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Journalism of Courage
In a first,the air force has deployed two of its newly acquired C 130J Super Hercules aircraft to transport relief supplies and National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) personnel for earthquake affected Sikkim from the national capital.
The planes,which are designed to conduct stealthy special operations,are the most advanced transport aircraft with the air force and the only ones with the capability to land and take off from unprepared runways in pitch dark. The aircraft,six of which were ordered for $ 1 billion in 2008,will be the first to land with relief supplies and 200 NDRF personnel in Bagdogra,the nearest airbase to Sikkim.
While the airbase is not equipped for night flying,the new aircraft will put their unique night operation capabilities to use for the first time during an active deployment by landing close to midnight at Bagdogra.
What gives this aircraft the unique capability is that the air force had ordered special equipment including Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR),Heads Up Display (HUD) and navigational aids,that enables operations in very low visibility conditions. These also make the Super Hercules the only aircraft in IAFs inventory that can land and take off from an airstrip in pitch dark without external lights.
While these capabilities that are of high value while conducting military operations that require stealth they also come in handy for disaster relief operations that require landing at dangerous or unprepared runways.
Bagdogra airbase has been put on high alert and is likely to be the centre of all relief activities for Sikkim. While multiple aircraft have been put on duty for relief operations,Sikkim does not have any landing strip for fixed wing aircraft and relies only on helicopters for aerial transport.
Choppers in Bagdogra and Shillong have been kept on standby but sources said that aerial relief operations will only be possible in the morning and that too if weather conditions permit. Sikkim has been hit by a spate of rainfall and bad weather that hit flying operations in the past few days.
The supplies and men carried by the C 130 Js will however be deployed by road for Sikkim within minutes of the aircraft landing in Bagdogra.
