In a first, IAF lands airplane just 8 km from China border
SUPER HERCULES IAF lands special aircraft in Ladakh to boost morale of troops
NEW DELHI: The IAF landed its Super Hercules transport plane at recently activated Daulat Beg Oldie airstrip in Ladakh on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI: The air force on Tuesday landed a C-130J ‘Super Hercules’ aircraft — configured for special operations and airborne assault — at the world’s highest airstrip in northeastern Ladakh, barely eight km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The move signals India’s aggressive posture toward China following a spurt in incursions in the recent past.
The aircraft, belonging to the IAF’s ‘Veiled Vipers’ squadron, landed at the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) airstrip — located at a height of 16,614 feet in the disputed Aksai Chin area — after getting airborne at the crack of dawn from the Hindon airbase, outside New Delhi.
The landing — described by the defence ministry as a “significant capability demonstration move by the IAF” — took place in the same sector where Indian soldiers were eyeball-to-eyeball with the Chinese for three weeks, after PLA troops set up tents and took up positions 19 km deep into the Indian territory on April 15.
The move is expected to trigger unease in Beijing, which has been deeply suspicious of the re-activation of advance landing grounds (ALGs) by the IAF in the Ladakh sector in the recent years.
The IAF has re-activated at least three ALGs during the last five years for quicker deployment of Indian troops and logistics support if hostilities were to break out. “Today’s achievement will enable the forces to exploit the inherent advanced capabilities of the aircraft by increased capability to induct troops,” a defence ministry official said.
India had signed a $1.2-billion contract with the US in 2008 for buying six C-130 J planes. The IAF plans to place a follow-on order for six additional C-130Js.
The DBO airstrip was reactivated in May 2008, followed by the ALGs at Fukche (13,000 feet, 3 km from the LAC) in November 2008 and Nyoma (13,300 feet, 23 km from the LAC) in September 2009 — the airstrips had been out of use for more than 43 years after the 1962 India-China war.
The Chinese have demanded the de-activation of airstrips at DBO and Fukche.
“The C-130J’s landing at DBO is a small tactical action with a huge strategic effect,” former IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Major told HT.
Powered by four Rolls Royce engines, it can be used for a variety of missions such as special operations, combat delivery, peacekeeping, low intensity conflict, search and rescue, disaster relief and humanitarian missions.