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.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 11, 2024 من India Today.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 11, 2024 من India Today.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Will Naveen Make Or Be History?
The BJD Patriarch Faces His Fiercest Challenge Ever As A Determined Bjp Works To Stymie His Bid To Become India's Longest-serving Chief Minister
THE AGE OF INFLUENCERS
A TRIBE OF YOUNG, EDUCATED INTERNET WARRIORS IS SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION WITH CURATED VIDEOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Scoring a Century
Manoj Bajpayee has just acted in his 100th project-Bhaiyya Ji
FRAGMENTED RUINS
A new exhibition at Gallery XXL, Mumbai juxtaposes the artworks of an Indian and a Spanish artist
United by Art
Moments in Collapse, SAHMAT's group exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi brings together artworks with politically charged themes
In Her Mother's Voice
Vidya Vox's exuberant new EP, Sundari, is primarily in Tamil as a tribute to her mother
"MURDER, HE WROTE"
Ashutosh Rana and Vijay Raaz shine in JioCinema's Murder in Mahim, a web series based on Jerry Pinto's layered crime novel
FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS
Gujarat sees another major tragedy as businesses flout safety norms and officials look away. This time it's 33 lives lost in a blaze at a gaming zone
THWARTED FRANCHISE
Robertsganj, on the southeastern tip of Uttar Pradesh, is a study in how a coalition of other castes often defeats the aspirations of the majority caste among Dalits-in constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Castes
THE LAST FRONTIER
PURVANCHAL HOSTS THE BIGGEST STAR CANDIDATE IN INDIA: NARENDRA MODI IN VARANASI. THAT MAY BE A NO-CONTEST, BUT CRAFTY CASTE PLAY BY THE SP-CONGRESS POSES A CHALLENGE IN THE OTHER DOZEN SEATS