The IAF took to its social media handles on Sunday (Jan 7) to announce the significant milestone

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 handles on 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 in training mission for the Garuds.

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 like C-130J landing there means that the nation's security is strengthened.

In November last year, IAF similarly landed two of its Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 ‘Super Hercules’ military transport aircraft at a rudimentary and unfeasible airstrip in Uttarakhand.

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, with a truly integrated digital core that offers: Dual HUDs for increased situational awareness, Block 7.0/8.1 software, installed in-line during production and automated maintenance fault reporting.

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 range of 4,000 kilometres.

The C-130J aircraft conducted its first flight in 1996 and completed a million flight hours worldwide by 2013.