar

On a pitch dark night on January 7, 2024, the Indian Air Force (IAF) flew past a landmark achievement as an IAF pilot, after months of training, landed a C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlift/ transport aircraft at the Kargil airfield. With its unidirectional approach-surrounded by hills 14,000-15,000 feet ON high, with limited manoeuvrability and reduced engine efficiency and short length of only 6,000 metres (as opposed to a normal one of 9,000 m), the airfield is a challenging place to land for aviators in daylight and good weather. To do so at night is notoriously tough.

The feat is a testament to the superior skill and training of India's military aviators. "You are landing close to the LoC (just 12 km away) and at an ALG (advanced landing ground) that is very short and challenging because of the altitude and the surrounding mountains," says a senior Air Marshal at the IAF headquarters in New Delhi's Vayu Bhawan. The pilot has to get inside the valley, manoeuvre the aircraft and then land. "If it is cloudy, he doesn't even have visual contact on his approach till he gets beneath the clouds."

However, the significance of the landing goes far beyond than the deserved laurel of a milestone: it shows the increasing capability of the armed forces to operate all-weather operations with large transport aircraft through the day and night at such ALGs in close proximity to the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) facing China. Couple the Kargil night landing with the fact that similar IAF aircraft regularly land at the world's highest airstrip at Daulat Beg Oldie near the LAC in eastern Ladakh, just 17 km away from the strategic Karakoram pass, and a clear message goes out to our two hostile neighbours-the Indian military is battle-ready and can deploy significant numbers of men and equipment quickly in response to any situation.